When Arsenal’s Invincibles produced the perfect season

The 2003-04 English Premier League title was won by Arsenal, achieving an incredible feat in the process by going the entire season without losing a match.

Arsene Wenger amassed a side who were imperious in almost every clash and with talents such as Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Fredrik Ljungberg they were never beaten. Chelsea, with the riches of Roman Abramovich revealing itself, finished in a distant second.

CHANGES

For the first time in their history, Chelsea and Stamford Bridge became the epicentre of the football world. Roman Abramovich’s takeover, bringing with him billions in spare cash, sent the press into a frenzy over how that money would be spent. No potential transfer target went unlinked, but in the end the Blues arguably exceeded expectations with the volume of high-quality arrivals they were able to land.

Damien Duff (£17m from Blackburn Rovers), Adrian Mutu (£7m from Parma) and Hernan Crespo (£16.8m from Inter) were among the first arrivals, but the Blues were in no mood to stop there.

Juan Veron arrived from rivals Manchester United for £15m, while a succession of others also came in; Joe Cole, Wayne Bridge, Geremi, Glen Johnson were all added before, on deadline day, arguably the most crucial deal of them all, signing Claude Makelele from Real Madrid for a fee of £16m.

It was spending on an unprecedented level and left everyone else in the shade. United’s outlay was much more subdued, though the arrival of a young winger by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo did much to offset the loss of David Beckham to Real Madrid.

Arsenal also looked at youth first, securing Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona’s youth setup, before spending big mid-season on the vibrant Jose Antonio Reyes from Sevilla for £16m.

Coming up from the First Division came Portsmouth, dominant champions of the second tier, Leicester City and, via the playoffs, Wolves.

SEASON SUMMARY

Despite going the entire season unbeaten, Arsenal faced a significant challenge in the first half…

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Author : [email protected] (Team FC)

Publish date : 2024-07-28 13:00:00

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