Robert Pires was part of Arsenal’s Invincibles, which went through 2003-04 as unbeaten league winners.
The Frenchman has played with some top players in his day and we would have forgiven him for selecting the most frequent XI from his era when selecting his all-time Gunners team.
Pires obviously felt he should give some love to the current crop of Arsenal players for his selection in The Guardian.
Still, that does not entirely explain why he felt compelled to select Francis Coquelin, Laurent Koscielny and Santi Cazorla in his Ultimate XI. Alexis Sanchez makes the cut too – with no room for the likes of Freddie Ljunberg, Ian Wright or Paul Merson.
Pires often trains with Arsenal when he is in London so that may explain the soft hand he has dealt.
