The early 2000s are described by many as some of the most important years for both English and European football. As far as England and the Premier League go, one man and one team made all the difference. Way back in 2003/04 an unbelievable event happened, and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal has won the Premier League title by managing to finish the season without a defeat. The Invincibles were the first team ever to do it in the PL and one of the selected few in European top 5 leagues to do it. Since then, it has been more than two decades and the only notable teams in Europe to repeat the same feat are Arsenal in 2011/12 and Bayer Leverkusen in 2023/24.
The feat of finishing the league year without a defeat is reserved only for special teams, and that’s why it’s believed that the Arsenal’s Invincibles are a team that left a massive mark on the game of football. Of course, Juventus and Bayer did the same, but to do it in the PL is a different story, and that’s why Wenger’s Invincibles are talked about more than any other team in that domain. The game was never the same after the 2003/04 Premier League season thanks to Arsene Wenger and his Invincibles. What was different?
The Way Coaches Are Appointed
By the time Arsene took over Arsenal in the mid 90s, the English game was dominated by domestic managers with Sir Alex Ferguson leading the way. It wasn’t believed that someone across the canal, and especially from France could make a difference. Wenger proved everyone wrong, especially as he came to England as an unknown quality all the way from Japan. All of a sudden, coaches from abroad started to receive more and more opportunities, and in no time they took over. Roman Abramovich just took over Chelsea, and his first appointment was none other than Jose Mourinho. It was after the Invincibles season that Rafa Benitez took over Liverpool. During 2004/05 season the likes of Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Sam Allardyce, Alan Curbishley, Iain Dowie, David Moyes, Chris Coleman, Stuart Pearce, Nigel Worthington, Harry Redknapp, and Bryan Robson were some of the British coaches managing teams in the Premier League. Fast forward to today, and you only have Graham Potter, Eddie Howe, David Moyes, Keith Andrews, and Scott Parker, representing Great Britain, with no English coach coaching a top 6 side in recent memory. Arsenal is led by Mikel Arteta these days, and while they’re far removed from the glory days of Arsene Wenger, the team has enough quality to compete for the PL title, and the odds of the Gunner winning the title are set at 2.85 at Stake.
The Tactics
When you speak about 4-4-2 today, the formation is mostly seen as a meme. While many coaches still play the variation of the formation to a degree today, it is rare to see a team coming out to the field with two big men upfront. We could easily argue that it was Wenger who signalled the end of the 4-4-2 era in a way. While Arsenal did play with two men upfront during their Invincibles run, it was everything but your standard 4-4-2. By the time Wenger laid down the foundations of his Invincibles, the era of playing two big men upfront was almost over as teams saw that it is no longer sustainable to play football that way. The days of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, and Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke were done with. With Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp leading the way for Gunners it was easy for Wenger to play 4-2-3-1, 4-4-1-1, and variations of 4-3-3 at times with ease. Bergkamp was able to play as a striker, second striker, and as a playmaking 10. With Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg commanding presence on the wings, both men could play in the middle, and as side strikers. The only thing that never changed for Wenger were four men at the back, and two holding midfielders holding the line in the middle. But, it wasn’t only about the way Arsenal played. It was also about how teams adapted to their playstyle. Soon enough, other teams followed suit, and as we said, hired foreign coaches who brought forth different tactics able to parry what Wenger did, the most notable being Jose Mourinho who developed massive rivalry with Wenger, Rafa Benitez, Roberto Mancini, and many others who came to PL in years while Wenger was still on top.
Squad Building
There was a lot of pride for the Premier League teams to have domestic talent on their team. English players were seen as the ones who needed to lead the team, captain it, and to be the main players on the roster. When Arsene Wenger took over, Arsenal was one of those teams, captained by Tony Adams and with experienced English players such as Ray Parlour and Martin Keown leading the way. In a few short years, Wenger changed the way his team scouted players, and Arsenal’s transfer policy became one of a kind in the PL. By the time the Invincibles wrapped up their undefeated season, Arsenal had a unique team to boast, created to Arsene Wenger’s liking. While there was an academy product in Ashley Cole on the field, and dominant local presence of Sol Campbell, the rest of the squad were all players brought in from the outside. Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, and Patrick Vieira were picked up as Serie A outcasts from Juventus and Milan, in an era when players were going the other way around. The likes of Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg were picked up from Marseille and Halmstad respectively, while Gilberto Silva, Kolo Toure, and Lauren came from Brazil, Ivory Coast, and La Liga. The best part of Wenger’s squad building was the fact that none of these players broke the bank for the team, as they were either bargain deals, or pickups from teams no longer requiring the player’s services. In no time, other teams started following suit, and soon enough, Premier League teams were filled with foreign talent. Nowadays, it is rare to see a team in the PL that has its best player coming through the ranks, as the moves Wenger made back in the day helped the PL become the richest league in the world splashing billions each summer transfer window on reinforcements. It is the most popular competition in the world in both terms of the on the field product, fantasy football, and online sports betting.
Training Methods
The foundation to what The Invincibles have achieved was laid down on the training ground, and there’s no way around it. When Arsene Wenger took over at Highbury, he was a less known quantity coming over from J1 outfit Nagoya Grampus Eight. It was evident from the first training session that he came to succeed, and that his methods were unorthodox, at least for the era we’re talking about. All of a sudden, the training was not all about stamina. The focus shifted to stretching, passing, and timing. For Wenger, the English tradition meant little, while science was everything for the man that was later known as The Professor. Soon enough, he received the results of his approach with one of the best prepared squads in England. While training was important, the recovery was vital too, and Arsenal players were given osteopath and an acupuncturist. Wenger didn’t alter his squad, tactics, or approach first. He started from the training ground and fitness and his legacy has proven that it was the right place to start. While doubted by his squad from the get go, once wins and trophies started coming in, he got their backing, and experts and clubs from England started to copy what he was doing. Once the Invincibles season was wrapped up, it was clear not only that Wenger knows what he’s doing, but that he’s also one of the best to ever do it.
Playing Style
As we mentioned, the tactics changed with Wenger to mimic him and to counter him both. But what everyone truly wanted to have was the early 2000s Arsenal’s playing style. Back in the 90s when George Graham was leading the team, they were known as the Boring Arsenal. With Wenger, Arsenal became many things, but boring was not one of them. Unlike his Gunners predecessor, and many of the PL coaches of the era, Wenger shifted the focus from defence to the attack. The Frenchmen valued a more fast paced attacking style that often left the defence exposed. But, that was a notion that only came forth in Wenger’s later years. Early on, and especially during the Invincibles era, Arsene’s Arsenal was a fluid attacking style that wasn’t as easily compromised at the back. With Toure and Campbell at the back, and Vieira and Silva in the midfield, there weren’t many teams that could have threatened Arsenal, as was evident in 2003/04. For Arsenal it was all about possession, moving the ball fast with forward progress, creating opportunities, and being a treat to watch for the fans. From 2000 till 2010 there were a few teams that could parry Arsenal’s on field product. Wenger’s playstyle was copied by many, and whenever you see a free flowing game today, you can bet that it was partly inspired by the Professor and his Invincibles.
Transfer Dealings
Today, despite the FFP, teams are spending millions on reinforcements. But, that goes for the selected few. Many teams, and especially those outside of England still need to behave themselves when looking for reinforcements. The Wenger approach that helped him create the Invincibles still works today, if one takes it seriously. Arsene was never one to go on a spending spree during a transfer window. One of his first reinforcements was Patrick Vieira who was a bargain signing for only £3.5 million. Not only that he became Arsenal captain and legend in the process, but he was also a foundation for how Wenger is going to do his transfer dealings in the future. Young and unproven stars who could be further developed and moulded into his Arsenal side were the prototype the Frenchmen wanted. What followed was a French revolution in London with Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka, and signings of teenagers such as Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Hector Bellerin and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in later years. There’s no doubt that Wenger’s transfers were what led to the Invincibles and that it has shown teams they can make wonders with all the right moves. Today, it appears to be impossible to form a PL squad the way Wenger did it, but for years, what he did was the blueprint for success. The last team to do something at least similar was Leicester City who won a title on the back of long time captain Wes Morgan, bargain signings such as Jamie Vardy, Riyadh Mahrez, N’Golo Kante, international players such as Shinji Okazaki, and local lads in Danny Simpson, Danny Drinkwater, and Marc Albrighton. You see? The Invincibles blueprint is still there.
The Diet
Let’s wrap it up with a few dishes that made Wenger’s Arsenal the Invincibles. Joking aside, he did bring that French cuisine to London. Back in the day, the players in England weren’t as used to eating healthy and leading lives as athletes do today. The changes in diet that Wenger instilled back in the day might appear funny today as the diet and nutrition was elevated to a high level, but back in the early 2000s it was revolutionary. For Wenger, the lads were eating too much sugar and meat and not enough vegetables . Inspired by his time in Japan, Wenger changed the diet at Highbury from burgers and chips to fish, chicken, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables. Wenger laid the foundation to what is seen as a norm today.
Many people argue that it is going to be hard, or close to impossible to repeat what Arsenal did in the 2003/04 season. Finishing the season invincible is one of a kind event, and for us, maybe Wenger’s team should remain the only one to do it. It made history back in the day and changed the game forever. We’re not sure that if Liverpool or Manchester City do it today, it would change the landscape of the game as it did in the mid 2000s.