Basically with that line up you are asking Iwobi, Lacazette and mhikitaryan to win the match by themselves. All the other players are forming a defensive base and aren’t good around opposing penalty boxes. There’s just not enough firepower there.

I think the manager is average too. The whole thing just feels wrong. We put 10 past this mob last season with a team featuring Walcott, Willock, Maitland Niles, Reiss Nelson. He’s getting things wrong. We all believed he would get more from this group of players. The style of football we’re playing is dull. Someone on Twitter jokingly calls him a USB Rioch. I think he's right.

The whole club is a mess. Mislintat, Özil, Ramsey, Kroenke. It's bollocks.

Listening to arsecast and he’s nailing it. Says the only thing we have from an attacking perspective is Iwobi playing in Kolasinac on the overlap. That’s it, nothing else. He’s right

This team and squad is worse than the one we had few years ago. Walcott and the Ox would be playing every single minute of every game at the moment

Agree. I listened first thing and found it hard to disagree with anything.

Ever since the club lost Danny Fiszman, Dein and the old board it’s never been the same. Even if they weren’t perfect and we used to moan about them they seemed to know what arsenal were all about.

The new lot, Kroenke, Mislintat, Gazidis some *%^@*** big time Spanish Barca exec Sanelhi and now their talking about some foreign director at Roma. Do any of these *%^@ understand arsenal and what’s required ?

I doubt it. Does anyone reckon even now with his health conditions Dein would do a worse job as director than Sanelhi or anyone else.

Surely Dein would have been pragmatic enough to negotiate to buy Suarez from Liverpool when the morons at the club offered 50 million and one pound exactly to meet his buyout clause. What f&*%wit came up with that idea.

The club is a mess top to bottom and everyone mentioned is making a killing off arsenal fans whilst serving up utter dross on the pitch.

Your list has a lot of merit. The first two are the same for me, but Petit comes third. He and Vieira is the best central midfield I've ever seen at Arsenal.

Are you counting Pires as a winger but Rocastle, who played mostly out wide, as a central player? I saw Alan Ball so he walks into my top ten. As does Stewart Robson who you don't mention at all. I agree with you putting Williams and Davis quite high.

I'm also going to get Charlie George in as a midfielder. After all, Radford and Kennedy were the front two he played behind in the first double season. The only reason I've excluded Alan Hudson is he didn't play enough games.

My own top ten: 1) Vieira 2) Brady 3) Petit 4) Ball 5) Rocastle 6) Fabregas 7) Williams 8) Robson 9) Davis 10) George

Great top ten ! Ball was supposed to be a cracking player.

i consider rocky a midfielder primarily a midfielder rather than winger and whilst he did often play on the right he also played in the centre and I saw him more of a workhorse midfield than a winger hence his inclusion. Actually and for that reason the notable omission from both our tens in ominous, what about the Romford pele! 3 titles 4 fa cups and a league cup! How did we miss him, I’m not sure who I would remove from my ten to include him.

This from Amy Lawrence in this morning’s Grauniad:

“It speaks volumes for the scale of change since Arsenal visited the Borisov Arena in last season’s Europa League that out of the 18-man squad who came during Arsène Wenger’s final campaign only four travelled this time. Most of last season’s headline players here - Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere - feel part of a different era.
The really complicated bit is that last year’s crop, who won 4-2 here, were unmistakably the B team, players who were struggling to get into Arsenal’s Premier League selection. This was Emery’s selection more or less at full strength, barring injuries and illness, and they found the going extremely heavy. Shaping a new Arsenal identity is not a particularly simple task in a squad who still have a transitional feel.”

Understandable that you rate Petit so highly B - can't say I'd argue - but - he wouldn't be that high on my list because wasn't really with us that long. Looking at your list and their respective appearances:
1) Vieira 279
2) Brady 235
3) Petit 85
4) Ball 177
5) Rocastle 228
6) Fabregas 212
7) Williams 95
8) Robson 150
9) Davis 446
10) George 133

Surely picking Rocky ahead of Fàbregas is pure sentimentality. Parlour has to be included

I think Manu was a great midfielder but not as good as Cesc especially in the legend stakes for legging it off to Barca

My adjusted one

1) Patrick Vieira (the king)
2) Liam Brady
3) Cesc Fabregas (will anger some but it’s my list)
4) Emmanuel Petitt
5) David Rocastle
6) Steve Williams (why did George sell him, he seemed a very George player)
7) Ray Parlour
8) Mickey Thomas (I’m so tempted to put him higher but he could be such a lazy git sometimes but that was the conundrum about him as a player )
9) The invisible wall
10) Paul Davis

Hi Soc

The frustrating thing about last night is that these chumps weren't even good at parking the bus. We just did nothing. Persevering with 3 centre backs against a team with a feeble attacking threat. It was terrible stuff.

Freddie? More of a central midfielder than Rocky..

I always thought of him as a wide attacker .

I certainly see Ljungberg as a wider player.

I think Rocastle had a better all round game than Fabregas. Both were supremely gifted, but Rocastle consistently won the ball too. For me Parlour isn't quite gifted enough to get in my top ten.

Willock with two more goals for the U23s tonight. They lead spurs 3-0 at Ht. probably deserves some more first team chances

Was Stewart robson much better than parlour ? He was before my time.

That explains it. Didn't realise Robson pre-dates you. But yes, he was.

No he was not.

And with good cause. Cazorla was a lovely player. Better than Williams, Parlour, Stewart Robson, Paul Davis. Ramsey should be in there too.

Come off it. Of course he was!

OK So Peter Storey and "Stanley" Simpson, the two midfield anchors that brought us our first "Double", don't get a mention...?? - Unbelievable!

Which player would you remove for Ramsey then ?cazorla maybe for Davis at best.

Surely Peter Simpson is predominantly remembered as a central defender? McLintock's partner in the first double season.

Personally I'd go for Davis instead of Cazorla. Think dec is grossly over-rating both him and Ramsey. It's not all about technical ability. If it was, Hudson and Özil would walk into everyone's top ten.

Yes, though I think of Stan as a great defender a little further back than midfield. He was very adaptable and could play several roles. Another who I rated was Talbot - phenomenal strength and will-to-win. A personal favourite from an earlier time was Jimmy Bloomfield - a class act.

However, the best of the lot was the incomparable Paddy.

Oh, no he wasn't!

Jon Sammels was a very gifted player too - great passer, wonderful shot and a bit harder in the tackle than his critics believed.

I know it is not all about technical ability, but that is primarily what differentiates top players from the rest. Cazorla has played over 70 times for Spain, winning 2 Euro championships at a time when they never had a better selection of midfielders. I really liked Paul Davis and think that he was under-rated during his career but Santi was comfortably a better player.

You must be on a wind up.

A bit more skillful perhaps, but sorry not even close to being 'comfortably a better player'. Davis won the ball back as well as being very talented.

Kusal Perera 153 not out to beat SA by one wicket at Kingsmead. One for the ages that.

With all the debate about our greatest midfielders I notice not even a mention for Xhaka. He'd struggle to make the top 30.

I'd be amazed if they achieved either. But I'd agree: 4th is the marginal less improbable of the two.

Just as some weekends are chock full of high class sport, this week is the opposite. Couple of poxy cup ties in which I have no interest whatever, so I watched the cricket.

Wow!

South Africa v Sri Lanka - what a last session. Needing 304 in the final innings, Sri Lanka were well placed on 206-6, but SA took quick wickets and had it all but wrapped up at 226-9. Then Perera took control, farming the bowling to knock off the 78 runs needed. He finished on 153 not out and his partner Fernando faced 28 balls to score 6, 4 of which came from overthrows! Amazing game.

Were you watching, Decaf?

Although any of Inter, Napoli, Sevilla, Valencia, Villareal and Benfica could beat us over two legs, I'd make us the favourites against all of them. For me winning the Europa League still looks more likely than finishing above both Chelsea and Manchester United in the Premier League (assuming that overtaking Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham is beyond us).

top 30? Wouldn't make my top 100!

As well as those already mentioned, for a top 30 I'd include the following (in no particular order):
Kelly, Talbot, Gilberto, Edu, Petrovic, Rosicky

What are you on. I'd love some if you've got any to spare................

Win the Europa when we can't even beat Bate away

Worst ten arsenal midfielders ?

Where do you start