Troy Deeney believes there’s just one Arsenal squad extra superior than Mikel Arteta’s present crop, such has been their brilliance of late.
Unsurprisingly, it is the lone crew to have gone unbeaten throughout a complete season within the Premier League period.
Who have been the Invincibles?
Arsenal’s 2003/04 crew, referred to as the Invincibles, didn’t style defeat as soon as within the league time period as they gained 26 and drew 12 of their fixtures beneath the knowledgeable tutelage of Arsene Wenger.
Given their absurd feat, they stand alone as the best squad in Arsenal’s storied historical past throughout the years.
In addition they stay an unattainable benchmark, at the least up till now, for rivals, with Liverpool coming closest having loved a 27-game unbeaten stretch within the 2019/20 marketing campaign earlier than a 3-0 loss to Watford.
But based on Deeney, the most recent iteration of the Arsenal squad aren’t far behind, even when they lack the person star energy of the Invincibles.
“Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp, you undergo the crew and it is an unreal crew,” Deeney advised talkSPORT.com.
“I would put these as quantity two. I feel it is a very, superb crew.
“The [later] Wenger groups had nice gamers, however I would not say they have been ever nice groups. They have been attempting to simply get high 4 at that time, weren’t they?
“In my lifetime, I would should put them second.”
Would any present Arsenal gamers make the Invincibles’ beginning line-up?
Though they might be carefully matched when it comes to greatness as a crew, what about on a person foundation?
Sadly for Arteta’s aspect, Deeney believes there’s a notable hole.
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Deeney pointed to the midfield pairing of Gilberto Silva and Patrick Vieira, with the latter captaining Arsenal to the Premier League title that time period.
Though neither have been the kind to be all-action midfielders to not solely make crunching tackles however make box-crashing runs to assist create possibilities, Deeney would keep on with each versus the likes of Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi.
“You are going to take Declan Rice in for any of these two?” Deeney mentioned.
“I would wrestle to make a change.”
As sensible a partnership William Saliba and Gabriel have, Deeney additionally felt they weren’t higher than Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure.
The identical went for Ashley Cole and Jens Lehmann, who performed at left-back and in objectives for Arsenal of their Invincibles season.
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Deeney shot down any notion of Robert Pires, who performed on the left flank, being displaced by Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli.
Understandably, there was additionally no room for Viktor Gyokeres over the likes of Dennis Bergkamp or Thierry Henry up high, even when he dons the identical quantity because the French icon.
The candidates Deeney believes may have damaged into the Invincibles
However it’s on the best flank the place Deeney made some concessions about a few of Arsenal’s present stars taking priority over an Invincibles member.
“Possibly [Bukayo] Saka for [Freddie] Ljunberg at a push,” Deeney mentioned.
“I might take [Jurrien] Timber over Lauren.
“It is exhausting, as a result of that Invincibles crew was so good. And that is not disrespectful to the brand new crew.”
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Ljungberg and Lauren performed because the right-sided midfielder and right-back respectively.
Within the title-winning marketing campaign, Ljungberg bagged 4 objectives and 5 assists whereas Lauren contributed only a single help.
Eleven matches into this Premier League season and Timber already has two objectives together with an help, whereas Saka boasts three objectives.
Nonetheless, the sport has modified a big quantity for the reason that Invincibles marketing campaign when it comes to what is anticipated from full-backs and wingers, as these on the flanks of a defensive unit are most of the time anticipated to hitch in with assaults.
The numbers behind Timber’s spectacular season
Regardless that Timber is extra prone to bomb ahead than Lauren ever was, he’s not one to shirk his defensive obligations.
Per Opta, Timber has made the second-most tackles amongst defenders this time period with 34.
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It’s that proficiency which has helped Arsenal turn out to be the steeliest defence within the high flight having conceded simply 5 objectives from 11 matches.
Whether or not Timber and the Gunners can keep their defensive prowess this season stays to be seen.
But when they will, it would go a protracted technique to cementing their legacy as one of many biggest Arsenal sides of all time, even when they do not overtake the Invincibles.
