A Look-Back: 3 Forgotten Arsenal Heroes From The ‘Invincibles’ Era

Over the years, Arsenal have had a number of great players who have achieved the status of legends at the club. We should look no further than Thierry Henry, who probably was also one of the greatest players ever to have participated in the Premier League and also for the French national side.

Under Arsene Wenger we also saw a few others grow and become brilliant, such as Dennis Bergkamp and even the much maligned Cesc Fabregas. Tony Adams, Sol Campbell and even Sylvain Wiltord have done very well with the club.

Looking back at the history of the Premier League, there have been a number of stars who also were fantastic for the Gunners, but it seems that they might have gone away from the memories of the Arsenal fans.

Here are three players who seem to be forgotten by a few but were proper heroes for the club.

Kolo Toure-

The Ivorian has been released by Liverpool, but most would remember him for being part of the “Invincible” squad for the Arsenal team. Kolo Toure made his name under Arsene Wenger and he was an excellent defender for the club.

Passionate, aggressive and a leader at the back, Toure played in a host of positions for the club in his initial years before becoming one of the best centre-backs to have ever played for the Premier League side.

Even though he didn’t have the greatest of exits as he forced a transfer to Manchester City, Toure will always be one of the best and brightest players to have worn the Arsenal jersey in the Premier League.

Lauren-

Not many would remember Lauren, but he did spend six years at Arsenal and was also part of the “Invincible” squad after he signed from La Liga club Mallorca in the year 2000. The Cameroonian was another star who played in a range of positions and ensured Arsenal never faced a dip in form in case one of their stars went out injured.

Laurent though become a regular for the team playing in a range of positions, but young upstarts such as Justin Hoyte and Emmanuel Eboue started to replace him whenever the Cameroon star would be out injured.

Arsene Wenger did allow Lauren to make the decision if he wanted to leave Arsenal and the defender/midfielder ended up joining Portsmouth in 2007.

Gilberto Silva-

Another member of the greatest Arsenal squad in Premier League history, Gilberto wasn’t your typical attacking Brazilian, but rather  a defensive midfielder and one of the best during his time with the Gunners.

Silva joined Arsenal from Atletico Mineiro and even though there were doubts about him joining the club, he still showcased his fine defensive qualities for Arsenal over a period of six years. His time at the end of his career wasn’t the greatest with reports of him not being happy as to how he was treated due to the rise of Mathieu Flamini, but the Brazilian stayed to fight for his place.

Silva ultimately left for Greek club Panathinaikos but he did change the way people saw defensive or holding midfielders in the league thanks to his performances.