A massive squad but who is Arsenal's best XI?

Afternoon Gooners,

How are we all today? Are we all calmed down now? Good then I'll begin.

Personally I'm still feeling quite good about our pair of games over Christmas. The good feeling from the Chelsea game by far outweighs the frustration from the Wigan game.

One of the big questions raised from the past week is just which players make up our best team? We saw two completely different sides turn out this week and in times when our traditionally second or even third string players that turn out for the Carling Cup are becoming more recognisable the question that needs to be answered is who are our best eleven?

I think that the fact that Fabianski started both games shows that Wenger feels he is our number one. Szczesny is a fantastic prospect and it will not be long before he breaks through properly but he is not ready to play week in week out yet. Almunia, as sad as it sounds, has in my opinion played his last game for the club. I wouldn't be surprised to see him move on in January.

Clichy and Sagna take the full back positions with relative ease. Sagna has been our most impressive player in that position since Lauren and no one at the club can really challenge him for a regular starting spot. Keiran Gibbs is pushing a little harder  on Clichy but is still a little behind but that being said, if some reports are true and Clichy is planning a move to Spain then I would not be uncomfortable with our young Englishman making that step up. Gibbs crossing in the final third is already better than clichy and aspects of his defending is better but Clichy's all round game is still of a higher standard than Gibbs.

The first real question is who are our best centre backs. This decision is probably the one that splits opinions most. Our contenders are: Vermaelen, Koscielny, Djourou and Squillaci.

Vermaelen claims his spot automatically in my opinion, his strength, reading of the game, aerial ability and threat going forward (still can't believe how sweetly he can strike a ball with his left foot) put him a class above not only our other centre backs but most of the centre backs in the league.

But who should partner him? Squillaci gives experience, Koscielny gives his ability in those last ditch tackles as well as his reading of the game and Djourou gives fantastic ability in the air and a strong tackle. I thought I'd go look at some stats for the pairings but as Kos and Squillaci are still in their first season, Djourou has spent over a year out and Vermaelen has been out injured most of this year it is very difficult to compare them fairly. I personally feel that Koscielny has been epic this year, yes he's made a couple of mistakes but it's his first season so a lot of it will be spent getting used to the league. Djourou would already have the spot secured had he not been injured so much so I expect him to be pushing hard for the rest of the year. Squillaci is in my opinion a squad player and little more he has slow reflexes and is not as strong in the tackle as he should be and lacks pace.

Alex Song currently has no equal in the - and I say this loosely - defensive midfield role. Denilson is his closest rival and as rough as it sounds he's just not good enough to be trusted with that role every week. Don't get me wrong, I like Denilson, he brings qualities to our game such as a cool head, he controls the speed of a game excellently but in Arsenal's game plan there's not really a place for that sort of player.
Fabregas needs no explanation or reasoning, he's our captain, he's one of the best midfielders in the world and he walks into our team just as he would any other team in the Premiership.

The third midfield role has more competition than any other. Diaby, Denilson, Wilshere, Rosicky, Ramsey, Nasri to name a few all fighting for one spot. Each player brings different attributes and qualities and may be used for different scenarios but my choice for this spot is not the same as if you asked me 6 months ago. Jack Wilshere has been a revolution this year and on many occasions has been our most influential player, even when Fabregas has been playing. his understanding of the game, vision for the pass, technical skill is beyond most players playing today but to be at this level at his age is almost unbelievable.

We have some of the most attractive options up front in the world. I we assume we're playing three up front with a solo striker and two supporting attackers then the solo spot is between Van Persie, Chamakh and Bendtner. Chamakh has been superb since joining us in the summer. He was thrown into the team earlier than Wenger planned because of injuries to RVP and Bendtner and with 10 goals at the half way point of the season surely everyone must see that he has been a massive success. Bendtner is the best third choice striker in the league but despite his obvious confidence in his own ability he is just that, third choice.

A fit Robin Van Persie is another player that is among the worlds best. His skill, vision and finishing ability mean that if he his fit that solo striker spot must be his.

The supporting players cause a lot of arguments between fans too. Arshavin, Walcott, Nasri, Rosciky, Vela and even Bendtner are fighting for two available spots.

Theo Walcott has been in excellent form this season but his defensive qualities leave a lot to be desired and many fans would argue he's a bit of a one trick pony. His pace causes problems for any team we face but sometimes we need a little more. I am personally excited about what Theo can bring to our team in the next few years from both out wide and also potentially the central role.

Vela is not ready, sounds short and harsh but it's the truth. Rosciky is unfortunately past his best. I don't think we will ever see the player Wenger thought he signed but he is still a quality player and the qualities he provides from the bench are fantastic.

Nasri is finally starting to show signs of the world class player he is going to become, some of the things he can do while on the football are miraculous and give credit to the original comparisons with Zidane that he earned in his youth

Arshavin is possibly the most lazy fecker I have ever seen in an Arsenal shirt but there is no denying that when he is on his game he is nothing short of world class. For this reason we as fans almost need to overlook his lazy ways and just except that we'll only get half an hour of football from him in a game but in the knowledge that within that 30 minutes he could win the game for us. However, our defensive cover suffers massively when he plays.

So I do this opening myself up to a mass of abuse but here's my best eleven, assuming everyone is fit.

                      Fabianski

Sagna - Koscielny - Vermaelen - Clichy

                         Song

             Fabregas - Wilshere

Nasri                   -                 Arshavin

                    Van Persie

Subs: Sczcseny, Djourou, Eboue, Rosicky, Ramsey, Walcott, Chamakh

What do you think? Agree or disagree, let me know.

I'll leave you all to contemplate the Birmingham game now but hopefully we've all calmed down about Wigan and can move on.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.