English Premiership

Henry recalls one week during Arsenal's historic 'Invincibles' season

2020-05-07 20:09

Legendary striker Thierry Henry has recalled a key week for the 'Arsenal Invincibles' as they stormed to the Premier League title.

Arsenal remains the only team in Premier League history to go an entire season unbeaten, and the second in English top-flight history after Preston’s 1888/89 side.

The achievement has been put into stark context in recent years by the brilliance of Manchester City and Liverpool, who have both dominated different seasons but still been beaten at some point.

The Invincibles are downplayed by some, however, due to their relatively poor record in cup competitions.

Arsenal were beaten in the semi-final of the FA Cup by Manchester United, the semi-final of the League Cup by Middlesbrough and the quarter-final of the Champions League by Chelsea.

But Henry believes one sequence of four games in eight April 2004 days is overlooked.

Arsenal played United in the FA Cup on April 3, Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League tie on April 6, then had Premier League games against Liverpool on April 9 and Newcastle on April 11.

Those matches ended in a 1-0 defeat, a 2-1 defeat, a 4-2 win and a 0-0 draw respectively, and Henry feels that sort of fixture congestion is something clubs complain about almost two decades later.

"People talk a lot about that moment," he told Sky Sports. "People forget we had to play in eight days: Chelsea, Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. People forget that.

"I didn't play against Man United at Villa. You know how upset I was? We collapsed in one half against Chelsea, rightly so they beat us. We're human.

"Those four games in eight days. We asked to see if they could change it. They didn't move anything for us.

"These problems people are complaining about now, we had it then. No-one cried for us. Nobody."

- TEAMtalk media

 

Read News24’s Comments Policy

Fixtures
Saturday, 09 May 2020
Liverpool v Chelsea, Anfield 02:00
Sheffield United v Everton, Bramall Lane 02:00
Norwich City v Burnley, Carrow Road 02:00
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace, Molineux Stadium 02:00
Manchester United v West Ham United, Old Trafford 02:00
Brighton & Hove Albion v Newcastle United, The American Express Community Stadium 02:00
Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 02:00
Watford v Manchester City, Vicarage Road 02:00
Aston Villa v Arsenal, Villa Park 02:00
AFC Bournemouth v Southampton, Vitality Stadium 02:00
Sunday, 17 May 2020
Arsenal v Watford, Emirates Stadium 02:00
Manchester City v Norwich City, Etihad Stadium 02:00
Everton v AFC Bournemouth, Goodison Park 02:00
Leicester City v Manchester United, King Power Stadium 02:00
West Ham United v Aston Villa, London Stadium 02:00
Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur, Selhurst Park 02:00
Newcastle United v Liverpool, St. James' Park 02:00
Southampton v Sheffield United, St. Mary's Stadium 02:00
Chelsea v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stamford Bridge 02:00
Burnley v Brighton & Hove Albion, Turf Moor 02:00
Logs
Team P W PTS
Previous Results

Date Home Team Result Away Team
Vote

And the 2019/20 English Premiership champions will be ... ?

Men
Women
Love 2 Meet
Sport24 on Twitter

Follow Sport24 news on Twitter

Featured

The 2019/20 Absa Premiership season is in full swing. Will Mamelodi Sundowns retain their title? Or can one of Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Wits, SuperSport United - or another team perhaps - snatch glory from the Brazilians? Be sure to visit Sport24 for all the latest news!

Latest blogs
 

Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter

Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page

WIN Enter and win with Sport24!

BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry

RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.

 
There are new stories on the homepage. Click here to see them.