At Arsenal, it has been a running joke that our defending can be horrendous at times and that we regularly concede ridiculous goals. Part of that is down to being an attacking team, so our defenders are obviously more exposed, Arsene Wenger’s philosophy (or lack thereof) on defending, and the fact that we actually had one of the best defences the country has ever seen, when Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon played week in week out.

However, on top of that we have had some just awful defenders at the club.

There’s that old wives tale that Dennis Bergkamp faced Igor Stepanovs in a pre-season friendly and was so impressed he told Wenger that he was one hell of a defender, which was enough for Arsene to splash out on the Latvian, who was then seen as the long term successor to Tony Adams (Yes, I know!). The highlight of his Arsenal career was the 6-1 defeat at Old Trafford in 2000, and things didn’t really get any better for him.

Amongst other defenders who have struggled at the club include Sebastien Squillaci and Pascal Cygan, both French defenders who were prone to mistakes at the back. And somehow amazingly, Squillaci was actually a French international…

To more recent times, and who could forget about the irrepressible Andre Santos? The Brazilian lived up to his billing, being a defender who didn’t actually defend. His positive outlook and style of play was welcomed at times but at others (when you know, he was supposed to defend?) it wasn’t so great. But with Santos you knew what you got with him, he was a free spirit and you knew he was an awful defender and he didn’t even try and make out he was a good one. And also, he scored a great goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge when we smashed them 5-3, so decent memories.

Then we come to the man we all love to hate. How has this man won the World Cup? The conundrum is up there with how Wes Brown has more trophies than Alan Shearer. I guess you just need to be in the right place at the right time, and it’s not what you know but who you know. The best way I can describe Mustafi is that he was probably the kit man for the German national side but then they had a few injuries and he was asked for fill in for a couple of training sessions. Then, people kind of forgot what happened and he was just “there”, and then he managed to stick around long enough to “win” a World Cup medal. That’s really the only explanation.

Anyway, after all that it’s time to cast your vote. Who do you think is the worst Arsenal defender of all time? It’s a hard choice as the quality of candidates is so high (or should that be so low) but you can only vote for one!

Cast your vote below and leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Currently, Arsenal are 5th in the Premier League and in the semi-finals of the Europa League, get Arsenal fans aren’t happy.

No matter what happens to Arsenal from here on out this season, here are 5 reasons why Arsenal and Unai Emery have been a success:

5. The Europa League

We are in the semi-finals of the Europa League, and beaten some quality teams in the process. There have been some ups and downs during that campaign, but we’re still in the competition and have a chance of winning it.

4. Players Have Improved

Look at players like Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey and Rob Holding – they have improved so much this season. And before they got injured, Bellerin and Holding were up there as our best players – and personally for me Holding was simply outstanding before he got cruelly taken off at Old Trafford and if it wasn’t for that injury, there’s no doubt in my mind we’d be 3rd in the Premier League right now.

3. Our Fixture List

People seem to forget how horrendous it is to play football on Thursday evenings. Not just because it’s not the Champions League, but mainly because it absolutely screws with our Premier League fixtures.

We end up playing on a Sunday or Monday but we hardly have time to prepare for the league when the team travel back on a Friday and whoever we’re playing (unless it’s Chelsea as they’re also in the Europa League) is guaranteed to have had more rest going into our game.

2. The Quality of Our Squad

Make no mistake, our current squad with the talent that it has, should be finishing 6th in the Premier League. So if we do finish 6th or above (which is pretty much guaranteed at this point) then we will be meeting / exceeding expectations.

Also, somehow Emery has got this team into the semi-finals of the Europa League to boot.

1. There Are Clear Signs of Progression

Which ever way you decide to look at it, changing the culture Arsene Wenger implemented at the club was always going to take time to do. People seem to conveniently forget that in his first season, Jurgen Klopp finished 8th in the Premier League, and it’s taken him 4 seasons to get Liverpool challenging for the league title.

Added to that, he also had an owner who wasn’t Stan Kroenke so actually had some big money to spend – £75 million for Virgil Van Dijk anyone?

But there a positive signs that Unai Emery is changing things for the better, and once he gets a chance to mould this Arsenal squad in his image, then I’m sure we’ll be improving on this season and beyond.

I’ve seen and read a lot about Arsenal’s recent slump, and the vitriol spouted at Unai Emery in particular.

And quite frankly, Arsenal fans need to get a grip.

After over two decades under the Arsene Wenger regime, Unai Emery has been brought in to improve Arsenal and get us higher up in the table.

And isn’t he doing that?

The current Arsenal squad is built to finish 6th in the Premier League table, make no bones about it. And currently, we are 5th.

At the start of the season if you said to me Arsenal would finish 5th and be in the Europa League semi-finals, I would have bitten you arm off.

The problem is, many Arsenal fans are deluded and believe we have a divine right to finish in the Top 4, or should be challenging for the Premier League.

That is going to take time. Look at Liverpool now – they’re pushing Manchester City all the way and are genuine title contenders – although that’s all I hope they are as Liverpool actually winning the league would be horrendous for all concerned. But that tangent aside, becoming a bonafide challenger for the league takes time.

Jurgen Klopp arrived at Anfield in October 2015 so it’s taken the German manager 4 seasons to mould this Liverpool side in his image. In his first season, he finished 8th! It wasn’t until his second season that his Liverpool team finished 4th, and that was only by a solitary point when Arsenal finished 5th that season.

So perhaps some perspective is needed here?

And by the by, Jurgen Klopp didn’t have Silent Stan Kroenke as the owner so actually had a hefty amount of money to spend as well (£75 million for Van Dijk anyone?).

How much has Unai Emery had to spend? Somehow, we are in 5th in the Premier League and he’s done it with a side he’s had to inherit off Arsene Wenger – which contains some absolute drivel like Mustafi. Added to that, when Klopp got Liverpool into the Top 4 that was when it was easier to do so in the Premier League – this season is the toughest we’ve seen at the top of the league in a long long time. So if anything he should be applauded for getting us to that high up in the table.

Unai Emery needs time and we need to get behind the manager like Liverpool fans got behind Klopp. It’s taken 4 years to get where they are and look where they are now. Unai Emery hasn’t even had the chance to bring in any of his own players yet and he’s trying to change a culture at the club which has been ingrained over 2 decades so he’s not going to be able to change that overnight.

Emery is doing an absolutely fantastic job and Arsenal are currently above where they should be, and Arsenal fans should remember that.