Arsenal Thread

[TheArsenal]

I call for a retirement of the No.10.

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I don't.

David Seaman was a greta and loyal servant for 12 years but we didn't retire the number 1.

Ian Wright was a legend, but Ljungberg has his shirt.

I think it's right that the only retired shirt in the club is the number 6 - and the club are yet to confirm if that is permanently retired. Great players come and go - you can't retire the shirt of all of them!

[Cortez]

I can't belive he has been with us for 10 seasons, he has been a great and loyal player for us. Glad to see him staying with us for another season hopefully he will be as influencial next season as he has been this season.

[Guest I Bleed Red]

I'm glad that you don't seem to retire numbers like we do over here. While having a retired number is a great tribute to the player, as no one else can have it, it's still nice to see the link to the past still being on the field.

Like our #7, goes back to Best, Cantona, Beckham, now it's on Ronaldo, who is on the verge of superstardom..

That's just one example though, I'm sure there's countless examples of such at each club..

[FLiam]

I think 10 should be retired too. When he came we took a HUUUGE step fowards and have gone foward ever since. He is the greatest player to wear red and white.

Edited May 12, 2004 by Gooner4Life

[RawIsWar]

I dont think they should retire the number 10, in the years to come someone will eventually reach the stardom as the number 10

[TheArsenal]

I think 10 should be retired too. When he came we took a HUUUGE step fowards and have gone foward ever since. He is the greatest player to wear red and white.

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Woah, easy there fella!!!

Now I wouldn't have anyone bad mouth the club or it's players - but Bergkamp the greatest player to ever wear Red and White? Not a snowball's chance in hell.

The fact that we got better when he arrived wasn't anything to do with him. He didn't score for about 2 months and we were going to sell him straight away becuase of his poor form. Arsene Wenger arrived soon and THAT is the reason why we did so much better. Bergkamp has scored around 100 goals for the club ( I know it's VERY few more than that) in 10 seasons, which averages at around 10 a season. Definately not enough for his shirt to be retired.

Best player ever to wear an Arsenal shirt?

NO WAY!!

Ted Drake, Liam Brady, Frank McLintock, Charlie George, Ray Kennedy, John Radford, Cliff Bastin, David O'Leary, Alan Smith, Tony Adams, Paul Merson, Patrick Vieira, Ian Wright and Thierry Henry.

That's to name but a few. There are a lot of players from further back to name, but I don't want it to look as if I'm putting Dennis down too much. Averaging 10 goals a season for a striker cn't make him the best player ever to wear Red and White. Let's not get carried away people.

[TMM]

I agree with what TheArsenal said.

He's not the greatest Arsenal plyer ever, but he is so loved by everybody who has ANYTHING to do with Arsenal Football Club. He's probably one of, if not the favourite player of many Arsenal fans.

That's the main reason why I would retire number 10. I can't imagine any other player wearing 10, just like anyone else wearing 6 would be weird. Van Persie or Bentley would seem right with 10 I guess, but nobody else that I can think of.

[FLiam]

I am sorry, but he is the most gifted and talented player to wear red and white.

Edited March 24, 2008 by Cloberella

[Cortez]

Henry will most definatley go down as our best player ever when he retires or leaves us.

Does any one now the full line up for Keowns testimonial.

[supergrass]

I'll be there. The only names I know of that are confirmed are Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham.

There's a celebrity match at half time too apparently.

[TheArsenal]

Bergkamp's Arsenal Scoring Record

95/96 - 16

96/97 - 14

97/98 - 22*

98/99 - 16

99/00 - 10 - 26

00/01 - 05 - 22

01/02 - 14 - 32+

02/03 - 07 - 32

03/04 - 05 - 38+

*Bergkamp Arsenal's Leading Scorer

+Henry Golden Boot Winner

The numbers in the right hand side column are Theirry Henry's Goal Scoring Record - just to compare. I mean Bergkamp has scored some wonder goals, but when you want to be challenging for as many competitions as we do, you need a high QUANTITY of goals, not necesarily high QUALITY. (Although Henry has shown they can come together).

Bergkamp has scored 109 goals in 9 seasons. That averages at just over 12 goals a season. He has been Arsenal's leading scorer just once - in the 1998 double winning season, when Anelka and Wright were sharing the other striker's spot.

Henry has scored 150 goals in 5 seasons, averaging out at 30 goals a season. He has been Arsenal's top goal scorer every year since he joined the club and has won the Golden Boot twice (including this year). Henry's average is 2 and a half times higher than Bergkamp's!!!

When you look at assists, the other half of goalscoring, you can see that in the last two or three years there is an emerging pattern - our assists come mainly from two men, maybe three. Henry and Pires, and maybe including Ljungberg. If Bergkamp were at Man Utd, or Real Madrid, he probably would have lost his place in the side. If he was at Chelsea, he would have been tinkered out the door!!

Don't get me wrong, Bergkamp is a loyal servant of the club and has done some great things, but you cannot just retire the shirt of every great player that comes along! WE ARE ARSENAL!!!! We are a great club, therefore we will have great players!! If you retire the shirt of every great player that comes along, pretty soon there will be no squad numbers left!

You do not have to retire a shirt number to remember a legacy. I would be more than happy for Bergkamp's legacy to live on through David Bentley. The two players are very similar. If Bentley goes out on loan next season, then next summer Bergkamp will say his farewell's to the club and hand over his legacy - the number 10 shirt - to Bentley. Van Persie, being a left sided player, could have the number 11 shirt as Wiltord is going. Give the number 25 shirt to Jeremie Aliadiere, as Kanu is out the door in the summer.

That would leave us starting 2005/2006 with:-

14 - Henry

09 - Reyes

10 - Bentley

11 - Van Persie

25 - Aliadiere

A very young, very talented and very fast strike force.

[supergrass]

If any shirt was ever going to be retired it would've been the 8 after Wrighty quit, but it went on, and so should every other number. Sometimes it means a lot to a player to be given a boost by wearing the number lots of Arsenal greats have.

I'm pleased Bergkamp is staying around. He might not play every game but he's still in good form and is surprisingly quick over a short distance. Plus he can work with the younger forwards coming through.

[TheArsenal]

Good points supergrass.....but if it was going to be any shirt I would say the number 6.

Tony Adams was a great player for us. He was at the club for 19 years and never played for anyone else. He was captain for 14 years and is the most successful captain the club has ever had, lifting the Premiership trophy twice, the FA Cup three times, the League Cup twice, the Old Division One Championship twice and the European Cup Winners Cup once.

He helped lead the club from midtable obscurity to a dominating force in world football, and did it all while overcoming personal demons - and a jail sentence in the early 1990's. He still put all that behind him to captain England. Truely one of the greeatest men to play with a cannon on his chest.

[supergrass]

Won't get any arguments there. I'd like to see him bounce back with Wycombe next year, I guess that'll a test for him next year to prove what he knows.

If you keep retiring shirts of legendary players, at a club like Arsenal it's going to stupid. We'll end up retiring the 8 for Wright/Ljungberg, 14 for Henry, 10 for Bergkamp, 4 for Vieira and so on. It'll just get to the point where players are running out in 3 figure numbers eventually. It's a nice gesture and all, but it doesn't work.

[TheArsenal]

Exactly my point above supergrass (regarding retiring shirts).

Considering the number 6 shirt hasn't been used for two years, in which time defenders have joined the club, I feel it has probably already been retired. However I'm not sure about the status of Lee Dixon's number 2 shirt, which still lies vacant.

I would love to see Tony Adams bounce back with Wycombe, but to be fair - I think the board knew Wycombe were going to get relelgated. They put Adams in charge - his first managerial job - when they were 15 points behind their closest opposition. It was more damage limitation than anything else. I think Adams will either come straight back up, or take a year out to rebuild the side. Most likely the first option.

Either way, I want him to learnt he trade so one day he can come back to Arsenal and manage us!!

[supergrass]

I'm not too sure about 6 and 2 being retired. Campbell was already at the club before Adams finally called it a day, Toure was only a reserve so wouldn't be given the 6 shirt. Lauren and Dixon played together so he hasn't had the 2 shirt.

I can't imagine too many people ever managing us after Wenger, but Adams wouldn't be bad if he can get the hang of it.

[Jook]

No shirts should ever be retired, it's just fucking stupid. You're bound to have at least one 'Legendary' player every 5 or 6 years, so what happens in 50 years? You run out of numbers.

[Guest Pirate Chasin' Booty]

My point was more of a light hearted joke than anything else, I'm a big fan of Bergkamp and although he's not a goal scoring machine he's a loyal player and can still hang it with people 10 years younger than him. Retiring shirts IS a nice gesture, but yes it could get out of control if someone gets into a habit of doing it.

Although when a player dies whilst playing for the club, I think its a very respectable thing to do.

Numbers above 29, generally look stupid.

[Jook]

Yeah, when a player dies, then I think it should be retired. Did Foe have his retired at City?

[FLiam]

25 doesn't suit Aliadiere, 30 suits him fine.

And I want van Persie to be No. 11 too, no other numbers looks right, funny how numbers look right on certain people