Ally McCoist Says the Title of 'Best Squad' in English Football History Belongs to Arsenal
The talkSPORT pundit and Rangers legend has made a stunning declaration — Mikel Arteta's 2025‑26 Gunners squad is simply the greatest collection of footballers ever assembled in the English game. We examine whether history agrees.
In a football world never short of bold takes, Ally McCoist has delivered one of the most arresting verdicts of the 2025‑26 Premier League season. Speaking on talkSPORT, the Scottish pundit and former Rangers striker did not merely say Arsenal were good — he declared Mikel Arteta's squad the finest ever assembled in the history of English football. Full stop. No caveats. And given that McCoist has watched the game at the very highest level for more than four decades, from the terraces of Ibrox to the broadcast studios of Europe's biggest broadcasters, his words carry genuine weight.
The debate ignited instantly. Social media erupted. Manchester United fans invoked the Class of '92. City supporters screamed Guardiola's invincibles. Chelsea loyalists mentioned the Abramovich era. Liverpool diehards pointed to Klopp's treble-chasers. But McCoist was not moved — and having watched Arsenal navigate a historically brutal injury crisis while simultaneously leading the Premier League and the Champions League standings, it is becoming increasingly difficult to argue with him.
"No, I don't think they will bottle it. I still think Arsenal are OK. And I'll go further — I've never seen a better squad in English football."
— Ally McCoist, talkSPORT, February 2026
What McCoist Actually Said — and Why It Matters
The comments came in the aftermath of Arsenal's draw at Brentford — a result that briefly opened the door for rivals and sent segments of the Arsenal fanbase into their now-familiar spiral of anxiety. McCoist was asked directly whether the Gunners risked bottling the title. His answer was emphatic: no, they would not. And then, almost as a sidebar, he dropped the historical grenade.
McCoist noted that despite Arsenal being ravaged by injuries at virtually every position on the pitch — including their captain, their best defender, and their top scorer at various points in the season — they had somehow remained top of the Premier League, finished first in the Champions League group phase, reached the final of the Carabao Cup, and progressed in the FA Cup. The scale of that achievement, he argued, demonstrated a squad so deep and cohesive that no other group of players in English football's long history could match it.
For McCoist — who watched, and commentated on, the Invincibles of 2003‑04, the dominant Manchester United sides of the Ferguson era, and multiple City juggernauts under Guardiola — this was not said lightly. The man knows his football history inside out.
The Extraordinary Injury Context
To fully appreciate McCoist's verdict, you must first grasp the staggering scale of Arsenal's injury problems this season — problems that would have ended most clubs' title ambitions before autumn was even done. Since the start of the 2024‑25 campaign, Arsenal have suffered more than 93 injuries. This season alone, more than 14 first-team players have spent time on the treatment table, representing well over half of the available squad at any given time.
The roll call of the injured reads like a Who's Who of world-class talent. Martin Ødegaard suffered two separate shoulder injuries and then a knee problem, severely disrupting his campaign. Bukayo Saka, Arsenal's most creative force, spent weeks sidelined. William Saliba, arguably the best centre-back on the planet in 2025, has missed significant chunks of the season. Gabriel Magalhães and summer signing Cristhian Mosquera were both ruled out simultaneously, leaving Arsenal's back line threadbare. Viktor Gyökeres, the striker who cost a club-record fee, injured his groin early in the campaign.
The cascading effect was staggering. Mikel Merino, a central midfielder by trade, was forced to play as a makeshift centre-forward — and performed admirably enough to suggest even Arsenal's deputies have genuine quality. Young academy products like Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri were thrown into Premier League combat and not only coped but thrived, underlining a depth of talent that stretches far beyond the obvious first XI.
Astonishingly, according to data compiled throughout this season, only two outfield players in the entire Arsenal squad have appeared in every single game without injury interruption. That is an almost unimaginable statistic for a team still sitting at the summit of two of the most competitive tournaments in world football.
Arsenal vs. The Greatest Squads in English Football History
McCoist's claim naturally invites a historical comparison. Which squads could genuinely claim to be in the same conversation? Let's stack them up honestly.
| Squad | Era | Defining Achievement | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal 2025-26 Current | Arteta era | Led PL + UCL despite 26 injuries | Yet to win a title |
| Arsenal Invincibles | 2003-04 | 38-game unbeaten PL season | No Champions League win |
| Man Utd Treble Winners | 1998-99 | PL + FA Cup + Champions League | Less individual brilliance in depth |
| Man City Treble Winners | 2022-23 | Treble including UCL | Built around one system/manager |
| Chelsea Abramovich Era | 2004-06 | Back-to-back Premier League titles | Functional rather than beautiful |
| Liverpool Klopp Peak | 2019-20 | Champions League + Premier League | Collapsed when key men injured |
What is immediately striking from this comparison is the resilience argument. Many of the great squads in English football history — including Klopp's brilliant Liverpool — suffered badly when their key players were unavailable. Arsenal 2025-26, by contrast, have absorbed a seemingly endless injury crisis and kept winning. They have not just replaced one injured player — they have replaced multiple injured first-team starters simultaneously and maintained their position at the top of the table.
The Invincibles of 2003‑04 are perhaps the most natural comparison point, and it is worth noting that McCoist himself has tremendous respect for that team — he previously named Dennis Bergkamp as the most intelligent footballer he had ever seen. Yet even that legendary squad did not face anything close to the injury volume Arteta's team has absorbed in 2025-26 while remaining competitive on four fronts.
The Arteta Blueprint: Building for the Impossible
Central to this story is the vision of Mikel Arteta. The former Arsenal midfielder, who took over a club that was in genuine crisis in December 2019, has orchestrated one of the most remarkable rebuild projects in modern football. Across six seasons, he has transformed the culture, the infrastructure, and — crucially — the squad architecture.
The summer of 2025 saw Arsenal invest more than £267 million in new talent, adding eight senior players including Gyökeres, Mosquera, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze, and Piero Hincapié. The philosophy was unmistakeable: elite quality at every single position, with no weak link in the chain. Not just a starting XI of world-class players, but a bench — a full squad — capable of stepping in and maintaining the required level without a noticeable drop.
That ambition was tested to destruction almost immediately. And it held. The season has effectively become a live demonstration of Arteta's blueprint under the most extreme possible conditions. Every time critics predicted the wheels would come off, Arsenal found a way to keep winning. Every time a key player went down, a replacement stepped up. The system, the culture, the depth — all of it has proved genuine rather than theoretical.
"They have won 17 games out of 22 in the Premier League, drawing three and losing only two — all of this while navigating one of the heaviest injury loads in the division."
— Sky Sports, December 2025
The Case For and Against: What Fans Are Saying
Of course, not everyone agrees with McCoist. The debate has been fierce and wonderful — exactly the kind of football argument that keeps pubs and podcasts alive through the long winter months. Here are the strongest arguments on both sides:
Why McCoist Could Be Right
- Arsenal have remained top of the Premier League and Champions League despite losing the equivalent of a full first team to injuries across the season.
- Their depth is genuinely elite: when Saka is absent, Madueke or Nwaneri step in with equal threat. When Ødegaard is out, Eze orchestrates with similar quality.
- They have won 17 of 22 Premier League games while constantly rotating a patchwork squad.
- Summer signings immediately integrated and produced at the highest level — a sign of exceptional recruitment and coaching quality.
- The youngest players in the squad (Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, Dowman) have performed beyond their years on the biggest stages.
The Counterarguments
- The Invincibles went an entire league season unbeaten — a feat that required both quality and consistency at a level never since matched.
- Ferguson's United won a Champions League treble in 1999, something Arteta's Arsenal have not yet achieved.
- The 2025‑26 season is not yet over. McCoist's verdict, however compelling, is premature if Arsenal do not ultimately win the league and go deep in Europe.
- Some rival supporters argue that Arsenal's Premier League rivals have also suffered unusual injury problems this season, flattering the Gunners' position at the table.
The Title Race: Can Arsenal Go All the Way?
As of mid-February 2026, Arsenal sit top of the Premier League, ahead of their closest challengers by a margin that, while not comfortable in the Pep Guardiola era, is meaningful. They have navigated the toughest parts of their fixture schedule with credit, and the players beginning to return from injury — Ødegaard, Saliba, Gyökeres — represent significant additions to a squad that has already been performing extraordinarily well without them.
The Champions League adds another dimension to this story. Arsenal have already shown they are among the elite sides in Europe, having topped the Champions League group standings for the second consecutive season. Should they achieve what Wenger's Invincibles never did and reach — let alone win — a European Cup final in 2026, the historical debate McCoist has ignited would be settled once and for all.
The Carabao Cup final represents the most immediate opportunity for silverware, a chance to bank the season's first trophy and build momentum into the spring. Arsenal's performances in that competition have underlined their quality across the entire squad, with rotation players delivering when called upon.
McCoist's Verdict in Context: A Pundit Who Knows the Game
It is worth remembering who Ally McCoist is. Not merely a pundit, but one of Scotland's greatest-ever strikers — a man who scored 355 goals in a professional career, who won nine consecutive league championships with Rangers, and who has spent the decades since his retirement immersed in football as a manager, commentator, and broadcaster. When he invokes the phrase "best squad I've ever seen in English football", he is drawing on a personal frame of reference that stretches from the mid-1980s to the present day.
McCoist watched the great Arsenal sides of the George Graham era from the opposition touchline. He saw Wenger transform the game with the Invincibles. He has commentated through the Fergie years, the Abramovich revolution, the Guardiola machine, and Klopp's red army. His opinion is not that of a casual observer. It is the measured verdict of someone who has seen almost everything English football has to offer — and still rates Arteta's current squad above all of it.
What Happens Next for the Greatest Squad in English Football?
The next few months will go a long way to deciding how the 2025‑26 Arsenal story is ultimately written. A Premier League title — ending a wait that stretches back to the Invincibles season of 2003‑04 — would be an extraordinary achievement for a squad that has spent much of the campaign on the treatment table. A deep Champions League run would elevate the argument even further. A potential Carabao Cup final victory could set the tone for a historic spring.
There are still games to be played, points to be won, injuries to be overcome, and history to be made. But the core of McCoist's argument — that this Arsenal squad, right now, possesses a combination of depth, quality, youth, hunger, and resilience that no previous squad in English football has matched — is a serious proposition worthy of serious consideration.
And perhaps most fascinatingly, we may be witnessing the best of them only just beginning to emerge. Ødegaard is returning. Saliba is returning. Gyökeres is returning. The squad McCoist called the best in English football history might not even have played its best football yet.
"The best is yet to come. This Arsenal squad hasn't even reached its ceiling — and that is the most exciting sentence in English football right now."
— The Gunners Post, February 2026
The Verdict: Is McCoist Right?
Based on everything we have seen this season — the depth, the resilience, the quality in every position, the remarkable ability to absorb injuries and keep winning — the answer is an increasingly compelling yes. Ally McCoist has made a bold claim, but it is a claim backed by extraordinary evidence. Mikel Arteta has built something genuinely unprecedented in English football: a squad where the 15th player is barely a step down from the first, where any player on the pitch on any given night has the ability to win a game.
History is not written until the trophies are lifted. But if Arsenal do go on to win the Premier League title in 2026, future generations will look back at this season and understand exactly what McCoist saw when he sat in that talkSPORT studio and delivered his famous verdict. He wasn't wrong. He was just ahead of the rest of us.
Do you agree with Ally McCoist? Share your verdict in the comments below and join the debate.
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