Four Premier League Teams Better than Arsenal's 'Invincibles'

Arsenal’s team of 2003/04 are a great team in their own right, there is no denying that. Going unbeaten in a 38 game Premier League season is an incredible achievement, as is their total of 49 games without losing – both of which have not yet been matched. That being said, I dispute their title of the ‘Invincibles’, as much as anything because they actually lost six times in all competitions that season. Each to their own, but anyone calling them the best Premier League team ever is vastly overrating them in my eyes.

Top teams deal in wins, and 26 in the league is nowhere near enough when compared to other champions. Top teams get the most points, and seven Premier League teams have earned more points in a 38-game season - one of which didn’t even win the league! Many top teams are able to juggle multiple competitions as they win the league; Arsenal went meekly out of Europe in the quarter finals that year, while they lost in the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and League Cup. Most importantly, though, top teams defend their title, and special teams go further than that – in my humble opinion. Yes, they also won it in 2002 with arguably the same group of players, but they demonstrated their inability to go back to back the next season.

Thinking about the above, I have detailed four teams that I believe to be better than that Arsenal team, in chronological order.

Man United 1998-2001 (Standout season: 1998/99)

With five trophies over the period and three in their standout season, this team's achievements far surpass that Arsenal team. The treble winners stand out for many reasons; the most obvious being because they won two more trophies. What's more, they actually lost two less games than the Invincibles in all competitions. Who could forget Giggs ducking and diving before slamming the ball into the roof of Arsenal's net, Schmeichel's penalty save in the last minute of the same game, or THAT Solskjaer winner? I’m sure many Man City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich fans have tried to in the years that have followed.

Their never say die attitude was their main strength, although it did come with a large slice of luck too. Bayern could have had them dead and buried in the Champions League final, hitting the bar and the post, while Sheringham's equaliser came courtesy of a huge scuff by Giggs. Like Arsenal's, this a feat that has yet been unmatched by an English team in the Premier League era, but it is one that has to be seen to be more impressive. Not only did they win the three biggest trophies available to an English club in one season, but the 1999/2000 team achieved one point more than that Arsenal team, winning the league by a mammoth 18 points and setting the points record for a 38-game season at that time. They won the league again the following season, becoming the 1st team to win the Premier League three times in a row.

Chelsea 2004-2006 (Standout season: 2004/05)

At the start of this period, new manager Jose Mourinho proclaimed himself to be ‘The Special One’ and he went some way to proving that over the two seasons that followed. They came straight after that of the Invincibles, and their points total of 95 in 2004/05 beat the aforementioned record set by Manchester United in the year 2000. It would stand for 13 years, until another team on this list beat it in style. They didn’t do too badly the season after, winning the league with 91 points; matching that United team and yet again beating the Invincibles.

They won the League Cup in the 2004/05 season too, beating Arsenal’s 2004 trophy haul, while they lost just three times in all competitions once in the Premier League. Out of everything, it was their defensive record that stood out. They shipped just 15 goals in the Premier League, which is still a record at the time of writing. Although, with players like Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben, Damien Duff, Joe Cole, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Mateja Kezman, Adrian Mutu and Didier Drogba, they weren’t too shabby in attac

Man United 2006-2009 (Standout season: 2007/08)

With just a hint of personal bias, I believe this team to be the best on the list. It may be because I was looking at them through the eyes of a relative adult, rather than a nine-year-old child – as I had been in 1999 – but their style of play is right up my street. It was certainly my favourite period as a football fan. The power and pace of the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez, the guile of Scholes, Carrick and a somewhat reinvented Giggs, as well as the hard work and defensive prowess of Hargreaves, Ferdinand, Vidic, Brown and Evra was a joy to behold.

They won the two biggest trophies in 2007/08, although it was somewhat of a travesty that they didn’t win the treble, losing in somewhat controversial fashion against eventual winners Portsmouth. I can't complain too much about that though, as the Red Devils have had their fair share of luck down the years! Yet again Manchester United had defended their title twice in a row when they won the league in 2008/09 (the 2nd time this had been achieved), where they came close to bettering their achievements of a year earlier. They won the league with a better points total (matching the Invincibles total with 90), while they also won the Community Shield, the League Cup and the Club World Cup; all as they yet again reached the final of the Champions League.

Yes, more trophies were won, but the absence of the big one means that the team from the previous season just pip them in my opinion. Both, however, performed better in a season that Arsenal in 2003/04. All of this followed a 2006/07 season where Manchester United also won the league. It must also be said that this was achieved at a time where three or four English clubs were getting into the Champions League quarter finals regularly, which just goes to show how strong the league was. This team also won the most trophies of any on the list with eight over the three years (if you count two Community Shields and a World Club Cup), which only adds to my argument.

Man City 2017-2019 (Standout season: 2018/19)

If we’re talking about just the Premier League, then their 2017/18 centurions must be the best team ever; purely because they hold the most points ever in a 38-game Premier League season (for me, if the Invincibles deserve a gold trophy, then this team's should be platinum). It was a season in which they also won the League Cup and where that beat the league goal scoring record with 106 goals. Although for me, that season is topped marginally by the way the performed a season later. With a mere 98 points, the 2018/19 Manchester City team didn’t perform quite as well in the league in regards to points; but the manner in which they won it was just that little bit sweeter (for them, not for me). It was also helped by the fact that they won the domestic treble which, despite them having a more than favourable FA Cup run, is no mean feat. They would have a great argument for topping any list if it wasn't for their contentious Champions League quarter final against Spurs, from which they arguably should have gone through to a semi final against Ajax and were on for an unprecedented quadruple.

The team in 2017/18 swept all before them, their closest challengers being Manchester United, who were a massive 19 points behind. Tottenham threatened and Liverpool were on the rise (more on that shortly), but they were head and shoulders above their competition. The next year was a lot harder and brought a lot more out of that City team, what with them coming toe-to-toe with a Liverpool team that earned themselves the 3rd best points total in Premier League history, and can rightfully feel unlucky not win the title. Manchester City clawed that team back and held them off; showing hunger, resilience and quality in abundance. Their style of play was as functional as it was exquisite, with sublimely creative players like De Bruyne, Mahrez and the Silvas working alongside the sumptuous movement of Sterling and Sane, the deadly finishing of Aguero and Jesus as well as the defensive stability of Fernandinho, Laporte and Kompany. The tactical approach of Guardiola can only be described as out of this world too.

Other Notable Mentions

Alongside the above, there are several contenders that could also lay claim to being better than the Invincibles. The Manchester United teams of 1992-1994 and 1995-97 each won back to back titles, with a double being achieved in each period (they also only lost the title by one point and FA Cup Final by one goal in the 1994/95 season). There was also the Arsenal team of 1997/98, who added the FA Cup to their Premier League win, and of the aforementioned 2001/02 team, who did the same. Although, the team with the potential to be the best is yet to come.

I’ve already mentioned that the Liverpool team of 2018/19 were very unlucky to not have won the league (and that in most other seasons they’d have romped home), but that’s not even half the story when it comes to this team. They were losers in the Champions League final of 2017/18, only to go onto win it in the following season. Not only that, but they took the disappointment of 2019 and harvested it to create what can only be described as a footballing machine. Before the Coronavirus pandemic hit, they were within touching distance of their first title in 30 years. Not only that, but they were on course to smash the existing record points total. Will this team eventually top this list? Only time will tell (but one can only hope not!).

By Calum Dewsbury