Arsenal's Best All-British Premier League XI vs. Arsenal's Best Overseas XI
The recent win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park was the 137th time Arsenal had sent out a Premier League starting XI featuring no Englishmen, according to the folks at Infostrada.
No other club in the modern British football era have embraced the culture of bringing in players from overseas quite like the Gunners, but what if we were to pit their post-1992 best of British against their best imports to predict who'd win?
Well, wonder no longer, because that's exactly what we've done.
Let's start with the British XI.
British XI Goalkeeper: David Seaman
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There's one place to start between the sticks for our British Gunners, and that's with two-time Premier League winner (and one First Division), four-time FA Cup lifter and all around moustachioed maestro David Seaman.
Old Safe Hands may have a couple of high-profile blunders on his CV, but he was a loyal servant to Arsenal for 13 years and won 75 England caps.
The No. 1 shirt is all his.
British XI Right-Back: Lee Dixon
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Another easy choice to make comes at right-back, where the loyal Lee Dixon won four league titles and three FA Cups during 15 seasons at Highbury, which spanned three different decades.
A dependable soul who rarely let anyone down, Dixon was certainly one of those players who got the most out of the talent available to him. These days, he's viewed as one of British TV's least objectionable football pundits, which is quite an achievement in itself.
British XI Centre-Back: Tony Adams
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Well, this is all a bit simple so far, isn't it?
Of course Tony Adams takes his place at centre-back for the Arsenal British Premier League XI, and of course he takes the captain's armband too.
A veritable Gunners legend and one-club man, Adams captained title-winning Arsenal teams in three different decades and is such an important part of the club's history there's a statue of him outside the Emirates Stadium.
There quite simply couldn't be a British XI without him.
British XI Centre-Back: Sol Campbell
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The first really tough decision comes with who to pick as Adams' centre-back partner, but it is Sol Campbell who just edges out the likes of Martin Keown and Steve Bould because of his better natural ability and the fact Gunners fans still love him for walking out on Tottenham Hotspur to join their club in 2001.
Campbell played in all but three of Arsenal's matches in the unforgettable and unbeaten 2003/04 Premier League season, staying at the Gunners for five seasons overall, winning two league titles and three FA Cups but losing in the final of the Champions League despite his goal in the final against Barcelona in 2006.
Sol Man, you're in.
British XI Left-Back: Ashley Cole
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Another tough choice here, largely because he left the club under a cloud, but it's easy to forget Ashley Cole's all-too-brief Arsenal first-team career was a very successful one.
The youth-team product grew into one of the very best left-backs in the world, winning two Premier League titles—one more than he'd earn at Chelsea—and three FA Cups with the Gunners, going on to represent England 107 times.
Whether he'd ever be welcomed back is another matter.
British XI Right Midfield: Ray Parlour
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Also capable of playing in the centre, Ray Parlour moves onto the right for us to provide his typical grit and determination.
An underrated performer over 12 years with the Gunners, Parlour won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups with the club, scoring a famous goal in the 2002 win over Chelsea in the final in Cardiff.
A favourite on the Highbury terraces because of his seemingly boundless energy, Parlour should probably have won more than just 10 England caps.
British XI Centre-Midfield: Aaron Ramsey
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The only non-Englishman in our team, Wales' Aaron Ramsey would have been nowhere near a selection such as this just a few short years ago, but he has kicked on of late and become one of the very best midfield players in the Premier League.
The 2013/14 season will forever be seen as the season everything clicked for the now-24-year-old, as he scored a stunning 16 goals in 34 matches in all competitions from midfield, including the winning strike in the FA Cup final victory over Hull City, which clinched Arsenal's first trophy for nine years.
He's a favourite of Arsene Wenger's, and that's enough to earn him a place in this XI.
British XI Centre-Midfield: David Platt
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The British XI needs a bit of authority and experience in the centre of midfield now, and that's exactly why David Platt was signed in the summer of 1995.
The former Aston Villa, Juventus and Sampdoria midfielder provided a crucial buffer between Bruce Rioch's tenure at Highbury and the crossover into the Arsene Wenger era, playing a part in the development of both Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit as he helped the Gunners to the Premier League title in the 1997/98 campaign.
British XI Left Midfield: Paul Merson
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All good teams need a maverick or two, and Paul Merson will be the British XI's as he cuts in from the left flank and adds a real goal threat.
Merson rose to prominence in the old First Division, winning that twice before it became the Premier League in 1992.
He scored 99 goals in all competitions for the club and became a firm favourite on the Highbury terraces, where he is still fondly regarded today.
British XI Centre-Forward: Theo Walcott
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This might seem a controversial choice right now, but given the lack of pace we've got elsewhere in the team and the fact it is now almost 10 years since Theo Walcott signed for the Gunners from Southampton, then the decision might become a little clearer.
You might be expecting to see the name of former forward-turned-pundit Alan Smith here, but much of his good work came before the invention of the Premier League, in which he scored just eight of his 115 Gunners goals.
Walcott has 50 goals for Arsenal, but he seems to have spent most of his time at the club trying to prove his worth to both Arsene Wenger and the Gunners faithful. However, after his FA Cup final goal at the end of last season helped to secure his first trophy at the club (he was injured for the 2014 success), he's chasing an impact up front in the new campaign.
British XI Centre-Forward: Ian Wright
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There can only be one partner for Walcott upfront in the British XI, and that is the player who is second on Arsenal's all-time top scorer list: Ian Wright.
Following a move from Crystal Palace in 1991, Wright bagged 185 goals in all competitions for the Gunners, winning two FA Cups and the Premier League in his final season at the club, 1997/98.
Quick and strong, Wright could score all types of goals and was quite rightly lauded on the Highbury terraces thanks to his undoubted ability and his likeable character.
There can't be anyone else to lead this line.
Overseas XI Goalkeeper: Jens Lehmann
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We're onto the overseas XI now, and while you might be reading Petr Cech's name in articles such as this in a year or two's time, he's going to have to play a lot more than three Premier League games to shift the man wearing the No. 1 shirt out of his position.
Jens Lehmann played exactly 200 times for the Gunners in all competitions, winning the title in his first season in 2003/04, when he played in every one of the Gunners' league matches as they went unbeaten in the Premier League.
His sending off in the 2006 Champions League final must rank as a low point, but Lehmann served Arsenal well.
Overseas XI Right-Back: Lauren
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Another member of the Invincibles takes his place at right-back, edging out Bacary Sagna because of the sheer amount of trophies he won with the Gunners.
Cameroon's Lauren played for Arsenal for six seasons, winning two Premier League titles and three FA Cups. He was also a member of the Portsmouth squad that unexpectedly won the FA Cup in 2008.
Clearly a good man to have around.
Overseas XI Centre-Back: Kolo Toure
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A candidate for Arsene Wenger's best bargain buy, £150,000 signing Kolo Toure played for Arsenal for seven seasons and featured in all but one of the matches in the unbeaten league campaign of 2003/04.
The Ivorian was a powerful and quick operator in the centre of defence, where he struck up a strong partnership with Sol Campbell that powered the Gunners to the Champions League final of 2006.
Toure's professionalism and character have long been praised within the game, and he's managed to have a successful Premier League career since leaving the Gunners in 2009 thanks to spells and Manchester City and current club Liverpool.
Overseas XI Centre-Back: Laurent Koscielny
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Almost a more modern version of the Toure story, Laurent Koscielny arrived as a relative unknown when Wenger snapped him up from French club Lorient in 2010.
He's gone on to prove himself as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League and has been a crucial cog in the Gunners machine as they have repeatedly secured Champions League qualification and won two FA Cups during his time at the club.
Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker both make pretty strong challenges for his spot in the team, but Koscielny's consistency and popularity among Gunners supporters sees the Frenchman take the shirt.
Overseas XI Left-Back: Gael Clichy
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Another Frenchman plays next to Koscielny at left-back, where Gael Clichy will reprise the role he played for Arsenal for eight seasons having arrived at the club in time to play 12 times in the unbeaten 2003/04 Premier League campaign.
Quick and always offering an attacking outlet, Clichy began to feature more often following the sale of Ashley Cole to Chelsea, and he became a vital cog in Wenger's machine and further proof the Gunners boss is a master of identifying talented and cheap players from his homeland.
Overseas XI Right Midfield: Freddie Ljungberg
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Two Premier League titles and three FA Cups sit on Swede Freddie Ljungberg's roll of honour, and greater still is the knowledge he contributed hugely to the winning of all of them.
Ljungberg's goals at the tail end of the 2001/02 season helped see off the challenges of Liverpool and Manchester United as Arsenal claimed the league title, and he was also a key figure in the unbeaten Premier League campaign two years later, playing in 30 of the 38 league games.
Overseas XI Centre-Midfield: Patrick Vieira
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If Tony Adams was so obviously the captain of the British side, then Patrick Vieira is of course the skipper of the Overseas XI.
As is the theme with many successful Arsenal recruits from abroad, the French midfielder was something of an unknown when Wenger rescued him from Milan's reserves in 1996, but he went on to become one of the very best midfield players in the game and a reference point for modern central-midfield play.
He won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups in nine years at Highbury and won a lot more fans along the way.
Overseas XI Centre-Midfield: Cesc Fabregas
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There's an honourable mention for the Brazilian Gilberto Silva here, but we've gone with Cesc Fabregas to add more attacking thrust to midfield as he reprises a role alongside Vieira that only lasted for one season.
Indeed, the Spaniard would take the Frenchman's No. 4 shirt and later his captain's armband as he led the side at their new Emirates Stadium, with the 2009/10 season surely seeing him at the peak of his powers as he scored 15 league goals from midfield in just 27 games.
A move back to former club Barcelona was always calling, though, although Gunners supporters are now saddened to see him back in the Premier League wearing the blue of Chelsea.
Overseas XI Left Midfield: Robert Pires
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One of the most stylish operators in the Premier League throughout the 2000s, Robert Pires is still revered among the Gunners faithful these days for his six years at the club, which brought two Premier League titles and three FA Cups.
Breaking the mould of plenty of other Wenger signings around that time, Pires was already an established player and in the France international squad when he swapped Marseille for the Gunners in the summer of 2000.
His intelligent use of the ball, excellent link-up play with a certain other member of the Overseas XI and knack of scoring important goals meant that he was a hugely watchable player—one who deservedly graces this side.
Overseas XI Centre-Forward: Dennis Bergkamp
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Acting almost as a bridge between the old Arsenal and the new, Dennis Bergkamp's place in Gunners folklore has been established for so long now that to not include him in a team such as this would rightly induce ridicule.
The elegant Dutchman wasn't brought to the club by Arsene Wenger, but he'd go on to be one of the Frenchman's most important players, helping to educate the younger stars around him and establishing an Arsenal way of doing things that has never really changed in the 20 years since.
He won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups with the club, and far, far more hearts than that.
Overseas XI Centre Forward: Thierry Henry
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And of course, the leader of the line for the Gunners' Overseas XI just has to be Thierry Henry, the club's all-time record goalscorer and a man who had every right to the title of the best forward in the world in the early to mid-2000s.
The Frenchman famously arrived from Juventus as an unheralded winger, but he was converted into one of the planet's very best players by Wenger, under whom he won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups while scoring 228 goals in all competitions.
Like Adams and Bergkamp, a statue of him resides outside the Emirates Stadium these days, and there have been few more fitting recipients of one.
Now We Know the Teams, Who'd Win?
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The teams have been selected and the battle lines drawn, but who'd win this clash between Arsenal's British and overseas talent?
Well, there's little doubt the British defence is a strong one, as Seaman plays in goal behind a back four of Dixon, Adams, Campbell and Cole, but you have to suspect the sheer amount of quality going forward makes the Overseas XI huge favourites.
With Henry and Bergkamp in attack, Pires and Ljungberg offering support from wide and Vieira and Fabregas backing them up in midfield, this side looks to be more than a match for anyone, even Arsenal's best of British, and it is they who take the crown as the top Gunners.
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