The INVINCIBLES

The ‘Invincibles’. That’s what they are called. Arsenal’s legendary group of players. If readers get the chance to watch the video compilation of their run of 49 unbeaten matches, surely all will feel highly amused. That was a complete team. From the goalkeeper to the defenders to the midfielders and to the strikers. All of them played with flair and without fear. They all knew where their teammates were and they all knew where their teammates were going to run. They played in a perfect system where anybody can replace anybody in any match, yet the outcome will be exactly the same. They will outclass the opponents. They will outscore the opponents. They will win matches. The only thing that stopped them from winning was their own luck, because there were matches where they play with the same brilliance but cannot score. No tactics from the opponents can defeat them in those 49 unbeaten matches. The season was in the year of 2003-2004.

The chief of that unbeaten run was undoubtedly Thierry Henry. One of the best players of the modern English Premier League era. Henry was a supreme goal getter in any angle, against any opponents, and using any scoring techniques. His only imperfection was scoring with headers. He was supported by the three tricky musketeers in the likes of Robert Pires, Fredrik Ljungberg, and Dennis Bergkamp. Pires was the vice chief of the team’s source of goals. He started from the left flank but ended up scoring on the left, right and even centre of the pitch. If Henry was not playing for Arsenal at that time, Pires will be the main superstar. Ljungberg on the other hand was stationed on the right flank. He also scored many goals but assisted more. One thing standout from him those days was his hair colour. Then there was Dennis Bergkamp. No blood relation with the more popular David Beckham. Bergkamp was the magician and playmaker of that great team. He played behind or beside Henry in the centre.

Not to forget, the steel behind those four were the formidable midfield partnership of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva. Vieira offered leadership and box to box kind of play, while Gilberto offered ball tackling services with a touch of easy-looking Brazilian style. The Arsenal defenders were strong and almost unbeatable, but they had to thank their class forwards for making the opponents focused more on defending at their own half. With Ashley Cole on the left, Lauren on the right, Kolo Toure and Sol Campbell at the centre of defence, not many teams scored against them at that time. Last but not least, there was the great but often eccentric Jens Lehmann to safeguard their goal post. Other players who also involved in that historic run were Jose Antonio Reyes, Jermaine Pennant, Edu, Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Nwankwo Kanu, Gio van Bronckhorst, Ray Parlour, Martin Keown, and Gael Clichy.

In all, Arsene Wenger successfully managed to organize this group of players to play the best football in England at that time and maintain their discipline as well. Game number 50 against Manchester United was the end of that magnificent run. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney were the responsible culprits. The Writer hopes to see another team emerges in the future to emulate this legendary team but if anyone has lost the appetite to watch football these days, it is highly recommended for them to go and watch that video compilation of 49 games unbeaten run to restore the love for this beautiful game...