No room for title-winning striker in all-star north London XI.Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith has named his all-time Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur combined XI for the Daily Telegraph, though he didn’t make the final cut.
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The 51-year-old, who now works as a pundit, won two league titles during his time with the Gunners, and scored a total of 115 goals for the club between 1987 and 1995, going down as one of their best-ever forwards.
However, a number of English football’s best players have featured for both of these clubs, with Smith unable to break past some genuinely all-time greats and find a place in this team, with former Arsenal stars dominating the lineup.
See below for the names who made it into Smith’s lineup:
GK) David Seaman
One of the finest goalkeepers to play in the English game, David Seaman was a great servant to the Arsenal team for well over a decade, winning numerous honours with the club as he formed part of a famously solid back five, with some great defenders in front of him to help his superb clean sheet record.
DR) Lee Dixon
Another famous member of that all-conquering Arsenal defence, Lee Dixon is Alan Smith’s choice at right-back, with the now-ITV pundit one of the most underrated defenders in recent history, having never truly established himself for England.
DL) Nigel Winterburn
An Arsenal great again gets the nod here, with solid left-back Nigel Winterburn taking the left-back slot after his great success at Highbury.
DC) Tony Adams
One of the greatest defenders in English football history and perhaps Arsenal’s best-ever captain, Tony Adams is a modern legend and well deserving of a place in this north London XI.
DC) Dave Mackay
Finally a Tottenham player, Dave Mackay was a terrific servant to Spurs and formed a key part of their famous double-winning side of 1961.
DM) Patrick Vieira
A midfield giant, former Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira is an unsurprising choice in this lineup, having established himself as one of the finest players in the Premier League era.
MC) Paul Gascoine
A fine attacking midfielder, Paul Gascoine is one of English football’s great entertainers, and shone in a spell with Tottenham between 1988 and 1992.
MC) Glenn Hoddle
Surely one of the finest players in Tottenham history, Glenn Hoddle was a brilliantly elegant midfield player with some of the finest range of passing ever seen by an English footballer, breaking the stereotype that players in this country don’t have the same technique as their foreign counterparts.
AMC) Dennis Bergkamp
An easy choice in a role behind the main strikers, Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp is selected here after taking the Gunners to new heights when he joined the club in 1995.
FC) Thierry Henry
Perhaps the best player in Arsenal’s history, Thierry Henry takes a place upfront and had a superb goalscoring record in the North London derby, never finishing on the losing side to Spurs in his time at the club.
FC) Jimmy Greaves
One of the best goalscorers in English football history, Jimmy Greaves is another Tottenham legend who makes it into this all-time XI, partnering Henry upfront in what would surely be a deadly combination.