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Robert Pires names the three current Arsenal players who would get into the Invincibles’ starting line-up

Charles Jones

Tue 4 February 2025 18:45, UK

Arsenal have had some incredible teams over the years.

Arsene Wenger’s double-winners in 1998 were an outstanding team, while George Graham’s title-winning side from the 1990/91 season will live forever in the memory of Arsenal fans of a certain vintage.

Mikel Arteta’s current team are also a fantastic side, so much so that Gary Neville believes Arsenal can win the league this year.

However, perhaps the greatest Arsenal team in history are The Invincibles. The 2003/04 Arsenal team went completely unbeaten in the Premier League.

Speaking to SportBible, Robert Pires has been discussing The Invincibles and this current Arsenal side, and he says that there are three players in Mikel Arteta’s team who would actually start for The Invincibles.

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Robert Pires’ Invincibles and Arsenal combined XI

Pires was asked to build a combined XI made up of players from the 2004 Arsenal team and the current crop.

As you can imagine, the Frenchman, mostly, chose his former teammates in this team.

Indeed, this team was dominated by players from the Arsene Wenger era, unsurprisingly, considering that team didn’t lose a single league game.

However, there were three current Arsenal players who made this side.

Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba were put into this team with Kolo Toure, Freddie Ljungberg and Pires himself.

Martinelli and Saka compared to Ljungberg and Pires

Pires made some difficult choices here.

The Frenchman, understandably, picked Saliba over Toure. After all, Saliba is arguably the best defender in the world right now.

However, the choices on the wings are bound to spark debate.

Indeed, to say that Saka and Martinelli are better than Ljungberg and Pires is a big statement.

Saka is a world-class player, so that point of view is more understandable, but Martinelli vs Pires is a very interesting debate.

Perhaps Pires was just being humble and refusing to pick himself, but, all things considered, the Frenchman probably does deserve a place in this combined XI.