Sansom, Winterburn or Cole: Who is Arsenal’s greatest modern left back?

I guess the occasion of Arsenal anti-hero Ashley Cole’s 100^th cap got me thinking this week. Arsenal, in my time, have been blessed in the left back position. I just missed double winner Bob McNab, but grew up watching Sammy Nelson and John Devine, before Kenny Samson arrived at the club in 1980. From 1980 until 2006, over a 26 year period, barring a season or so with Silvinho, it has been my pleasure to watch arguably 3 of the greatest exponents of fullback play England has known. Clichy was not shabby but not in the same division as Kenny Sansom, Nigel Winterburn or Ashley Cole. These are 3 giants of the modern era, sharing 188 England caps between them. So who was our greatest left back and how could one begin to measure it? I hope I have found a fairly conclusive and foolproof method but first a few words on each from my own perspective.

Kenny Sansom was already England’s first choice whilst at Crystal Palace when he arrived at Arsenal in the late summer of 1980. He was to remain so for many years, amassing 86 caps and starring at 2 major tournaments with his country. He became a fan favourite instantly, strong in the tackle, an amazing header of the ball for a short guy and soon became our skipper. Sadly for Kenny, he captained Arsenal through a lean spell, (yes, and an 8 year one!) but I was delighted along with thousands of us to see him lift the Littlewoods Cup at Wembley, my own first live final. Kenny is Mr Arsenal and still works for the club today but in 1988 he was one of the senior pro casualties along with Anderson and Nicholas under George Graham. He is still one of my all time favourite player. We had beaten Liverpool when Rush had scored first, something that have never happened and he had lead his young team to that final. 1 Nil down 2 one up!

Having played one season at right back after signing from Wimbledon, Nigel ‘Nutty’ Winterburn took over from Kenny on the left. He was to retain the position incredibly for the next 12 years. Winterburn epitomised the grit and never say die attitude of the Graham era. He was a solid defender in his own right, whilst perhaps not world class. However for Nigel, it was being part of a unit and perhaps the best back four in English top flight history. Along with Dixon, Adams and Bould, and later Keown, Winterburn straddled the Graham and Wenger eras, the two most rewarding in the club’s history. Nutty, by some mishap of time, gained 2 England caps, scant reward for his ability, but like Leighton Baines‘ misfortune today with Cole, the 75 caps in Stuart Pearce’s closet provide the explanation. Although I will still struggle to this day to comprehend the 15 earned by Tony Dorigo over Nutty. Sentiment will have Nigel high on everyone’s list of Gooner legends and I include myself in that number and his winner at Stamford Bridge in Wenger’s first title is at 44 in the list of top 50 great Arsenal goals.

Finally, we of course come to the most popular of the 3 with the faithful, Ashley Cole. The only one we can boast to have produced ourselves. The first homegrown to make the first team in the Wenger era. Given the talent we had in the team and our spending policy back in the early naughties, that in itself informs us we had a very special talent in our ranks. Let’s get this right for those who do not remember the facts from 2001. Silvinho had been signed to replace Winterburn and his form in 1999/2000 and at the start of the following season had been so impressive that it had earned him him a call up and 6 caps for the mighty Brazil. Yes, the same side who went on to win the World Cup in 2002. Yet, after an injury, the Brazilian found he could not regain his place from a 21-year-old English ex winger named Cole.

We all know the facts surrounding Cole’s departure after 5 superb years and it is unlikely the fans will forgive him. He did win 2 league titles and 3 FA Cups in a Golden era however and we should always be proud of the fact that Brady and our set up make him, so to speak. Ironically, the circumstances around his salary and his leaving are not so unusual to us now. He has been described as the greatest left back in the world by many pundits but is he the best of our 3 greats? By definition, he must be, you might think, but not necessarily because my question is who was our greatest? So was Cole the world’s best between 2001 and 2006 whilst at Highbury where he of course played in the last match? After all, Sansom himself was described in the 1980s as the best left back in the world and Winterburn stayed as Arsenal left back for 12 years.

So how can we determine who was the best of these 3 modern greats and who are the experts I speak of in the title? Has 1ND2OU managed to interview the press or ex players? No, I have not, but I have done far better. I have canvassed the view of the true experts in the case, the fans who have stood or sat at Highbury or the Emirates as I have watching all 3 close up. Yes readers, I have the views of 35 Gooners of the ‘Senior’ variety. All 40 plus and in some cases 60 plus, Peter you know who you are! If you are on twitter, you will know most of these guys. If you read blogs other than mine, as I am sure you do, you will notice some of the very best Arsenal bloggers as well as other Arsenal twitter dignitaries have assisted me to find the answer to this burning question.

I asked 35 of the ‘Senior Survey brigade’ as I have called them (much to @LordHillwood’s amusement) to mark all three left backs out of 10 for first defensive ability and secondly attacking ability to give each player a mark out of 20. So without further ado, let’s find out definitively who was ‘Arsenal’s Greatest Left Back.’

Kenny Sansom 1980-88

Senior Gooner Panel	Defensive Ability out of 10	Attacking Ability out of 10	Total Score
@goonerdave66	9	8	17
@GeoffArsenal	8	8	16
@Arselona	8	7	15
@theN5er	10	7	17
@AngryofN5	10	8	18
@TrueStorey_No4	8	7	15
@Yogis_Warrior	9	7	16
@SheWore	9	7	16
@AFC_Glen	7	7	14
@Tootlesthetaxi	9	9	18
@sjc1951	7	7	14
@poznaninmypants	9	6	15
@GarytheGooner1956	10	8	18
@bertieB56	7	7	14
@YorkshireGooner	9	7.5	16.5
@Head_Stone	7	6	13
@SLGooner14	8	7.5	15.5
@LordHillwood	8	7	15
@Mick_Wilkinson	9	5	14
@Gooner1947	6	8	14
@HarlowGooner	8	8	16
@Dazzyd001	8	8	16
@JamrockRover	7	7	14
@DarrenArsenal1	8	7	15
@KeiththeGooner	9	6	15
@GaryPrince	9	9	18
@StevesBaldCo	7	6	13
@Cats_Arse	7	7	14
@1markconway	6	3	9
@jonathanwood	9	8	17
@AfcMark1	8	6	14
@mattRowntree	7	7	14
@Dabbott48	9	7	16
@The1971JB	9	7	16
@DavidAFC68	6	4	10
Total	284	244	528

Nigel Winterburn 1987 – 2000

Senior Gooner Panel	Defensive Ability out of 10	Attacking Ability out of 10	Total Score
@goonerdave66	9.5	7.5	17
@GeoffArsenal	9	7	16
@Arselona	9	7	16
@theN5er	9	7	16
@AngryofN5	9	8	17
@TrueStorey_No4	9	8	17
@Yogis_Warrior	9	4	13
@SheWore	9	8	17
@AFC_Glen	8	8	16
@Tootlesthetaxi	7	7	14
@sjc1951	8	8	16
@poznaninmypants	8	6	14
@GarytheGooner1956	9	8	17
@bertieB56	8	6	14
@YorkshireGooner	8.5	7	15.5
@Head_Stone	8	7	15
@SLGooner14	8	7	15
@LordHillwood	7	6	13
@Mick_Wilkinson	8	5
@Gooner1947	9	5	14
@HarlowGooner	9	7	18
@Dazzyd001	9	6	15
@JamrockRover	8	5	13
@DarrenArsenal1	8	6	14
@KeiththeGooner	9	7	16
@GaryPrince	9	8	17
@StevesBaldCo	9	5	14
@Cats_Arse	8	7	15
@1markconway	7	4	11
@jonathanwood	9	6	15
@AfcMark1	8	6	14
@mattRowntree	6	8	14
@Dabbott48	9	8	17
@The1971JB	8	7	15
@DavidAFC68	8	6	14
Total	293	227.5	520.5

Ashley Cole 1999 – 2006

Senior Gooner Panel	Defensive Ability out of 10	Attacking Ability out of 10	Total Score
@goonerdave66	8	9	17
@GeoffArsenal	9	9	18
@Arselona	9	9	18
@theN5er	9	9	18
@AngryofN5	10	9	19
@TrueStorey_No4	9	9	18
@Yogis_Warrior	8	8	16
@SheWore	8	8	16
@AFC_Glen	8	8	16
@Tootlesthetaxi	8	7	15
@sjc1951	7	9	16
@poznaninmypants	7	9	16
@GarytheGooner1956	9	10	19
@bertieB56	9	8	17
@YorkshireGooner	8.5	10	18.5
@Head_Stone	9	8	17
@SLGooner14	8.5	8.5	17
@LordHillwood	8	8	16
@Mick_Wilkinson	8	8	16
@Gooner1947	8	5	13
@HarlowGooner	8	8	16
@Dazzyd001	9	9	18
@JamrockRover	8	7	15
@DarrenArsenal1	7	8	15
@KeiththeGooner	10	10	20
@GaryPrince	9	10	19
@StevesBaldCo	8	7	15
@Cats_Arse	8	8	16
@1markconway	6	7	15
@jonathanwood	9	7	16
@AfcMark1	7	9	16
@mattRowntree	8	7	15
@Dabbott48	9	8	17
@The1971JB	7	8	15
@DavidAFC68	9	7	16
Total	290	288.5	578.5

Conclusion

So there you have it. Ashley Cole, according to an expert panel, was the greatest of our 3 legendary left backs. He played for us the least number of years but he packed a lot of success into that time and was integral to it. Most will never have the affection for him that we have for Sansom and Winterburn but we should still be proud that when all is said and done, it is Arsenal FC that made Ashley Cole the players he is and no one else. So, if we cannot be proud of the man, we should be proud of the player. Make no mistake, all 3 were among their best in their own time. Nigel ‘Nutty’ Winterburn, my personal favourite, would have played 50 ties for his country in any other time period when he was at his peak. Indeed, the temptation to pick the Arsenal back four in front of Seaman for England must have played on the minds of at least 3 England mangers in Taylor, Venables and Hoddle. You might also note that my expert panel have Nigel as marginally the best defender of the 3 and it was the attacking dimension in Cole’s game that gave him the edge.

Special thanks to all 34 of my superb panel who set aside personal feelings and displayed high professionalism, despite a few spicy comments, in giving a true evaluation and selecting Ashley Cole. I was genuinely intrigued and thought it might have been a tad closer than it was but can you really argue with 35 seasoned supporters who have witnessed all 3 at their peak? The panel will be reading this at the same time as you so please join me in thanking them all for their contribution and making this a special blog with a difference. If you are not on twitter, the names will mean little to you but trust me these guys all know their Arsenal and if you are on twitter and are a younger fan, I recommend you follow them all today.