Today we move onto one of the pivotal midfield positions as we look to build what AA readers consider to be our Team of the Decade (2010-2019).
If you missed the previous instalments, shame on you! But don’t despair, you can still vote by following the links in the sidebar below.
The final team, as selected by you, the most discerning supporters in Arsenaldom, will be revealed only when all the votes are in and tallied.
We’re going for a 4-3-3 formation (if you don’t like that approach, feel free to have a moan in comments). Today you have the chance to select one player to be the most defensively minded player in that midfield three. In the next Post you’ll be asked to fill in the other two MF positions.
Denilson
We thought he was going to be the next Gilberto but it never happened. Even so he was a regular presence in our midfield for a few years.
Alex Song
Sometimes it was a sweet song, sometimes an out-of-tune one, but Alex gave us good service over several seasons and had some great moments.
Mikel Arteta
Arrived at a tricky time and exuded pure class for his entire spell at Arsenal. Good to have him back as the boss.
Francis Coquelin
A good workhorse of a holding midfielder who maybe never lived up to his potential with us.
Matthieu Flamini
Did a decent job during his second spell at the club. Tidy and competitive.
Mohammed Elneny
Arrived as back up for the holding MF role and got a fair few outings. Mo was a good passer who seldom lost possession but perhaps could have been a bit more dynamic.
Granit Xhaka
The decade we’re looking at precedes his controversies so you should put those out of your mind. He has been one of our most regular starters since his arrival.
Lucas Torreira
When the Terrier joined us we breathed a sigh of relief, because we so clearly needed a combative DM. He quickly became a fan favourite although being played out of position by Unai Emery did him no favours.
RockyLives
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Thank you Rocky for the next installment of our team of the decade.
This one is really hard so I’m going to have to take time to choose. Back in a bit …………….. love Torreira and other sites have been putting up favourite goals, his against spuds was super fabulous. But he’s not really here to score goals …….
I was surprised when considering that it’s actually not a great choice; Arteta has been elevated by his recent appointment and Torreira is a fans favourite, I always had a soft spot for Song as I was at the Fulham away when he was 17 and first encountered the derision of our own fans (shameful), the rest don’t even really deserve assessing. When you compare it to the previous decade it makes me wonder how AW managed to go so off course.
LB
To support your point, if Gilberto was among the options I suspect he would get close to 100%.
For the decade (from 2010 to 2019), in a 4-3-3.
It came down to 2 players for me in this position, Song and Arteta.
Individually, they were each involved (I believe) in 27 (16 goals & 11 assists from Arteta in 5 seasons; 7 goals & 20 assists from Song in 3 seasons) of our team’s goals & assists at all competitions during this period (2010 – 2019). Being the DM, their aggression and tactical fouling contributed: Arteta (23 yellows and 1 red) and Song (34 yellows and 1 red) in this period from all competitions.
Both can play DM and CM, breaking up opposition play with the additional playmaking ability from deep (what Xhaka is doing now). A bonus is that Song could also slot in at CB occasionally.
My final choice is Alex Song (2010 to 2012) in my team.
My team (continued):
GK. Petr Čech (from 2016 to 2019, 4 seasons)
RB. Bacary Sagna (from 2010 to 2014, 5 seasons)
LB. Nacho Monreal (from 2013 to 2019, 7 seasons)
CB. Laurent Koscielny (from 2011 to 2019, 9 seasons)
CB. Per Mertesacker (from 2012 to 2018, 7 seasons)
DM: Alex Song (from 2010 to 2012, 3 seasons)
Torreira for the defensive requirements with an Arteta brain for creativity.
Coquelin Cazorla Rambo
All this talk of Juve looking to sell Rambo….. and won’t Cazorla be a free agent at the end of this season? He’s often spoke of his love for Arsenal… his friendship with Mikel…. I wonder if we’ll see him back at the Emirates?!! 🙂
Good video Peaches.
Interestingly, Coquelin has been attracting some support in the vote for this position, as have a number of different payers.
I voted for Torreira but it was a toss up with Song, just because Song had that one season where he was just amazing but then it got to his head and he messed up his career after that. The DM position is a bit like the LB, we had decent players but no stand out performers. The last great DMs were Gilberto and Flamini (spell 1).
I think barring injuries, the best combination of midfield from 2010 to 2019 could have been:
Ramsey, Coquelin, Santi – Ozil ?
So far my team is:
Cech – Bac, BFG, Kos, Clichy – Torreira
Morning all
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