Devoid of big-name talent (not that Thierry Henry was ever a ‘big-time Charlie’) and a collection of players that oozes vitality and endless quality, is this the best-ever Arsenal squad?

Most of the club's 30-plus players are the right side of 22. Arsene Wenger has chopped and changed, rid himself of aging dead wood and has what appears to be the best playing staff Gunners' fans have ever been blessed with.

It says so much about the Arsenal boss that there are few players in his Arsenal cannon who would have been known to even the most knowledgeable football fan a couple of years ago. Now the players in red and white are known worldwide and are a close-knit group devoid of the backbiting and ego-driven wage demands exhibited elsewhere. The start to the season has not been explosive but strong enough to suggest that not only is there life after TH14, but things are blossoming in the Emirates garden.

'Wenger's philosophy of blooding youngsters at an early age is proving to be a risk worth taking'


"You’ll win nothing with kids," football pundit Alan Hansen famously said at the start of the 1996-7 campaign when David Beckham and Paul Scholes led Manchester United to the title. And the ability of Wenger's youngsters is as frightening as it is prodigious. The manager's philosophy of blooding youngsters at an early age is proving to be a risk worth taking.

With just two of his squad over 30, one of which is Jens Lehmann who will not be at the Emirates much longer and the other Gilberto Silva, at the peak of his game, Arsenal fans can afford to be smug. The question that many supporters are asking is whether they can win the title and Champions League. I do not think it would be a bridge too far to predict that newly-installed captain William Gallas could soon be lifting either trophy, be it this season or the next.

The most noteworthy point to make here is that the club's impending success has been achieved during a relatively spendthrift time when stadium building has taken a big chunk of the transfer budget from Wenger’s pocket.

The United Nations of talent in situ in N5 may have been assembled frugally, but there is nothing cheap about the side that Arsene has built. Speedy in attack, sharp in the tackle and always looking to press the opposition, Arsenal are a joy to watch. I assure you I write these words not as a Gunner but as a lover of free- flowing football and I love what I have seen.

In Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal have a player who will soon be the best on the planet. In Kolo Toure, last season especially, they have a player who gives 100 per cent every minute of every game and does so with an assurity not seen since the days of Tony Adams. In Robin van Persie they have a striker who is almost the complete player. I could add a dozen other players who have shown just what they can do in the Premier League in recent weeks and months.

The Gunners have spent a great deal less on players than any of their fellow top-four incumbents in recent years. One interesting statistic is worth mentioning. Since 2000, Arsenal have broken the £10m barrier on just two players, Jose Antonio Reyes (what a bargain!) and Sylvain Wiltord. In the same period Chelsea have purchased 16 players for £10m-plus, with Manchester United and Liverpool breaking the barrier eight and six times respectively.

Am I going overboard with my observation that things have never been better for the red half of north London? It’s a fairly big claim that this is the best crop of talent that has ever worn the shirt. It won’t be too long before the Frenchman and his young side prove me correct.

Do you agree with Mark that this is the best squad Arsenal have ever had? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.