Arsenal's Greatest XI of all time

Arsenal v Watford - The Emirates FA Cup Sixth Round
"Immortality is not a gift but an achievement"

Centre-Backs

Tony Adams of Arsenal
Tony Adams - Mr Arsenal

669 appearances, captaining a title-winning squad in three different decades, and an entire career spent at the club he joined at the age of 14; Tony Adams was Arsenal through and through.

His battles with alcoholism aside, he was the model footballer and a true leader on the pitch who led by example and demanded nothing but 100% from his teammates. Marshaling the famous Arsenal back-line that saw conceding goals as an insult to their collective intelligence, Adams led the club to four league titles and three FA Cups.

Wenger called him a 'Professor of Defence', a resilient force who was capable of winning the ball on the ground or in the air and were this special team to take the field, he would be handed the captain's armband. He does have a statue outside the Emirates after all and they don't call him Mr Arsenal for nothing.

Also read: Most Influential Captains of the modern era - Tony Adams

Sol Campbell
Sol Campbell

Partnering him is his final partner in defence - Sol Campbell. The defender was signed for free from the club's biggest rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Campbell crossed the north London divide and won the Premier League title and FA Cup in his very first season.

As Adams retired, Campbell took ownership of the central defence and would be one of the club's most integral members in the Invincibles campaign where they were immortalised after an unbeaten season.

Excellent in the air (in both attack and defence), he remains the only player to score for the Gunners in a Champions League final. Not many players had the size and athleticism of Campbell in his peak, making him one of the Premier League's greatest defenders.

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Edited by Rohith Nair
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