Don’t get me wrong Arsenal are in no position to celebrate anyone else’s setbacks, especially when their worst-case scenario is lifting the title in a few weeks time, so let’s just say I wasn’t celebrating when Watford best Liverpool, more just breathing a huge sigh of relief.
With our best talent running down their contracts, owners with zero ambition, talk of how much money we are losing and possibly next season having no European football for the first time since 1995, this is a scary time for Arsenal, The future uncertain. No guarantees how quickly we will return to the highest level…
So, in many ways our legacy is all we have, and even that some have tried to attack.
We are one of the biggest clubs never to win a European Cup, so being the “Invincibles” was our claim to fame, an achievement which defined our era. The likes of Henry, Pires, Vieira, Campbell, etc, deserve to have something that separates them from other great sides in our history.
I respect Klopp, he has got his Champions League, but the “Invincibles” is our baby, our claim to fame.
Arsene Wenger has himself admitted, if he had a choice, he’d rather his 49-game record not be matched.
For over a decade some have tried to play down what we accomplished in 2004.
Fans of a newer generation grow up hearing the likes of Adrian Durham tell you why that feat is not impressive, yet fail to answer why if it is so simple, it hasn’t been matched?
I include some of our own fanbase in that. Some have become YouTube sensations by verbally abusing the greatest manager in our history. The other week we were debating should he be given a statue outside the Emirates.
So, if nothing else, Liverpool have helped educate younger fans just how hard it was to do what the Frenchmen did.
Every week we heard debates about where the next Premiership winners stand in the country’s greatest champions. Of course, the same happened 12 months ago with City. You can’t though have it both ways. You can’t say how easy it is to not lose a game in the League all season, yet no one else manages it.
Of course, those at Anfield will tell you records don’t matter to them, but as professionals they would have wanted it.
Certainly, those in the media have mentioned it enough, my friend who supports them was asking at what point do the League hand over a gold trophy? Put it this way, had Liverpool matched our feat would they have mentioned it? Would have comparisons been made? Of course!
When you visit the Emirates, one of the many banners to pay homage to 2003/04 reads: ‘Is yours Gold?’
I guess the answer is still no.
Mr Wenger’s legacy is safe.
Dan Smith