He was Arsenal's regular shot-stopper for 3 full seasons and there is no doubt he had outstanding ability. On his game Woj could produce top-class saves, command his area and look world-class.
Unfortunately, he was not always on his game, even when behind Arsenal's most solid pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. Woj made atrocious blunders when off form and his attitude didn't help.
In the end, Szczesny's cockiness - that many wrongly compared to Jens Lehmann-like confidence in his own ability - cost the Pole his career at Arsenal. Two bad mistakes on New Year's Day in 2015 and a subsequent cigarette in the showers meant Woj never played a minute of league action again.
2. Abou Diaby
The Frenchman was effortless at his best. He was both physical and agile, a scary mix of Patrick Vieira and ... Jack Wilshere maybe? Diaby danced through opposition defences, he cut through them without breaking a sweat.
His full potential never came to the fore though. A string of knee injuries meant Diaby has only made 180 appearances over 9,5 years at Arsenal. He could have been the next Patrick Vieira at a time we badly needed one. Instead he'll always be defined by eventually career-ending injuries.
The belters vs Spurs, the guitar celebration in the cup, netting one of Arsenal's finest-ever goals (vs Sunderland in 2014) ... and many many hamstring problems. Tommy averaged just 25 appearances per season for Arsenal, only twice playing more than half the league minutes in a single campaign - in 10 years at the club.
We didn't really lack creators while Tommy was with us, our regret is mainly an aesthetic one: he was simply a joy to watch. Rosicky was a livewire on the pitch, always moving, always connecting things.
He's played quite a bit and stayed for a long time but we can't help but rue the brilliant Czech who had a genuine passion for the shirt not being able to overcome his muscle issues fully.
What many remember him the Dutchman for are his 2 last seasons with the Gunners and his treacherous exit to United. What some don't remember about RvP is that he was extremely injury-prone.
By the time he lit up in 2010, van Persie has been at Arsenal for 6 years already. Only once during those 6 years he's played over half the league minutes in a single season.
And, however bad his exit to United looked like (and my God it was awful), there's no denying RvP was a massive talent. He basically carried Arsenal into 4th single-handedly in his last season and nearly broke the goalscoring record too - the Dutchman netted 30 in 38 appearances.
We left Jacky for last because he is the most obvious pick - and because it pains us the most to write about him. He was - and still is - a true Gunner at heart, who bossed Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets at the age of 16. He was meant to be the next Tony Adams in terms of his influence at Arsenal.
Instead he suffered two serious ankle injuries 3 years apart (in 2011 and 2014) and never quite recovered. The Englishman left as a free agent in 2018, terminated his contract with West Ham after making just 16 league appearances in 2 years and is currently without a club at the age of 29.
Jacky was a generational talent, a brilliant dribbler and passer of the ball, with the heart of a lion. He has scored arguably Arsenal's best-ever goal. He could have been oh so much more - were it not for those two horrible injuries.
