MIKEL ARTETA has revealed his dream 5-a-side team and it’s certainly unconventional.
The Gunners boss has suggested a squad that would be an unstoppable attacking force, not least because it includes no goalkeeper and no defenders.
Arteta spoke to Planet Football about what his perfect 5-a-side squad would look like and had one player that was a non-negotiable first man on the team sheet.
Weighing on in the “GOAT” debate, the Spanish gaffer explained that Lionel Messi has to be in his side.
He said: “The No.1 and I didn’t play with him or manage, it would have to be Leo Messi, that’s for sure because he’s been in my opinion the most influential player ever in the history of football.
“We’ve never seen someone do what he has done on the pitch for that many years.”
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But despite falling on the Argentine side of the argument between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Arteta was quick to add Ronaldo in to his team alongside his fierce competitor.
He said: “Then with Ronaldo I would do the same thing and I would put the other Ronaldo [Nazario] because since I was a kid I was in love with him.”
An attacking force made up of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldo Nazario would be hard to keep out with Arteta barking instructions on the sidelines.
But the Arsenal manager didn’t stop adding attacking flare with his remaining two spots going to two attacking midfielders.
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Firstly the iconic Johan Cruyff who Arteta explained he had always looked up to from his days in the Barcelona academy.
And the cherry on top of his attacking team would be Diego Maradona.
The 41-year-old explained that his final choice was swayed by his Argentinian origins and his wife who heralds from the South American country.
Arteta was clear that his side was purely about attacking flare and said: “No defenders! We don’t have goalkeepers, it’s five-a-side. No goalies.”
But when pressed to come up with a name for who he would play alongside his all-star team in net if he had to, he chose a close friend.
The former midfielder revealed he would put ex-Liverpool shot-stopper Pepe Reina in goal with the pair friends since their teenage years.
Reina and Arteta both came through the famous La Masia academy together and Reina still continues to play to this day for Villarreal despite now being 41-years-old.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
