My favorite moment from the Invincibles season is probably one of the most iconic, so much so that you could even say I’m basic: it’s that moment when Patrick Vieira stretches out one of his impossibly long legs to poke in the opening goal in the game that won the League at White Hart Lane. I will always cherish that moment. From Henry picking up the ball and ghosting past a defender then doing his trademark skipping run before passing in to Bergkamp who crosses to Vieira – Vieira had made a lung-bursting run to get into position but still needed to give that last bit and lunge at the ball to score. No matter what happens to Arsenal football club – even if Enos Kroenke takes us down to the 2nd division – we will always be the last team to win the Premier League title at White Hart Lane.
Records matter for that exact reason, they are something no one else has done. United supporters crow about their 13 League titles, Arsenal about their 13 FA Cups, City have the record for most points in a season (100), and Chelsea have the record for most number of times that any one team hired Jose Mourinho. We all have things that we are proud of.
In simplest terms (I told you I’m basic) every derby win is a moment to lord it over your rivals. It’s all part of the back and forth between fans. We remind Spurs supporters about the “sit down he said” match. Then they get to come back with the fact that they have finished above Arsenal for the last few years. And we respond with We Won The League .. AT WHITE HART LANE! And that usually stops all debate.
That particular chant stops debate because it’s part of a record which has been unassailable in modern football: in 2003-04, Arsenal won the League without losing a single match. That record is actually something we get to lord over the entire League, because it’s a record that has never been broken and trust me, there have been teams who have tried.
The first team who came close were Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2004/05. That was the season right after Arsenal did the unthinkable, so the League was almost exactly the same. And yet, they lost one match i1-0 to Man City in October. I’ve always wondered if the fact that Wenger held that record over Jose was the root cause of so much of Jose’s burning jealousy. I bet that Mourinho’s “specialist in failure” jibe was actually Jose projecting his own insecurities. Jose and Arsene have the same number of Premier League titles, but only Arsene has the golden trophy. Jose’s the one who failed. Failed to go the entire season unbeaten.
And Liverpool have now come close twice. Once last season when they finished 2nd to Man City but only lost one match, and this season where they lost 3-0 to Watford yesterday.
You could see this result coming for Liverpool. They lost to Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the Champions League and a few days later had a scare when West Ham took a 2-1 lead in the 54th minute. Liverpool were able to escape that day (no thanks to their home supporters who were as quiet as door mice) because of their extraordinary attacking prowess.
But when they went up against Watford this weekend, they just didn’t have it. I hate to get all statsy (how am I not myself?) but Liverpool only got 7 shots off against Watford’s 14. Watford created 6 big chances and scored 3. Expected goals on the day was 2.73 to 0.20. It’s not often that a team records a comprehensive win both on the field and in the stats book, but this was one. Liverpool looked like they had lost concentration, like they were tired, and Watford just looked hungrier, quicker.
That loss just shows how hard it is to go an entire season unbeaten. In her excellent book about the Invincibles, Amy Lawrence describes Wenger’s mood after that day at White Hart Lane when Arsenal had won the League. Wenger knew that his guys were ready to give up on the rest of the season – when you’ve won it’s normal to want to coast a little and enjoy the moment. But Wenger told his team that they had a chance to be “immortal” and they managed to put in the effort to draw two and win two of their remaining fixtures.
So, of course winning the League and going an entire season unbeaten is something Arsenal supporters celebrate! And of course we want to keep that record all to ourselves! Don’t be stupid. Every club in the League wants that record! Every fan in England wants that record!
But apparently, some in the intelligentsia – head football writers even – have taken to twitter to decry the Arsenal supporters celebrating this record or (worse) pretending that Arsenal’s Invincibles season doesn’t count because.. they lost to Chelsea in the Champions League.
I remember a Nick Hornby blog post back in 2008 (I’m not 100% sure about the date anymore) in which he wrote about Arsenal supporters complaining about the same thing: that the Invincibles season was tarnished because we didn’t win the Champions League and do the treble. But Nick’s point was about how sad some Arsenal supporters were and how no matter how good they have it, some supporters will always want something better.
So imagine for a minute how weird you would have to be to actually – deep down inside – feel like the Invincibles record doesn’t matter or that it’s tarnished because of a slip up in an unrelated competition! It would be like telling United supporters that they shouldn’t celebrate the 13 Premier League titles because they only won the Champions League twice. Arsenal have the record. We have done something no other team has done. We have done something no other team has done and may never do. Of course we are proud of that and want to keep it all for ourselves, that’s what football is all about!
I actually saw some a$$hole comments on le gr0ve belittling the invincibles season. It’s something we should always cherish and I’ve no doubt when le Prof passes it will be his epitaph. For me the most valuable aspect was that he had the cojones to say we’re going to do this. Takes enormous nads to call it before you do it.
This comment is invincible: you managed to say asshole, le grove, and balls (2x) without getting caught by the filter.
TAKE NOTE PL FANS THIS IS HOW IT IS DONE
Huge LOL
BTW – if the PL results just coming aren’t motivation for our boys….
This post it what “this” react gifs were made for.
One of City or ‘pool going undefeated last season was almost necessary to win the league. And even then they didn’t.
Going invincible in a season where the tail end doesn’t matter? Because we won the league at White Heart Lane or because they all but won the league in December? That takes something special. They didn’t.
And we did
Came aboard as an Arsenal fan (as a ‘soccer’ fan truth-be-told) right at the end of the Invincibles season. There was so little available on the web then– to express the histories of any of the teams. Certainly little-to-nothing on rivalries and bragging rights. What drew me to the club? At first, thanks to Thierry Henry’s pace and grace– which proved just the appetizer. The real deal was– Arsene Wenger. I was smitten. A man, a manager- whose perspectives on life and sport were unlike every other coach I’d known. Except one.
The other? Don Shula. Head Coach of the NFL Miami Dolphins for 26 years. As a boy I grew up in the ’60s and early 70s Miami. The ‘Fins were an expansion team. New to the league (in 1966) created from scraps– of unwanted or barely respectable players plucked from other teams’ rosters. For 4 seasons under George Wilson they stumbled along as expected. In 1970, Miami owner Jo Robbie lured Don Shula to Miami from perennial contender– the Baltimore Colts.
The first season under Shula, he took his team from Wilson’s record of W3-L10-D1 — to 10-4 and a playoff spot. In 1971, the team finished the campaign 10-3-1 and beat two other powerhouses of the era, the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs– only to lose to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI.
The following season, 1972, Shula and the Dolphins did what no other team in the modern era had accomplished. Miami won every game. 17-0. Unbeaten. Beating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII. In ’73 they won their opening regular season game– before losing to the Oakland Raiders in week 2. Ending Miami’s 19-game unbeaten streak.
Shula and Miami went on to a 12-2 record that year– and once again were NFL champions . Beating the Minnesota Vikings in SB VIII– capping a 3-year run of appearances in the title game.
Much of the above has been covered up by nearly-50 years of records and histories.
All except the still-to-be matched or broken record.
The Undefeated. Don Shula’s 17-0 Miami Dolphins of 1972.
Every season, when the inevitable occurs– when the last NFL team of the current season loses their first game. The old men of that unique team gather and pop a few corks and sip champagne. Toasting an achievement that can only be matched– but never broken. Standing for 49 seasons– the show is still running. I find time to revel in it– every year.
Arsene Wenger and the 2003-04 Gunners accomplished the same type of feat 17 seasons back.
No one. No writer. No rival. No other team– can diminish that achievement.
Live it and love it. It’s ours to enjoy. Only us.
jw1
JW1, superbly put my friend! Ours to enjoy! Nobody has matched it yet and quite possibly never will!
1972 Miami Dolphin are my all time favourite team, even more than the Invincibles because I had no idea about “soccer” as a little kid. That would change many years later but not my love for those Dolphins.
Mercury Morris! Larry Csonka! Paul Warfield! Garo Yepremian! Earl Morral who carried the team for Bob Griese to come in and finish off the perfect season.
And of course Don Shula. Who lent his name to a great steakhouse which I enjoyed on occasion in the days when I ate the cooked flesh of cows.
Don Shula, then Dan Marino, were spoken of as if family in our house.
Remember watching that first playoff win at KC on Xmas Day 1971. The Longest Game. 2OTs 27-24. Watching on a color TV about the size of a 19-inch monitor. About 8 of us huddled around it. The pressure of it. We just had to win that one– to be taken seriously. Little did I know– how good the Dolphins would be for many years after.
My Arsenal experience has been a familiar one for me.
The aerial game and smash mouth football had a baby in 1972 and nothing was ever the same.
Forgive my complete ignorance, but would I be right in thinking that the Dolphins are currently utter crap? What happened?
The press convinced then (Blockbuster Video and) Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga that the game had passed Don Shula by. Not too very different as the situation with Arsenal and AW.
Some might argue the semantics– but great men– who gave their all to a club, were forced to break cleanly. When keeping them in some capacity might have stanched the subsequent mediocrity.
The ‘Fins were decent-to-good for about 6 seasons following Shula’s departure. They hired good coaches (Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt). But just the occasional season above .500 since. Bringing in no-name HCs. To your point? Miami haven’t won a playoff game in 20 years.
Wanted to also express that Don Shula experienced just one losing season in the 25 years he led Miami.
To think, watford has kept us relevant, cheers lads, I’ll always route for them now.
Pool doing the unthinkable would of been like eating a corona pie with chopsticks made out of poo. This season was a salvage mission yet due to various variables if we beat westham we’ll be 2 points off 5th and 5 points off 4th with no more European games!
Summer is starting to look rather tasty again. Surely Mikel, with champions league money would sort this defence and midfield once and for all…
I would say United fans celebrate winning ‘the league’ 20 times, rather than the just the 13 Premier League wins.
I can’t believe some Arsenal fans say they would swap a CL for the Invincible’s. Some unremarkable sides have won the CL / EC, only one English team has done the undefeated thing.