Twenty years ago, Arsenal won the Premier League title after an undefeated campaign. Then-manager Arsene Wenger has now explained why he set his side such an ambitious target in the first place.
Almost certainly the greatest achievement in Arsenal history was confirmed twenty years ago to this day, on May 15th 2004, when the Gunners beat Leicester City 2-1 at Highbury Stadium to complete an unprecedented unbeaten Premier League campaign.
That Arsenal side quickly became known forevermore as the Invincibles, and remain the last Arsenal side to win the title. However, Mikel Arteta’s team still stand a chance of being crowned champions on Sunday and ending that two-decade wait.
In 2004, Arsenal sealed their title triumph with a North London derby draw against their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur. However, they still had another four Premier League encounters to come through unscathed after that in order to preserve their unblemished record.
Arsene Wenger first claimed that going unbeaten throughout a league season was possible in 2002. He then proved his theory two years later.
Arsene Wenger reveals reason for belief in unbeaten Arsenal dream
The iconic French coach has now explained why he ever believed such a feat was possible in the first place. Speaking to The Mirror, Wenger stated: “I wanted to challenge the team and challenge myself as well.
“I was always obsessed by improvement and these players had the football quality and the mental resources to respond.”
It was a special Arsenal squad that he had at his disposal at that time. The likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, and Sol Campbell, amongst others, are now established legends of the North London club.
Mikel Arteta pushing Arsenal towards another title success
Invincibles team member Kolo Toure believes that of the current crop of Arsenal stars only Bukayo Saka would have gotten into the 2003/04 team on a regular basis.
Saka and his teammates are now trying to make Arsenal history of their own. Whilst the Gunners are not in charge of the title race this time around, and are relying on Manchester City to drop points against West Ham United on the final day of the campaign in order to stand any chance of being crowned champions, they have already shown that they are capable of competing for top prizes.
Regardless of how this season ends, Arsenal have still made fantastic progress, and will be expected to mount another strong title challenge next time around.