Good, sometimes great, as he's been, Özil's not done anything statue worthy

van judas was such a shithead but my god did he score some amazing goals

10 days later

I've just read that this team:

Lehmann
Lauren
Toure
Campbell
Cole
Ljungberg
Vieira
Gilberto
Pires
Bergkamp
Henry

Only played 2 PL games together in 03/04. Mental.

Probably because Bergkamp did not start like half the games that season.

I think the best way to look at it is how many players we've used in total that year amd out of those hpw many played more than 5-10 games. I'm sure it can't have been that many and definitely not more than the main 11+5 subs we had at the time.

Other than the main set of names you mentioned I can only think of Parlour, Edu, Wiltord and possibly Reyes who played significant numbers.

We were very fortunate not to have had mamy injuries or suspensions at the same time that year given how small pur squad was.

I recall Ljungberg struggling with injuries even in that season.

I had recently read a fact that in the whole of our unbeaten season we did not go into the last 20 minutes of any match behind by a goal or more, which was quite astounding.

I don't think Ljungberg missed many games that season at all. He was injury prone throughout his time with us but pretty sure he played most gamed that year. As did the rest of tve group of players Shady mentioned.

The most likely reason we only played that same 11 two times is because of Bergkamp missing chunks of the season as second choice to Wiltord as well as Edu, Parlour and Wiltord being used frequently from the start subbing in for whoever of the midfield/forwards were missing. Really we had a first 14 that season.

Anyone seen 89? Went to the cinema just after Christmas to watch it. I’d recommend it highly.

Got it for Christmas and watched it with the fiancée soon after. Surprised at how engrossing it was. Even she enjoyed it and she isn't really a football fan.

I miss being relevant in the UCL. We haven't been decent in it since 2009, almost a decade ago now.


I will never forget how happy I felt watching us in Europe that season.

Bold Tone wrote:

Considering how good he was for us, i am amazed at what he did at his peak (before joining us).  :gape:

<3

The guy who made me a Gooner.

Shady wrote:

I've just read that this team:

Lehmann
Lauren
Toure
Campbell
Cole
Ljungberg
Vieira
Gilberto
Pires
Bergkamp
Henry

Only played 2 PL games together in 03/04. Mental.

That's insane. And looking at those names just gave me butterflies.

What a team.

banduan wrote:
Bold Tone wrote:

Considering how good he was for us, i am amazed at what he did at his peak (before joining us).  :gape:

<3

The guy who made me a Gooner.

100% truth for me as well..  when he signed for Arsenal, i started following Arsenal and havent stopped since

a month later
11 days later

Nice tribute demonstrating the flair and grit that team had - unlike anything we've seen from a Wenger side since.

Tim-bob wrote:

Anyone seen 89? Went to the cinema just after Christmas to watch it. I’d recommend it highly.

You know, hardly a day passes when I don't think of that season.

I've seen great things since, the invincibles etc, but for the incredible feeling of that Thomas goal, the Bear on the pitch, my best friend {RIP} and I going mental {We went to every match that season} can't ever be matched. You have to remember that we hadn't come close to the title since '71, but that season we just knew something was happening.

Real Arsenal. 

That's how I felt in the first half of 07/08 🙁

The late equaliser against Utd, the first win against Chelsea in years, the sexy football, the domimance in our Champions League group, the variety of goalscorers. It felt like our season until Birmingham away.

5 days later

I don't know about anyone else but I quite enjoyed looking back on Song's passing ability. Did some great assists I'd actually forgotten and all in his nonchalant style. At his peak, I reckon he was the best DM we've had since Gilberto (albeit not a great deal of competition). Didn't like it when he started playing a more attacking role.

Fuck me that looks good.
I'm impressed by the movement!

And he could throw those passes with either foot.

He also did decently and was strong on defense.

Alex Song was extremely underrated while he was here

Let's not forget that for every good pass he played he also put one over the touchline for no reason. That clip is full of incredible finishing by Van Persie though 🙁

Well if you're talking percentages let's not act as if RVP was all that clinical himself. He was obviously extremely good in his last season but could be pretty wasteful at times himself even then. I'll never forget that miss in the return leg vs Milan when he tried that stupid chip

Some of that football, passing and finishing, was delightful. We had more of a plan and identity about our play back then.

Gurgen wrote:

Let's not forget that for every good pass he played he also put one over the touchline for no reason. That clip is full of incredible finishing by Van Persie though 🙁

In his last season yes, but he was a pretty tidy player when he was playing as a DM, not taking too many risks.

Song was a good passer. He was a little slow on the ball though, which is part of the reason Wenger didn't play him at the base of the midfield. I thought he made a better CM than he did a defensive mid.

Can't believe we are so shit we are starting to reminisce about the time we were slightly less shit.

Song was a pretty decent player. I liked him from his Charlton days!

Similarly to Hleb and a few others, he would have probably had a better ending to his career if he had stayed at Arsenal.

Sometimes I wonder, though, if some of the awful players from the current lot (Iwobi, Xhaka, etc.) wouldn't look a lot better in a more functional team than what we've seen this season.


Every few years, need to savor this match again.

Good game but don't know why it gets so much recognition, we didn't even knock them out! It's Spurs style mentality.

It was what might be the best team in history at their absolute peak. Arsenal was the only team in England at the time that had a high enough ceiling to win against them. We would have knocked them out too if it hadn't been for a corrupt referee in the return leg.

And that Bendtner chance at the end. Agonising.

That first leg though. Very few games, even in our peak, where I felt so pumped up before, during and after the game.

It's funny though, our team doesn't even look that good on paper. It was Fabregas and a superb Jack that sort of elevated the side to a much higher level, which shows how important that much neglected area of the pitch is.

Arshavin was finished at that point but that finish is fucking world class, half our current lot would break their foot trying that.

Arshavin was involved in so many of our iconic moments during that period, insane really.

Klaus wrote:

It was what might be the best team in history at their absolute peak. Arsenal was the only team in England at the time that had a high enough ceiling to win against them. We would have knocked them out too if it hadn't been for a corrupt referee in the return leg.

That sending off for Van Persie was so corrupt you can barely even gnash your teeth about it. One of the most outrageous decisions in the whole history of football, assassinated the tie.

goon wrote:

It was Fabregas and a superb Jack that sort of elevated the side to a much higher level

Koscielny was the best Arsenal player on the field that day, by far.

Djourou was awesome at the start of 2011 as well. Shame what happened to him so soon after (once he picked up that injury).

Burnwinter wrote:
Klaus wrote:

It was what might be the best team in history at their absolute peak. Arsenal was the only team in England at the time that had a high enough ceiling to win against them. We would have knocked them out too if it hadn't been for a corrupt referee in the return leg.

That sending off for Van Persie was so corrupt you can barely even gnash your teeth about it. One of the most outrageous decisions in the whole history of football, assassinated the tie.

It was a joke decision but it wasn't like we were about to score, don't think we even got a shot on target in the second leg. Still one of the most ridiculous decisions in recent CL history

Bendtners horrible first touch however will haunt me forever, Mascherano mentioned how that tackle was one of the turning points of his career ffs, we score that and who knows what that team could've done