Picking a Best Arsenal XI Using Only 1 Player of Each Nationality

Choosing the Arsenal team is rarely an easy task. During December's Champions League win over Basel, Arsene Wenger showed that the intense competition within his squad makes picking his first XI particularly difficult.

Squad players like Alex Iwobi and Lucas Perez impressed alongside star names Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. When Wenger comes to name his side for the Premier League clash with Stoke City on Saturday, he'll face a number of agonising dilemmas. 

However, imagine if he had to face the stipulation of only naming one player from each nationality. Even if you make available all the best players in Arsenal's modern history, it's still very difficult to find the balance. Can you find the perfect team in those circumstances?

Criteria

As suggested, it's a simple case of one player per nation. However, those must be FIFA-sanctioned teams, and there can only be one nationality per player. Robert Pires may have been eligible to represent both Portugal and Spain, but as far as this exercise is concerned, he is French. Similarly, the Catalan Cesc Fabregas counts as a Spaniard. 

However, to make your task easier, we have made available every Arsenal player in this century. Anyone who represented the club from the year 2000 on is eligible. That brings into consideration some of the great Wenger teams, including 2004's Invincibles. How many of those will make the cut?

The team must be named in a recognised regular formation. You can't get away with fielding two defenders and a host of strikers—this needs to be a team that would function on the field.

How would you put together Arsenal's multi-national XI? There are some nightmarish decisions ahead, especially given the number of Englishmen and Frenchmen who have been involved in Wenger's best sides. 

Only one of Sol Campbell or Tony Adams can make it. Equally, Arsenal fans must choose between Pires, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry.

Read on to discover our XI, then respond with your own in the comments section. Let's begin.

Goalkeeper: Petr Cech, Czech Republic 

Arsenal's current No. 1 is a great choice to play between the sticks. Cech has been a fine addition since arriving from Chelsea, vanquishing memories of the erratic Wojciech Szczesny and winning the Golden Glove in his first campaign in north London. 

Choosing Cech also helps keep options open for elsewhere in the team. Arsenal's other great goalkeepers of this century, Jens Lehmann and David Seaman, are German and English, respectively. Picking them would rule out too many gifted outfield players.

Right-back: Lauren, Cameroon 

Lauren remains one of the most underrated players of the Wenger era. Despite helping the club to go an entire Premier League season unbeaten, he doesn't receive due recognition as one of the best right-backs in Arsenal's history.

Converted from a midfielder, his attacking style would be beneficial in this team's 4-2-3-1 system, as it's incumbent on the full-backs to provide width.

ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images

Centre-back: Kolo Toure, Ivory Coast 

Still playing with Scottish side Celtic, Toure might seem a surprising choice at centre-back. Wenger has had some titanic central defenders like Laurent Koscielny, Campbell and Adams at his disposal. However, those nationalities are needed to give strength to the attacking areas of the team. Arsenal teams always have an attacking focus, and this one is no different.

Nevertheless, the Ivorian Toure was still outstanding throughout 2003/04. His athleticism was matched by courage on the ball, meaning he could help bring the ball forward into midfield. Furthermore, no one will be to disappointed that his selection rules out Emmanuel Eboue.

Centre-back: Thomas Vermaelen, Belgium

Eyebrows will certainly be raised by the selection of Vermaelen. However, when he first arrived at Arsenal, he was a revelation. Injuries have since dogged his career, but for a short while, he was one of the most promising centre-backs in European football.

Left-back: Ashley Cole, England

He may not be a popular man in north London these days, but Cole is arguably the best left-back in Premier League history. He'll renew his full-back partnership with Lauren in this team, combining defensive solidity with attacking overlaps.

SANG TAN/Associated Press

Defensive midfielder: Gilberto Silva, Brazil 

A Brazilian World Cup winner and Premier League champion, Gilberto wold be a vital cog in this team. 

With the centre of defence arguably being the weak point of this side, it will be incumbent on Gilberto to protect the back four. Fortunately, there are few better at that particular job.

For reasons that shall become clear, we've not been able to select the iconic Vieira, but Gilberto's presence will help make up for his absence.

Defensive midfielder: Santi Cazorla, Spain

Arsenal's diminutive magician will be the side's deep-plying playmaker. With Gilberto acting as enforcer alongside him, Santi Cazorla will be free to dictate the play.

His metronomic passing would establish the rhythm for this Arsenal team to play to. What's more, his dribbling ability and vision would also enable them to swiftly turn defence into attack and hurt teams on the counter. With the pace in the forward line, that could prove invaluable.

Tom Jenkins/Getty Images

Right-sided attacking midfielder: Mesut Ozil, Germany 

Another one of the current side to make the cut is Germany international Ozil. His creative genius makes him a must-have—sorry, Per Mertesacker.

Ozil has been shunted out of his preferred No. 10 berth to a role on the right-hand side to accommodate other stars. However, he's shown at international level that he can be comfortable on the flanks, and with Lauren offering width from deep, he could comfortably drift inside to exert his influence in the centre.

No. 10: Dennis Bergkamp, Netherlands 

Leaving Bergkamp out is unthinkable. It means that the likes of Marc Overmars and Robin van Persie haven't even come into consideration. The thought of Bergkamp combining with Ozil as Arsenal's creative fulcrum is mouthwatering. 

With the two other attackers we've picked for this team making runs ahead of that pair, this side would surely rack up goals with ease.

Left-sided attacking midfielder: Alexis Sanchez, Chile

Alexis is the first and only Chilean to have played for Arsenal, and as such, his inclusion in the team is a straightforward one. His performances this season have elevated him to another level, and his explosive style would give Arsenal a huge goal threat off the flanks.

He's been named for this team at the expense of several Arsenal greats, including the likes of Freddie Ljungberg. That speaks volumes about his growing status with the Gunners.

Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images

Striker: Thierry Henry, France 

Sorry, Pires, sorry, Vieira—Henry is the standout French representative of Arsenal in this century. The greatest goalscorer in Arsenal history simply had to make the team. 

Henry is much more than just a centre-forward, and naming him in the same side as Alexis opens up the intriguing possibility of those two players constantly switching position and bamboozling the opposition defence.

Over to you: Who would be in your combined Arsenal XI comprised of one player from each country? Leave your comments and choices below or reply on social media.