Arsene Wenger’s delight as ‘Invincibles’ prove they are still in a league of their own

Arsenal side that went through 2003-04 season unbeaten were today named the all-time top Premier team
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James Olley15 May 2012

Arsene Wenger has at times this season felt the burden of expectation weigh heavy on his shoulders and a reminder of past glories came today when Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ side were named the Premier League Team of all time.

They went through the 2003-04 League season unbeaten to become only the second club to do so after Preston achieved the feat in 1889.

Thierry Henry scored 30 goals in an historic feat recognised today as the finest achievement by a single side during the 20 Premier League seasons, as voted for by a panel of 11 experts, commentators and administrators.

Arsenal finished the season in third place after recovering from a turbulent summer and their worst start in 58 years to secure Champions League football for a remarkable 15th consecutive year.

And Wenger believes his team have a chance of emulating their much-vaunted predecessors by challenging for the title again next season.

“I am proud of being unbeaten in a season and very happy because I told the players at the time that we will have achieved something special once we were champions and invincible,” he said. “They did it but at the time they didn’t realise what it could mean in the future. I’m very proud of that achievement.

“But my target is to get back to that level. I feel personally that we are not far from coming back to fight for the championship and let’s hope that we can see that next season.”

Arsenal players also featured in another of the Premier League awards announced today, the Fantasy Team of the 20 seasons.

The panel picked their own team which differed slightly from the one voted for by 300,000 football fans from around the world but Henry was a unanimous choice, receiving 30 per cent of the public vote, well ahead of strike partner Alan Shearer, who received 18 per cent and narrowly edged out Eric Cantona.

Henry’s support was, however, dwarfed by the amount of votes cast for Ryan Giggs, who received the highest for any position on the left flank at 62 per cent.

Giggs’s former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo received 55 per cent to earn the accolade for the right wing spot.

The expert's view (4-4-2)

Peter Schmeichel

Gary Neville

Tony Adams

Rio Ferdinand

Ashley Cole

Cristiano Ronaldo

Paul Scholes

Roy Keane

Ryan Giggs

Thierry Henry

Alan Shearer

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