Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’: The Greatest Team in Premier League history?

After the Arsenal team of 2003/04 were recently chosen as the best team in Premier League history at the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards, I was left bemused and somewhat disillusioned with the fact that Arsène Wenger’s ‘invincibles’ had been given the award despite not even holding the record for most points scored in a single Premier League season.

The aim of a football match is to win, thus to earn points, which will eventually decide the team’s final position when the season ends. The ‘best’ team at the end of each season are crowned champions as they have earned more points than any of their competitors, therefore why should the Premier League’s ‘best’ ever team be decided any differently?

On May 15^th 2004 when referee Paul Durkin blew the final whistle, marking the end of Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Leicester City and also the end to their momentous season; Arsenal Football Club achieved something that no other team in Premier League history had done before, or since.  Arsène Wenger’s side had completed an entire 38-game Premier League season undefeated – an achievement Wenger had predicted at the beginning of the previous season. Arsenal finished the season with 90 points, after winning 26 matches and drawing the other 12, becoming the first team since Preston North End in 1889 to complete a league season unbeaten in England.

The achievement however is illusory – it would not be impossible for a team to finish a season unbeaten and still be relegated if they were to draw all 38 of their matches. In this case however, Arsenal finished as champions, playing beautifully flowing attacking football at times; yet not all of the time.

On a number of occasions, Wenger’s team settled for draws when a win was there for the taking. On January 7^th Arsenal drew away at Everton, a game they would have expected to win considering that David Moyes’ side were having a poor season and eventually only finished 6 points above the relegation zone. At the time, Manchester United were above Arsenal in the table and a win against Everton would have put Arsenal top. Around the time of the match, the word ‘invincible’ was being whispered by the media. It seems that Wenger’s team’s goal became not winning the league by as many points as possible, but winning the league without losing a game, to the detriment of their attacking capabilities.

This was also the case in April 2004 when Arsenal drew away at Tottenham to clinch the title. Most fans dream of demolishing their rivals away from home, and when better to do so then on the day when you can be crowned champions? Arsenal took a two goal lead in the match and then sat back. Going into the game the players knew that a draw would be enough for them to win the title; but after taking a 2-0 lead, a resounding win was not unfeasible. Instead, Wenger’s side let Tottenham back into the game with the match finishing 2-2, again, highlighting Arsenal’s favouring of not loosing over winning by a large margin.

Arsenal  were fortunate not to suffer defeat on two occasions in particular during their invincible season. On September 13^th, after a 100% record in their opening four games of the season, Wenger’s side hosted in-form Portsmouth. After Harry Redknapp’s team had taken the lead though former Tottenham striker Teddy Sheringham, Arsenal were awarded a penalty after what Redknapp described as “embarrassing” behaviour by Robert Pirès which persuaded referee Alan Wiley’s decision. To add to Portsmouth’s woes the penalty was taken twice, with Thierry Henry eventually scoring to equalise the tie which finished 1-1.

A second penalty incident sparked controversy during Arsenal’s unbeaten season when they played Manchester United at Old Trafford in September. Manchester United were awarded a penalty in the final minute of the match with the score at 0-0. A goal from Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penalty would unquestionably have won the game for Manchester United, ending Arsenal’s unbeaten streak. Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann dived the wrong way, but Nistelrooy’s penalty hit the crossbar and the game was ended almost immediately after. Had the penalty been saved, Arsenal fans could justify ‘earning’ a draw during the match; but due to the fact that through no intervention of any Arsenal player the penalty was not scored, one must accept that Arsenal did not deserve to draw the game. Nistelrooy should have scored and Arsenal’s season should have ended with at least one defeat.

The following season, José Mourinho’s Chelsea team finished with 95 points, a record which still stands today. As well as earning the most points during a single Premier League season, Mourinho’s side also conceded the fewest goals in a season (15), kept the most clean-sheets (24) and won the most games (29). Chelsea’s only defeat came in October during a 1-0 defeat away to Manchester City courtesy of a Nicholas Anelkapenalty. Chelsea won more games and drew fewer games than Arsenal did the year before, and the games they did draw all (excluding Newcastle on the final day of the season after the league was already won) came against mid-table or higher teams. Chelsea also were forced to focus their attention on the League Cup which they won, as well as the Champions League where they reached the semi-final stage, whereas Arsenal were knocked out by Chelsea in the quarter-final stages the year before and were able to rest players.

When comparing the two sides, an accusation often aimed at Chelsea is the vast amounts of money spent on assembling their team (over £70 million); however money is irrelevant when judging who the best team were. The criteria does not include money spent, the award is simply a judgement of which team are the greatest side we have seen during the Premier League era, and Chelsea, who had Nicholas Anelkaemulated Nistelrooy’s penalty miss, would have also finished a season undefeated, were by far the better team by virtue of the fact that they won more games, earned the most points and conceded the fewest goals ever in a Premier League season.

To go a season undefeated is an achievement which is thought of too highly. The current Barcelona side, who many would argue is the greatest football team ever, have failed to do so, yet many happily praise their greatness.  André Villas-Boas’ Porto side won the Portuguese Primeira Liga title undefeated as well as the Portuguese Supercup and the Europa League, and Villas-Boas was lauded as the next ‘great’ manager; however as we all saw, he was unable to achieve anywhere near such success during his short reign at Chelsea.

Arsenal’s achievement during the 2003/04 Premier League season was undoubtedly worthy of praise. With the introduction of Financial Fair-Play soon to restrict the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea’s spending, Arsenal’s achievement quite possibly will never be repeated. However surely finishing with 90 points, one point more than Manchester United did this season having been described as Sir Alex Ferguson’s worst ever side, is not better than finishing with 95 points and winning more games in the process?