How Did Arsenal Become Invincible? (And What Has Happened To Them Since?)
Over the past couple of years, Arsenal as a club have quite visibly declined. Everything from the internal management of the club, to the players themselves just seem a little bit off, to say the least.
But what if I told you that if you hopped in a time machine, and travelled back, really not too long ago, to 2004, you would be presented with an Arsenal side that were nothing other than invincible.
In the 2003/2004 season, Arsenal went an entire Premier League season without losing a single match. A feat, that had never been accomplished before, and has never been repeated since.
Everyone from the manager, to the players were quite simply incredible this season.
But all of this means nothing without really going into how this all came about.
So, with that being said, How did Arsenal become invincible?
Transcript and Sources: footballiconic.com/how-did-ar...
Twitter: / theofficial_fi
Background music (Incredibly talented producer):
Song 1: • Cassette - Smooth Boom... (Prod. Riddiman)
Song 2: • sanctuary - lofi hip h... (Prod. Riddiman)
Song 3: • Video (Prod. Riddiman)
Introduction: 0:00
Arsenal in the Early 90s: 2:19
Arsène Wenger Arrives: 3:20
The Invincible Preseason: 6:55
The Invincible Season: 7:40
After the Invincible Season: 20:28
Producer: Tinashe Chipako
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*Copyright Disclaimer: allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS
What if they just signed Arsene Wenger because it looks pretty cool to have Arsenal managed by a guy named Arsene?
I like this theory 🤔
We all know this was the real reason
When I first started watching European club football when I was 9 back in 2006 that's what I thought.
As a kid who started to really get into football in 2011, honestly this was what i thought about how managers were signed to certain clubs, arsene with arsenal and roberto mancini with man city
i actually ACTUALLY! had a thought like this!
“Supreme goal keeping ability” shows him getting drilled in the face off a volley💀
If it works, it works 😂
That is actually so bad .. that it’s good 😊
@@FootballIconic It showcased his heroism on the pitch.
People dismiss it a lot with 'they had a lot of draws' - I mean, what do you expect? 38 wins? - and the lower points tally than you may expect, but the fact remains no team has done it since. Not the fantastic United side of 2006-2009, nor the Liverpool or City teams of the current era, nor Jose's Chelsea. It's a psychological achievement that I think goes beyond stats.
Exactly. If it weren't so impressive why has no other team done it!
The premier league was a lot harder back then as well and the quality between teams was tight back then smaller teams were much better and because of the commercialization of the sport big teams in the prem nowadays have much more resources and better players than smaller teams
chelsea nearly did it the season after they only lost once and it was a dubious man city penalty
@@aaronkatzen4245 I thought it was Wigan they lost to? A pascal Chimbonda banger? (Could be a different season, to be honest.)
@@aaronkatzen4245yes. But they lost that game early on in the season and got rid of that pressure entirely.
When you look back at Arsenal teams there was a point where they had basically the France national teams midfield & forwards. Only Zidane & Trezeguet was missing from it.
Trezeguet played their
@@connorinnes8987 at Arsenal?????? Pretty sure he didn’t play for Arsenal back in the 90s. He was at Juventus then played for river plate in South America.
Uhh Thuram and Bartez?
Mekelele
@@lipan2757 Goalkeeper and a defender. Re read what I said. BASICALLY THE FRENCH NATIONAL TEAMS MIDFIELD AND FORWARDS. Never mentioned goalkeepers or defenders .
Arsene Wenger is the definition of patience.
269th like :)
Not an Arsenal fan myself but Bergkamp was absolutely majestic. His goal for Holland against Argentina in the 1998 WC was unreal. The first touch was out of this world.
Bergkamp was incredible...one of the players I always wanted to see at Bayern ( in those days almost impossible )
Second and third touches weren't bad either almost as good as when he turned dabizas in knots and not to mention the hatrick against Leicester, he was the reason I supported arsenal the guy was ice cold
Thinking about it, 2004 was maybe the craziest football year ever. Arsena's invincibles, Werder Bremen taking the double over Bayern München, Porto and Monaco in the CL finale and Greece of all teams winning the Europa Cup.
Valencia passing through barca and real to lift La liga
How could I forget that. Though it's not like Valencia was a big surprise. They were pretty much heavy weight back then. Clearly the number 3 behind Real and Barca, kind of what Atletico is today.@@bonfacemarube6196
Kala😅
I think the signing of Lehmann was underrated aspect. The sometimes mad, sometimes inconsistent German certainly brought some fire into the defense🤣
also cost us the champions league tho :(
@@younusbendame742 i know. But he got us there. So can't complain too much.🙈
How are you on so few subs your style is incredible, I'm always hooked with how you present it, I'm gonna start recommending you on other videos, you deserve to be way bigger.
Thanks so much! Still testing things out. Hopefully the videos only get better!
@@FootballIconic mate would yo pls do an analysis of SAF's football after chelsea's rise their tactics and style of play it just confusesme i cannot comprehend what style it was
You earned this sub! Good work mate.
Lehman looks like an absolute giant in the goal
As a man utd fan, games with Arsenal were always great to watch. Massive respect to Wenger
Seaman didn't retire the season before the invincibles. He went on a free to Man City, conceded 2 goals against us in a 2-1 Arsenal win and then retired because of a back injury, being replaced by David James. Edit: you even show Seaman in goal for City, whilst talking about Cashley.
Class video and great analysis, would love to see these kind of videos with other teams like Milan and Man United
Coming up soon!
I second that
Raymar Football did an awesome video on the downfall of AC Milan. But I’d love to see a video on how they came back up, as they can qualify for the champions league this season.
Nicolas Anelka wasn't a marquee signing... He was signed for next to nothing and was a prospect. Arsenal killed their club and future by not investing in the squad due to the cost of the new stadium. The power struggle at top level with shares and failed takeover bids didn't help either
Yeah, my mistake there. I guess that's the big problem with Arsenal. There are just so many reasons that have contributed to where they are now.
Even Arsene Wenger said that his greatest achievement was to keep the club competitive.
Tbf to arsenal n Wenger, they did plan for the future of team in view of paying off the debt. That's why there were so many youngsters promoted quickly ,fabregas, diaby, senderos, nasri, van persie, denilson, lord bendtner etc etc. They were betting that they could replicate sir Alex Ferguson Beckham, Giggs, Nevile batch success. Unfortunately, that bet didn't pan out. Tho they did come close
@@silkychan6099 they did okay... But the new stadium killed the squad. They had to sell their players to keep the club going and try to get that top 4 spot for money too. RVP and Nasri were already well established players in their leagues. But arsenal in their prime would never sell to a rival
the emergance of chelsea and man city as well and now newcastle
2 years after this video and Arsenal are top of the league haha
This channel is bound to blow up
Cheers!!
After the invincibles we had a good generation with Van Persey, Fabregas, Walcott, Rositcky etc. All young prospects that Arsene brought. Then we had another good team with Ozil, Sanchez, Wilshere, Ramsey etc. They were both top 4 teams that Arsene brought for cheap because the club was broke paying off that stadium. Arsene was a brilliant scout, he could tell a talent better than anyone. But that stadium ruined us. Plus Chelsea and Man United started paying the players too much for us to compete with. And today Arsenal seems like a pitstop for young players to play a couple of seasons before they move to a bigger better club.
This is the team that made me fall in love with football. I’ll always love them.
This channel easily deserves millions of subs and views. Man gets straight to the point and consistently drops proficient videos all around.
Can you do one for Arsenal legendary back four or five..this was Seaman..Dixon..Adams..Bould..Winterburn..🤗
Amazing video, thank you for making quality content ❤️
Arsenals problem was has and ALWAYS be the defense. Back under Wenger ( I'm a Bayern fan since 94 ) I always wondered why they ALWAYS looked away from buying first class defenders...
Your videos are so good; you said this was gonna be a long one but it actually felt really short
Wayne f***ing Bridge... to this day I'm convinced we'd have won the CL that year if it weren't for that goal.
Quality content my man, if you don't have 100k subs by the end of this year I'll be amazed
You deserve so much more subscribers man, just keep up the great work and in due time success will come. Great video.
Arsenal fans disrespected Arsène Wenger in the end, Champions League football every season with a limiited budget. Just imagine if they won the Premier League the season Leicester got over the line, would he still be in charge today? I think so...
I mean they were 10 points off at the end of the season.
@@TheGlassEyesOfficial Correct, but done the double over Leicester that season. Giving them 2 out of their 3 losses that season.
@@Sarahchick92 You got it the wrong way round, it's even worse that Arsenal still finished 10 pts behind Leicester despite doing the double over them. The mathematical difference that has, it meant Leicester got 16 points more than Arsenal against the other 18 teams. If Leicester had done the double over Arsenal then Leicester would've finished 22 points above Arsenal that season. So Arsenal needed those 2 wins to... still not avoid finishing double figures behind Leicester. I understand the criticism towards Wenger. 19 ChampionsLeague seasons with Arsenal, never won it and only reached the semi-finals twice. Terrible record.
@@cddb5408 2006 was unlucky. That run to the final was superb. 10men for most of the game. 2016 Carzola got injured. 2008 Eduardos injury ruined the team. Super unlucky
@@stephenstowers5630 Unlucky to face Barca you mean? It's a champions league final you expect hard opponents. You were lucky to face Champions league debutants Villarreal in the semi's. In the final Barca scored but the ref decided to make it 11 vs 10 instead because of Lehmann's last man foul and keep it 0-0 which you can argue both ways what you'd prefer but neither Arsenal could complain about as they did the offence yet knowing Arsenal they were always going to criticise whatever decision the ref would've made keeping the goal or 11 vs 10 if they ended up losing they'll say they would've preferred the other option. But Arsenal made it 1-0 from a wrongly awarded free-kick a typical Eboue dive so that was unlucky for Barca because really they scored first. Also Arsenal played very few English players during the competition and away to RMadrid first "English" team apparently to beat them at the Bernabau yet RMadrid fielded 2 English players to Arsenal's none. You can't talk about unlucky that season Arsenal scraped 4th on the last day because of another team got food poisoning.
I think the biggest reason is the other Premier League teams caught up to Wenger's methods with diets, training etc. Chelsea got a billionaire owner also hurt Arsenal. But the biggest reasons is the construction of the Emirates as star players were sold and inadequately replaced, and Kroenke bought the team after their Champions League defeat to Barcelona and they have not been good owners and were happy with Arsenal finishing in the top 4. I think Wenger did a wonderful job considering what restrictions he was working with
Helenio Herrera was the pioneer of strict methods
Yes, if you watch the decline of Arsenal after Wenger left you can see what a great job he was doing.
This channel needs to be bigger, amazing content
This is probably the best historical topic or niche football topic channel on KZhead right now. In terms of the video footage, the script and the documentary quality. Well done. You deserve more subs.
Great video .. i can't wait to watch more about other legendary clubs
Loving the constant uploads
Love these vids keep up the great content🙌
The best quality of that arsenal side was the understanding of the game And intelligence which is the best way for covering the team weaknesses and winning matches when the team was out of form (which was a rare sight anyway) and it's the most overlooked qualities in football
Ppl dont get how arse wenger was important to arsenal when he left arsenal become a middtable team WHO almost cant even qualfy to Europa lig its Sad honestly that manager was just important as sir alex was fore man united
He made us a mid table team.
The main reason I became an Arsenal fan was because when I wad a kid, I thought Arsene Wenger had invented the club and named it after himself. I’ve just loved the club ever since lmao. It’s so cool to learn about the club’s history now with amazing videod like these.
loving the channel absolutely killing it. keep up the good work!
Great video and a great channel. Keep up the good work mate
Great Video Do one on Rooney as well, now that he has been out of the spotlight for a while and retired recently, it will help in reminding ppl how good he was
Rooney needs 1 now he's retired
If Rooney dedicated himself more he would've been the GOAT
It seems Mr Rooney is back in the headlines again up to his old tricks 😂😂
Look forward to each and every video! Keep up the great work!
Cheers man!
Crazyyyyy work mate! Loved the video. Most importantly, looking forward to more videos soooon.
Thanks man! Appreciate it!
Whoa! Excellent analysis bro..
Best Football Channel on KZhead of All Time. 💯💯❤️❤️👑🔥🔥
I recently found your channel and I have to say I’m really enjoying it! Keep up the good work man, I’m sure you’ll keep on growing. Cheers, from an Italian viewer!
Cheers!!
man this time next year you'll have a million subs at least, youve got me back into playing fm :D
In my opinion the way arsenal played when wenger was their manager was some of the most beautiful football team plays i have ever seen 🤩
Mate your efforts show top class video , I'm really enjoying your channel. Thank you
Thanks man :)
Great video mate! Definitely up there as one of the better Arsenal Documentaries
Thanks man! Appreciate it!
Underrated channel.
I just started to watch your channel (The Chelsea vid of course) funny how this is a day after they beat us home and away yesterday. The first time since this invincible season... Anyway you have my sub, your videos are one of the best I've watched on KZhead ❤️
Thanks, man!!
This is quality keep it up
Simply put, these video are very very good
Love your vids mate
This video is very well made. You deserve more views bro. Subscribed!
Much appreciated!
Nice video, will appreciate better relevant flashback videos with little audio output, which connotes with the points you fashion...all the same, Nice efforts.
You have a sub and a like. Awesome video!
One biggest point missed here, The impact of arsenal wasn’t about wining , it was transforming the English game to a nice to watch one, more about possession, like Man City or Barcelona. It’s not about STAts or how many goals people scored. The English game was exciting but lacked flair compared to la liga duo. Chelsea won a lot too, but they won’t about possession
Amazing video!
Great content!
Henry with Sega jersey is absolutely legendary...you could have mentioned that inter Milan hattrick at San siro
I remember that period after the invincibility that there were several times Wenger commented on the lack of transfer funds while other reports stated that Arsenal had the biggest surplus in income of all Premiership teams (due to selling players away for more than they paid for them). Overall Wenger wasn't a big spender, but a great builder that pulled the max out of the players on hand. But on the other hand my personal thoughts are that the first time they gave him a larger sum he wasted it on subpar transfers and still had to rely on building up the unpolished players.
A lot of that money went directly into paying the stadium debt off. They made the move at a time the construction of brand new stadium was extremely expensive but the amount of revenue the club received was nowhere near as much as it is these days with the TV rights deals. That's why Wenger was so hamstrung when it came to spending a lot on transfers.
Quality content 👌
Great video, timestamps are very appreciated
The most underrated football channel.
These videos are amazing pal
Cheers man!
Great video
Good work bro ! Can you do a video on the best players to grace the premier league
Thanks! That's actually a great video idea. It's going on my list!
This is THE KZhead CONTENT to watch ... brilliant stuff!
How good was Tony Adams? One club legend and a PL winning Captain.
This video brought tears to my eyes. I miss this arsenal
As the solid defence backbone is what makes my beloved Arsenal crumbles since the Invincibles..no matter how potent their strikeforce is..plus that once strong midfield duo tandems is never replicated since then is another cause for concern.
I was 11 at that time, 'till that year I never liked football or sports, I really loved computer games tho, when my father bought me my first computer, a friend gift me "fifa 2000" and I played it because I or my fathers didn't have money to buy games, I remember playing with arsenal just because the shirt was cool but after that I started watching games on the weekends, some time after that I found myself waking up very early every weekend just to see arsenal games, principally thierry henry and bergkamp, this team made me love the game and now I'm 32 and I love football with passion, this team made me love the game, they were amazing, goals after 30 passes, amazing individuals, amazing team play, they were incredible, invincibles.
I think back then (and maybe now too) Arsenal has this weird rule on selling their stars when they reach over a certain age even when they are still physically in top form. This totally hurt their team chemistry IMO. But they have good young talents back then. Fabregas, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Walcott to name a few.
Nice video dude keep up the great work My dad is a T H fan lol
Haha, I think he'll have to bleep the part where I talk about Judas.
Man this hit in the feels
Very well made
Big up Football Iconic. Lots of people always talk about The Arsenal Invincibles, but for me Arsenal's team of 1997-98 and 2001-02, which both won the double, were probably even tougher physically and mentally. Where the Invincibles shade it, is in the style of football and the sheer arrogance in which they played. The Invincibles literally took the piss out most of the teams they played.
I watched nearly every game arsenal played that year. I could not believe what I was seeing they were so good. I mean, really, they were THAT good!
Also it was definitely the stadium or how that was handled
Yeah, seems there are so many complications when it comes to the Arsenal upper management and how that stadium transition was handled back then.
I’m sure it was Everton and Wayne Rooneys’ first goal (screamer lob in off the bar) that broke the Arsenal invincibility streak.
That goal broke their previous winning streak in 2002.
it was penalty by Van Nistelrooij who break the record, and of course Rooney scores too
That was a 30 game unbeaten run before the 49 game unbeaten run
Gilberto Silva and Lauren deserve to get a lot more recognition and praises for their abilitys . 2 monsters that will always will be named last in the invicibles lineup sadly
Preston North End did it first, English football didn't begin with the Premier League. But Arsenal's achievement was more remarkable in that they had to win 38 games vs Preston's 22 games in their invincible season.
Don’t think they had penalties back then either.
Brilliant video and narrative 👏 IMO today's arsenal squad has a lack of passion and not enough strong players, leaders and winners. Expensive players bought from other clubs seem to think the world revolves around them and only care about themselves and the money which leads to low team morale and driving force 👎
quality video
David Seaman didn't retire he went to Man City, got injured then retired. It actually wasn't a good season for Lehmann, despite going a full season unbeaten he made a fair few mistakes in his first season.
Please do a video on hidetoshi nakata or cha bum kun, many say they are the 2 best asian players of all time
Probably the strangest fact about the Invincibles is that the League trophy was the only one they won that season. FA Community Shield: lost 1-1 (3-4 pens) to Manchester United FA Cup: lost 0-1 to Manchester United in the semi-final League Cup: lost 1-3 on aggregate to Middlesbrough in the semi-final Champions League: lost 2-3 on aggregate to Chelsea in the quarter-final
It really shows how bad and unfair the KZhead algorithm is when this high quality of a video has this low amount of views and only 36k subs
What a nice thing to say! Thanks! Just happy that anyone gets to see it, really!
@@FootballIconic no problem. im trying to make content on a game and whilst they arent the greatest, they are better than some peoples. the algorithm is just luck
Well they have a professor at the helm, 2 incredible striker, a freaking patrick viera in the middle...great wing attacker and good and solid defender
I miss this type of football, where a coach takes a team and builds them slowly in a couple of years into a monster team. Now, if a team doesn't win the title, they sell/buy players. Every season, new transfers new team new coach.
do remember me when u have a million subscriber bro
Haha, of course! And fingers crossed.
Bergkamp’s speed was underrated. His burst of speed was tremendous, technique i need not speak of. Ljundberg scored many important goals, a silent fighter. All in all, that team was just made for that.
I love how every record was miraculous until Messi and Ronaldo came into the scene. No matter how you look at it, we are truly blessed to have witnessed Messi and Ronaldo play.
even that record of henry's needed some truly crazy circumstances at barcelona for messi to be able to do it... his carry job in the last few years has been insane. however for a player to do the 20/20 in a team as stacked as arsenal's is just outrageous, especially at that time. he was a class above that arsenal team... and that arsenal team was probably the best in europe at the time. henry's ability in his prime is one of the best ever and it's criminal he didn't win a ballon d'or or fifa player of the year - probably because of bias against the english league.
5:50 seeing those united players go by was honestly majestic ngl
was a gunner fan for 2 decades, became a spurs fan since yesterday. everyone loves sonny
Can we get more videos of the longer variety. Perhaps how Barca won the sextuple in 2009?
Definitely gonna be working on more of these type of videos in the future as well as the other specific player focused ones. The Barcelona team in 09 is a great shout!
Quality over Quantity 🏆
Could you maybe make a video about Louis van Gaal? I feel like after his time at man utd he doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Great video btw!
Thanks! That 1995 Ajax team was the stuff of legends!
He was horrible at united tho
@@william_SMMA I agree, all tough he was unlucky with injuries both seasons. But his whole career has been great
@@martinnordtvedt8749 oh. For sure
This should be on TV
I dont follow football much but i did hear about how amazing Arsenal was Bad management is a very toxic thing Negative atmosphere can sap energy and motivation There are very vested interests in the game who have hurt sport Sport needs to be just sport