If Arsenal Want to Become Champions Again, They Need Some Big Characters
Arsenal are one of oldest and most successful clubs in English football, and have won the title thirteen times. However, it’s almost twenty years since they last got their hands on the Premier League trophy, and in that time, many of their rivals have accelerated away while they have been overtaken by a few lesser lights, and fierce local rivals Tottenham Hotspur are now serious competitors after being in the Gunners’ shadows for many years – in fact, the experts at www.sportwetten-test.org fully believe Spurs will finish higher than Arsenal in this season’s Premier League.
Arsenal’s last title triumph came in the 2003/04 season under Arsène Wenger, whose side went the entire campaign unbeaten. The Invincibles squad as they became know won 26 and drew 12 of their 38 Premier League fixtures, and was packed full of great players and big characters: Jens Lehmann, Ashley Cole, Patrick Viera, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry. Whether you like Arsenal or not, this was some team. It was the third and final title triumph of Arsène Wenger’s reign.
Wenger’s title-winning sides all had one thing in common: the presence of big characters and a steely streak.
Their first triumph under Wenger came in his first full season in charge of the Gunners, when he became the first manager from outside of the British Isles to win the title. Wenger brought in a number of new signings including Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit to complement the likes of Patrick Viera and Dennis Bergkamp, while a strong English core including the likes of David Seaman, Steve Bould, Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Ian Wright provided the squad with a spine of steel. Wenger’s team also won the FA Cup to complete the double.
Wenger’s second title came in the 2001/02 season, a title earned by a squad that again boasted that potent mix of great players and big characters; continental flair and English grit. Arsenal went twenty league games unbeaten from mid-December, and ended the season with thirteen straight wins. And once again, Arsenal completed the double, beating Chelsea 2-0 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to clinch the FA Cup.
When you look at the current Arsenal squad, the one thing that is patently lacking is the grit and steel that was at the heart of Wenger’s title-winning squads. There are very few players you could point to as big characters, very few that you’d expect to dig in when the going gets tough.
And so if Arsenal want to get back to competing for the title on a regular basis, they could do worse than taking a leaf out of their old boss’ book.
