11Moments- The ‘Invincibles’(Part 8)

TheGooner — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:09:57 +0000

16th May 2004!!

Its the last day of the season. Arsenal have been long crowned champions but still an air of anxiety rings around Highbury. Arsenal’s record reads:-

Played-37 Won-25 Lost- well, exactly none.

Surely an already relegated Leicester cannot spoil the party, or can they?

Half time:- Arsenal 0- 1 Leicester..Anxiety mounting..

11Gunners recounts the ‘Greatest Season’ of all times, right now..

But then we were not champions for no reason. Ashley Cole‘s weaving characteristic run wins us a spot kick, Henry duly obliges. The fans breathe again. Then, the touch of class that had been our hallmark all the way. Bergkamp piercing a ball to Vieira to slot the ball home and engrave our names in all the History books.

Arsenal ‘Unbeaten‘ for an entire season.

This didn’t evoke any disbelief or surprise from anybody. Anyone who had seen the Gunners play that season would agree that the “Invincibles” tag was in the making, that the boys fully earned that title, that the best team by a countrymile in the league was in North London (and no it wasn’t Spurs), that the English Premier league had been taken to the next level by the Professor and his tutored disciples.

The shift in power from Manchester to London had started 2 years ago when we had clinched the double and had lifted the League crown at Old Trafford. The previous season ahd been disappointment when despite having played breathtaking football, the tuitle was stolen by Man United. but, 2003-04 season was the one when Wenger’s endeavours meet their true destiny.

Arsenal had a characteristic aggressive yet positive aura about themselves. Like a tiger on its prey, we used to hunt down our oppositions, who more often than not never had clue as to what had struck them. Even before they could settle down, Arsenal got their rhythm going, “Sprint Relay Squad“, the commentators called us. the players knew each other so well that the co-ordination seemed effortless, a novice could accuse football of being such a simple game. But that was our mantra, we kept it simple and whisked past oppositions and you could tell from the boys faces, they enjoyed every bit of it, ensuring the fans enjoyed every bit of it, the fans worshipped the citadel of highbury they worshiped Henry’s pace, Pires‘s technique, Ljungberg‘s guile, Bergakmp’s precision and Vieira’s leadership.

The highlights of that season were:-

flaring tempers

The 0-0 draw at Man United and the ugly scenes after the game. Our response to all the criticism was our football on the pitch. Those who disgraced us were applauding us by the end of it all.

He was our man that day

The 4-2 victory against Liverpool. On a day when the chips were down, Henry produced an exhilarating display as we came back twice to beat the Merseysiders. the image of Henry dancing around a clueless Liverpool defense elates me even to this day.

Jubilations- a treat for the fans,not the Spurs fans!

The icing on the cake, the venue chosen for our victory march was none other than White hart Lane. As we danced around the stadium, the Spurs fans probably felt what wrong thwey had done to have been left at the other side of North London.

The unbeaten run didn’t end there, we carried our amazing form into the next season. A true Premeirship classic was the game against Middlesbrough when after being 3-1 down, we played an out of the ordinary 15 minutes to come back 5-3. We equalled Nottingham Forest’s record on that day and next week against Blackburn, we had surpassed them and made ourselves special in the history of over 100 years of English Football.

Then all good things must come to an end. A highly controversial defeat at Old Trafford stopped us in our tracks at 49. You beleive something like that was needed to stop this force.

However on all accounts this achievement remains the greatest for Arsenal Football Club and going one step ahead will take some doing.

11Gunners: The Unofficial Arsenal FC Blog and News » The Invincibles

11Moments- The ‘Invincibles’(Part 8)