No Gary Doherty, blasphemy we hear you say…
Arsenal and Tottenahm meet at the Emirates today as Mauricio Pochettino takes charge of his side for the very first time in a North London derby.
The Argentinian is a rookie when compared to Arsene Wenger, as the Professor will be at the helm of his 44th derby meeting and he has only lost six of them in all competitions.
The history books don’t bode well for Spurs though, they’ve only managed one away victory against their rivals since May 1993 but we found a more interesting use for those dusty old books, especially in relation to the Irish players that played for both clubs.
Here is JOE’s best 11 Irish players that played for both teams. We’ve opted for a 4-3-3 formation and much like Louis Van Gaal at Man Utd right now, we’ve had to improvise a bit with our selections. We still think it’s pretty decent, take a look.
Goalkeeper: Pat Jennings
It could only be him. The GAA playing Newry man spent 13 years at White Hart Lane making 472 league appearances for Spurs where he won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.
On a personal level he was voted the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year in ’73 and the PFA Player’s Player of the Year in ’76. Aged 32 he was in his prime but the Spurs board decided not to offer him a new contract and he made the shock move across North London.
At Highbury he helped guide Arsenal to cup final appearances in three successive years and ultimately made 327 appearances for the club.
Clip via – Lukasz M
Right-back: Stephen Carr
One of the classiest, most reliable and tough tackling right-backs that has ever played in the Premier League, Carr was a solid no-frills player who was adored by the White Hart Lane faithful.
The Dubliner went on to make over 200 appearances for Spurs and was part of their ’99 League Cup winning team.
It’s easy to forget just how good Steven Carr was, he made the PFA team of the year in 2000–01 and in 2002–03 as well. The full-back was deceptively quick, good in possession and was rarely beaten in a one vs one situation.
After 11 years at Spurs he went on to play for Newcastle and Birmingham City where he won the League Cup again under Alex McLeish.
Who remembers this goal?
Clip via – like2smile
Right centre-back: Pat Rice
Before he became Arsene Wenger’s trusted right-hand man the Belfast player had a distinguished career at Highbury.
We’re playing him slightly out of position here but Rice was such a clever and astute player that we think he could manage, Wenger will probably disagree with us though.
Rice’s breakthrough season was one to remember, winning the league and cup double in 1970-71, and he quickly established himself as Mr Reliable by being an ever-present for three seasons — 1971–72, 1975–76 and 1976–77.
During this period he won the ’72 FA Cup Final and was made captain in ’77 guiding the Gunners to three consecutive appearances at the Wembley showpiece and the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1980.
Left centre-back : Joe Kinnear
His reputation may have taken something of a hit after his expletive laden outbursts at journalists during his ‘interesting’ spell at Newcastle but Kinnear was a formidable defender.
A more natural left-back, he made over 200 appearances for Spurs winning four major honours including the UEFA cup in 1972. We think even those ‘bleep, bleep, bleeping’ journalists would agree with our choice.
Clip via – dailymirror
Left-back: Chris Hughton
It may be a cliched remark but it’s impossible to play nearly 400 games for the one club without being an exceptionally gifted player and an even better pro.
Hughton was both of these. He played the FA Cup final at Wembley in ’81 just two years after making his debut and made the return trip the following year.
He also played in Spurs’ 1984 UEFA Cup win over Anderlecht along with fellow Irish teammate Tony Galvin. It’s testament to Hughton’s skill that he was probably their most reliable player during an era when they boasted the likes of Hoddle, Ardiles, Villa, Crooks, Archibald, Waddle, Allen and Gascoigne.
Right centre midfield: David O’Leary
A nation of JOE readers holds its breath but we couldn’t leave him out. O’Leary was more comfortable as a ball playing centre-half but we feel that he could do a job for our team as part of a middle three.
O’Leary was tenacious, brave but crucially an excellent passer of the ball as seen by the fact that he made his debut at 17 and went on to set Arsenal’s record appearances with 772.
In a recent poll of the club’s greatest ever players, O’Leary was voted 14th. 2 Leagues, 2 FA Cups and 2 League Cups speaks for itself.
Here’s what Big Jack had to say about the man.
Clip via – Conall Charleton
Playmaker: Liam Brady
What else can be said about a man that is widely regarded as the greatest player to ever play for the Republic of Ireland?
Technically superb, a wand of a left-foot, god-like control and one of the most killer eyes for a pass that we have seen.
Brady was voted the club’s player of the year three times, chosen as the PFA Player of the Year in 1979 and was the fulcrum in an extremely talented Arsenal side.
He left Highbury for Juventus where he won two Scudetto’s before being utterly shafted from the club to make room for Michel Platini.
Yes, he was that good.
Clip via – GerryDisthename2
Left-wing: Tony Galvin
How could we not include a man that featured in all of Ireland’s 3 Euro ’88 matches. The tricky left winger was an integral part of the Spurs team that won consecutive FA Cups in the early 80’s and their UEFA Cup win in ’84.
He wasn’t the most prolific of goal scorers, netting just 31 times in 273 matches, but his game was more based around providing the bullets for Mark Falco and Steve Archibald which he did so with aplomb.
Left-sided striker: Robbie Keane
Ireland’s record goal scorer enjoyed the most productive spells of his career at White Hart Lane where he is still beloved by fans. JOE definitely appreciates his goal scoring record.
Him and Berbatov were something else as a pairing.
Clip via – Tottenham Hotspur FC
Centre-forward: Niall Quinn
The Irish legend was never the most prolific striker during his tenure at Arsenal, his goalscoring record was about 1 in 5, but we still feel that it would be unfair to leave him out of our team.
We also feel sorry that he was the ‘nearly man’ of the Arsenal squad having been part of their title winning team but never playing enough games to actually qualify for a league winner’s medal.
His spells at Man City and Sunderland later proved the strikers talents.
Right sided striker: Frank Stapleton
The all-action striker started his career at Arsenal where he managed to notch an impressive 108 goals in 300 appearances in total for the Gunners.
His partnership with Malcolm Macdonald terrorized defenders up and down the country, especially during the 1976-77 campaign.
Stapleton was the Gunners’ top scorer for three consecutive seasons and famously scored in the famous 3-2 FA Cup final win against his future employers Manchester United.
Clip via – www.fandefoot.be
