Thursday Cannon Fodder: football villains

Yesterday, the news broke that Jamie Vardy had picked up another knee injury and could miss as long as another month of time. That injury will keep him out of this weekend’s Premier League clash between Arsenal and Leicester. And that’s a very good thing. His scoring record against the Gunners is terrifying — 11 goals in 14 matches.

His goals against Arsenal aren’t “oh by the way” ones, either. They always seem to come at critical moments, early on in the match to claim an early lead, late on to snatch the points or put the match out of reach, etc. He scores key goals against Arsenal.

As far as recent opponents are concerned, Vardy is one of the top “villains” for Arsenal for his unique combination of backbreaking goal-scoring, being a generally unlikeable guy, and turning down a move to the Gunners. But I’m curious, who else fits the bill? What other players, recent or further back, are “villains” particularly in the eyes of Arsenal fans?