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The Arsenal Invincibles went to Old Trafford on
24 Oct 2004, looking to reach a half century
of unbeaten matches. It was not to be.
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Phil Neville and author Amy Lawrence look at the match that ended Arsenal's unbeaten run
Friday 24 October, 2014, marks the 10th anniversary of when Arsenal's team of Invincibles' 49-match unbeaten run in the Barclays Premier League came to an end.
The run ended at Old Trafford at the hands of their fiercest rivals of that time, Manchester United, who won 2-0 thanks to a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty and a late strike from Wayne Rooney, who had also won the spot-kick.
Amy Lawrence, the journalist and author of a new book about that Arsenal team, and Phil Neville, who was a member of the Manchester United team that ended the unbeaten run, talked to premierleague.com about that match, the history that built up to it and the Invincibles.
Why was the match at Old Trafford at which Arsenal lost their unbeaten record, on 24 October 2004, so special?
Amy Lawrence: "It was an era when two teams were head-to-head in the top two positions in English football for a fairly long time. This gave it a very different flavour to what we have in the Premier League of these days, where Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Liverpool have each had their moments.
"Part of the reason for such an intense antipathy was that every year they were grappling against one another, knowing that whoever came on top was pretty much going to win the title.
"They were like two heavyweight boxers slugging it out with each having a huge personality and contrasting styles to an extent. Both sides were a mix of being very powerful but wanting to play football the right way: fast, stylish football when they could, but being able to mix it when they couldn't.
"The rivalry started in 1998 when Arsenal went to Old Trafford and won with a Marc Overmars goal on their way to overhauling United, who had dominated until then, and winning the title.
"United came back, but then Arsenal came back and won the title again in 2002, before United came back in 2003, then Arsenal again the next year. It was like one boxer winning one round while the other wins the next."
Phil Neville: "We were the two best teams in England. There was an intense rivalry between Wenger v Ferguson, and Patrick Vieira v Roy Keane. It had been building up for a few years and Arsenal were on a great run, having won the title the year before.
"On the other hand we had started the season poorly [United were sixth heading into the Arsenal match]. We had beaten Liverpool and Spurs but had drawn against Middlesbrough and Birmingham City.
"We sensed that our season was about to turn. But this was massive because Arsenal were wonderful with great players. They came to Old Trafford full of confidence and we knew we had to disrupt their rhythm.
"It was something the media sensed because of the great games in 1999, such as when we beat them in the FA Cup semi-final after a replay. Ruud van Nistelrooy had missed the last-minute penalty in the match at Old Trafford the season before and there was a fracas after and so there was bad blood, too.
"But most important for us was that we had to win the game not to fall behind Arsenal in the league."
What did Man Utd do that day that was enough to beat Arsenal? What tactics did they use?
AL: "There was a phrase I like from Sir Alex Ferguson from around the time of Arsene Wenger's 1,000th match as Arsenal manager. Sir Alex said: "I burned many hours thinking about matches against Arsenal.
"It evokes a really powerful image and both managers were the same. They knew how focused they had to be on this particular match because both teams had such good players and when you have that, with two teams who do not have obvious weaknesses, the difference on the day can be a small detail: luck, a refereeing decision, or which player has a spark of inspiration.
"The way the team had evolved it was obvious from previous matches that Sir Alex Ferguson had realised that Arsenal had developed an edge and it needed obliterating, and the way to do that was to knock them out of their stride.
"They were desperate for Arsenal not to win the league on their turf and the only way they could think of doing that was to try to kick them and four United players were booked before half-time, which was very unusual. That became a sort of template.
"In the unbeaten season there was the 0-0 at Old Trafford when Arsenal came closest to losing, with Van Nistelrooy missing the penalty. There was a lot of attrition in that game, too, but that was Arsenal responding physically also because they had to be more robust than normal.
"Then there was the altercation between Van Nistelrooy and Patrick Vieira, who was was sent off and the level of highly charged emotion and aggression shocked some, but was the nature of the beast at that time. It showed how desperate the players all were to win, or avoid defeat, in these key games.
"In the FA Cup semi-final of that same season United won using similar tactics: 'Let's stop Arsenal playing'. All these steps were precursors to the October 2004 match at Old Trafford."
PN: "People criticised us for our treatment of Jose Antonio Reyes and Thierry Henry but Cristiano Ronaldo took a hell of a battering from the Arsenal team. I believe they conceded more fouls than we did but we got the stick.
"We had a gameplan against Arsenal: you had to disrupt their flow. They loved to play possession football and pass the ball around so we knew we had to stop that.
"We knew that Arsenal were the type of team who didn't like a physical approach, who didn't like being tackled. So we thought that as soon as the ball came into Reyes or Pires, who were the focal points of the team, we had to be aggressive towards them because we knew that once we tackled them once or twice we would have an effect on their game.
"This was a plan we had worked on for the last three years and still teams to this day are playing that way against Arsenal, being aggressive, playing tight.
We had two banks of four that day. We played a bit deeper to avoid giving space behind for Henry to exploit with his speed and we hit them on the counter-attack.
"It was me, Paul Scholes and [Juan Sebastian] Veron in midfield and it was a wonderful battle because we were up against Vieira, Edu, Freddie Ljungberg while Pires came on later.
"Arsenal don't play with wingers, everyone just drops in so it was my job to pick up Dennis Bergkamp when he dropped back, to pick up Vieira when he ran through, or when Pires or Ljungberg ran inside.
"It was a game I could enjoy playing in because it was so congested in the middle of the pitch, it was so easy to get around the players in midfield and I could make a few tackles. Our job was to be aggressive and make the midfield compact and allow Arsenal no space to come through the middle."
The run ended at Old Trafford at the hands of their fiercest rivals of that time, Manchester United, who won 2-0 thanks to a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty and a late strike from Wayne Rooney, who had also won the spot-kick.
Amy Lawrence, the journalist and author of a new book about that Arsenal team, and Phil Neville, who was a member of the Manchester United team that ended the unbeaten run, talked to premierleague.com about that match, the history that built up to it and the Invincibles.
Why was the match at Old Trafford at which Arsenal lost their unbeaten record, on 24 October 2004, so special?
Amy Lawrence: "It was an era when two teams were head-to-head in the top two positions in English football for a fairly long time. This gave it a very different flavour to what we have in the Premier League of these days, where Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Liverpool have each had their moments.
"Arsenal and Man Utd were like to heavyweight boxers slugging it out""There was such an energy when the two came together and you have to factor in that, more or less, those teams hated each other and there is not the same vibe in the Barclays Premier League now between the title rivals as there was then.
Amy Lawrence
"Part of the reason for such an intense antipathy was that every year they were grappling against one another, knowing that whoever came on top was pretty much going to win the title.
"They were like two heavyweight boxers slugging it out with each having a huge personality and contrasting styles to an extent. Both sides were a mix of being very powerful but wanting to play football the right way: fast, stylish football when they could, but being able to mix it when they couldn't.
"The rivalry started in 1998 when Arsenal went to Old Trafford and won with a Marc Overmars goal on their way to overhauling United, who had dominated until then, and winning the title.
"United came back, but then Arsenal came back and won the title again in 2002, before United came back in 2003, then Arsenal again the next year. It was like one boxer winning one round while the other wins the next."
Phil Neville: "We were the two best teams in England. There was an intense rivalry between Wenger v Ferguson, and Patrick Vieira v Roy Keane. It had been building up for a few years and Arsenal were on a great run, having won the title the year before.
"On the other hand we had started the season poorly [United were sixth heading into the Arsenal match]. We had beaten Liverpool and Spurs but had drawn against Middlesbrough and Birmingham City.
"We sensed that our season was about to turn. But this was massive because Arsenal were wonderful with great players. They came to Old Trafford full of confidence and we knew we had to disrupt their rhythm.
'Making up for a poor start'
"In the games between Man Utd and Arsenal there was nothing to choose between the two teams. The atmosphere in the stadiums was electric and there was a tension that was clear."It was something the media sensed because of the great games in 1999, such as when we beat them in the FA Cup semi-final after a replay. Ruud van Nistelrooy had missed the last-minute penalty in the match at Old Trafford the season before and there was a fracas after and so there was bad blood, too.
"But most important for us was that we had to win the game not to fall behind Arsenal in the league."
What did Man Utd do that day that was enough to beat Arsenal? What tactics did they use?
AL: "There was a phrase I like from Sir Alex Ferguson from around the time of Arsene Wenger's 1,000th match as Arsenal manager. Sir Alex said: "I burned many hours thinking about matches against Arsenal.
"It evokes a really powerful image and both managers were the same. They knew how focused they had to be on this particular match because both teams had such good players and when you have that, with two teams who do not have obvious weaknesses, the difference on the day can be a small detail: luck, a refereeing decision, or which player has a spark of inspiration.
"The way the team had evolved it was obvious from previous matches that Sir Alex Ferguson had realised that Arsenal had developed an edge and it needed obliterating, and the way to do that was to knock them out of their stride.
24 October 2014"For the 2002 match at Old Trafford which Arsenal won to claim the title, I can't recall seeing a Man Utd team at home being quite so aggressive.
Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal
Scorers: Van Nistelrooy (pen 73), Rooney, 90
Man Utd: R Carroll, G Neville, R Ferdinand, M Silvestre, G Heinze, C Ronaldo (sub: A Smith, 85min), P Neville, P Scholes, R Giggs, W Rooney, R van Nistelrooy (sub: L Saha, 89min).
Arsenal: J Lehmann, Lauren, S Campbell, K Toure, A Cole, F Ljungberg, P Vieira, Edu, J Reyes (sub: R Pires, 70), D Bergkamp, T Henry.
"They were desperate for Arsenal not to win the league on their turf and the only way they could think of doing that was to try to kick them and four United players were booked before half-time, which was very unusual. That became a sort of template.
"In the unbeaten season there was the 0-0 at Old Trafford when Arsenal came closest to losing, with Van Nistelrooy missing the penalty. There was a lot of attrition in that game, too, but that was Arsenal responding physically also because they had to be more robust than normal.
"Then there was the altercation between Van Nistelrooy and Patrick Vieira, who was was sent off and the level of highly charged emotion and aggression shocked some, but was the nature of the beast at that time. It showed how desperate the players all were to win, or avoid defeat, in these key games.
"In the FA Cup semi-final of that same season United won using similar tactics: 'Let's stop Arsenal playing'. All these steps were precursors to the October 2004 match at Old Trafford."
PN: "People criticised us for our treatment of Jose Antonio Reyes and Thierry Henry but Cristiano Ronaldo took a hell of a battering from the Arsenal team. I believe they conceded more fouls than we did but we got the stick.
"We had a gameplan against Arsenal: you had to disrupt their flow. They loved to play possession football and pass the ball around so we knew we had to stop that.
"We knew that Arsenal were the type of team who didn't like a physical approach, who didn't like being tackled. So we thought that as soon as the ball came into Reyes or Pires, who were the focal points of the team, we had to be aggressive towards them because we knew that once we tackled them once or twice we would have an effect on their game.
"This was a plan we had worked on for the last three years and still teams to this day are playing that way against Arsenal, being aggressive, playing tight.
We had two banks of four that day. We played a bit deeper to avoid giving space behind for Henry to exploit with his speed and we hit them on the counter-attack.
"It was me, Paul Scholes and [Juan Sebastian] Veron in midfield and it was a wonderful battle because we were up against Vieira, Edu, Freddie Ljungberg while Pires came on later.
"Arsenal don't play with wingers, everyone just drops in so it was my job to pick up Dennis Bergkamp when he dropped back, to pick up Vieira when he ran through, or when Pires or Ljungberg ran inside.
"It was a game I could enjoy playing in because it was so congested in the middle of the pitch, it was so easy to get around the players in midfield and I could make a few tackles. Our job was to be aggressive and make the midfield compact and allow Arsenal no space to come through the middle."
What was it about the Arsenal team that had led them to Old Trafford with a phenomenal unbeaten run of 49 matches?
PN: "People talk about the skill, the technique and the passing and so, but when you came up against an Arsenal team in those days, you had to remember that they were big players, physically.
PN: "People talk about the skill, the technique and the passing and so, but when you came up against an Arsenal team in those days, you had to remember that they were big players, physically.
"Bergkamp was big, Henry was big, Vieira, Edu, Keown were all large and strong players. It was difficult to bully them. They could mix it with you. They could play the technical game, but they could also play the physical game."
AL: "An important stepping-stone in the mentality of the team was when they won the league in 2002 without losing a match away from home. That gave the players an underlying self-belief that they could go anywhere without the fear of being beaten.
"The group was made up of winners, full of people who had won not just in England but abroad, or World Cups, and each had a very finely tuned winning mentality but with fantastic qualities as well. As a group they pushed each other as well as pushing themselves. They were always striving to be the best.
"In training there were times when Arsene Wenger probably wanted to look the other way because the players went in on each other very hard or rowed with each other ferociously because this will to win they had was so powerful.
"Ray Parlour said that when they played in training an 8 v 8 match on a Friday, the players were flying into one another because they were such winners. But as a consequence of that, Parlour says, on Satuday as a squad of 16 for the match, it was a squad of 16 of the strongest winners. Possibly the hardest football they played was in the week of training against each other rather than on the weekend.
"There was also such fantastic individual quality, too. What people forget were two significant changes made by Wenger for that season in the summer.
"The first was to buy Jens Lehmann, who, by Wenger's admission, was either going to be complete flop or just perfect because of his intense personality. The second was putting Kolo Toure, [who had been a midfielder] at centre-back with Sol Campbell.
"So for two members of the defence to be totally new for most of that unbeaten season was quite a feat. They made Arsenal instantly robust and resilient and gave them a good backbone.
Do you think that another team will be able to go a whole Barclays Premier League season unbeaten?
PN: "I don't think so. It would be physically difficult because the teams lower down the table these days are improving, they are stronger and better technically so even to go on a 10-match unbeaten run in this day and age is an achievement.
"The strength in depth in the BPL is far greater now than back then when there were only two or three teams challenging for the lead. Now five or six teams are up there challenging with a realistic opportunity to break into the top four."
AL: "When I asked the players what was the secret, Sol used the word 'destiny'; another said you have to have luck.
"That is true for any team, no matter the era, it is inevitable you have to get lucky. The Van Nistelrooy penalty exemplifies that. If it had been six inches lower, six matches into the season Arsenal would have lost a match. You can have all the credentials in the world but a bad decision or bounce or injury can derail your run.
Do you think that Arsenal team could go unbeaten a whole season 10 years on? Or has the type of football played moved on?
PN: "You can compare them to the two best teams in the league this season, Manchester City and Chelsea. Arsenal had the same attributes, if not more: pace, especially up front and strength.
"Arsenal had a real physicality at that time, something the Arsenal team have moved away from these days. There are similarities with the Chelsea and Man City teams of now, physically strong and mentally tough."
AL: "It is impossible to answer. I was watching Chelsea beating Arsenal the other week and I wondered how the Invincibles would have fared against the present Chelsea team.
"All those away matches of late where Arsenal have played the top teams and struggled, sometimes getting a hiding, I just can't think the Invincibles would have suffered the same experiences."
Teams have won the BPL title with more points than Arsenal's Invincibles but they don't get the accolade the Invincibles get? Is that unfair?
AL: "I don't think the Invincibles got enough credit. If having a season going unblemished by defeat was that easy it would have been more common and that it is only Preston North End from the very first season of professional football when there were not so many teams tells you everything. It is an exceptional achievement."
PN: "They are worthy of all the accolades they get. To go 49 matches unbeaten is some achievement and to do it in the style they did is why they get the plaudits they deserve.
"They played with style, with brilliant football. Everyone loved watching Arsenal. I used to love playing against them. It was the ultimate test facing some of the best players in the world.
"To go unbeaten for 49 matches shows the quality of that side and shows how many brilliant players they had. They were a brilliant team. Probably the best I have ever faced."
Invincible: Inside Arsenal’s Unbeaten 2003-2004 Season by Amy Lawrence is published by Viking, Penguin and is available now in hardback priced £16.99 or in ebook
AL: "An important stepping-stone in the mentality of the team was when they won the league in 2002 without losing a match away from home. That gave the players an underlying self-belief that they could go anywhere without the fear of being beaten.
"The group was made up of winners, full of people who had won not just in England but abroad, or World Cups, and each had a very finely tuned winning mentality but with fantastic qualities as well. As a group they pushed each other as well as pushing themselves. They were always striving to be the best.
"In training there were times when Arsene Wenger probably wanted to look the other way because the players went in on each other very hard or rowed with each other ferociously because this will to win they had was so powerful.
"Ray Parlour said that when they played in training an 8 v 8 match on a Friday, the players were flying into one another because they were such winners. But as a consequence of that, Parlour says, on Satuday as a squad of 16 for the match, it was a squad of 16 of the strongest winners. Possibly the hardest football they played was in the week of training against each other rather than on the weekend.
"There was also such fantastic individual quality, too. What people forget were two significant changes made by Wenger for that season in the summer.
"The first was to buy Jens Lehmann, who, by Wenger's admission, was either going to be complete flop or just perfect because of his intense personality. The second was putting Kolo Toure, [who had been a midfielder] at centre-back with Sol Campbell.
"So for two members of the defence to be totally new for most of that unbeaten season was quite a feat. They made Arsenal instantly robust and resilient and gave them a good backbone.
Do you think that another team will be able to go a whole Barclays Premier League season unbeaten?
PN: "I don't think so. It would be physically difficult because the teams lower down the table these days are improving, they are stronger and better technically so even to go on a 10-match unbeaten run in this day and age is an achievement.
"The strength in depth in the BPL is far greater now than back then when there were only two or three teams challenging for the lead. Now five or six teams are up there challenging with a realistic opportunity to break into the top four."
AL: "When I asked the players what was the secret, Sol used the word 'destiny'; another said you have to have luck.
"That is true for any team, no matter the era, it is inevitable you have to get lucky. The Van Nistelrooy penalty exemplifies that. If it had been six inches lower, six matches into the season Arsenal would have lost a match. You can have all the credentials in the world but a bad decision or bounce or injury can derail your run.
"The strength in depth in the BPL is far greater now than back then""There is also the factor of there being a duopoly. Now there are more teams vying for the top means it is a harder challenge than when Arsenal, having emerged unscathed from United, had to take on other teams."
Phil Neville
Do you think that Arsenal team could go unbeaten a whole season 10 years on? Or has the type of football played moved on?
PN: "You can compare them to the two best teams in the league this season, Manchester City and Chelsea. Arsenal had the same attributes, if not more: pace, especially up front and strength.
"Arsenal had a real physicality at that time, something the Arsenal team have moved away from these days. There are similarities with the Chelsea and Man City teams of now, physically strong and mentally tough."
AL: "It is impossible to answer. I was watching Chelsea beating Arsenal the other week and I wondered how the Invincibles would have fared against the present Chelsea team.
"All those away matches of late where Arsenal have played the top teams and struggled, sometimes getting a hiding, I just can't think the Invincibles would have suffered the same experiences."
Teams have won the BPL title with more points than Arsenal's Invincibles but they don't get the accolade the Invincibles get? Is that unfair?
AL: "I don't think the Invincibles got enough credit. If having a season going unblemished by defeat was that easy it would have been more common and that it is only Preston North End from the very first season of professional football when there were not so many teams tells you everything. It is an exceptional achievement."
PN: "They are worthy of all the accolades they get. To go 49 matches unbeaten is some achievement and to do it in the style they did is why they get the plaudits they deserve.
"They played with style, with brilliant football. Everyone loved watching Arsenal. I used to love playing against them. It was the ultimate test facing some of the best players in the world.
"To go unbeaten for 49 matches shows the quality of that side and shows how many brilliant players they had. They were a brilliant team. Probably the best I have ever faced."
Invincible: Inside Arsenal’s Unbeaten 2003-2004 Season by Amy Lawrence is published by Viking, Penguin and is available now in hardback priced £16.99 or in ebook
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