WHAT MADE ARSENAL ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL TEAMS IN THE EARLY 2000s WITH OUT BIG TRANSFER MARKET SPENDING?

Arsenal or as they are called the 'Gunners' is the only English team in the top flight to win the league without even losing a single game, hence earning the name 'Invincibles', even with today's big market spending by teams where is easy to get world-class players in your team with a big and good contract, this feat has not been repeated. So what made this team a successful team, here are several factors that helped to achieve that feat.

The first and foremost reason is obviously the manager in charge during their golden period i.e. Arsene Wenger, easily one of the best managers of his generation, Arsene relied not only on tactics and game intelligence but also on the power of habits, he is credited to bring in diet recommendations for players from Japan where he had a successful stint with J-League side Nagoya Grampus Eight. This resulted in players becoming getting faster, more agile, and having fewer injuries. Wenger was a visionary manager who built a team that was both technically gifted and defensively solid. He also instilled a winning mentality in his players, which was evident in their unbeaten run.

The second reason is that Arsenal was very smart with their transfers, the two most mentionable transfers were Thierry Henry's transfer from Juventus for a fee of 11 £million, the man went on to become one of the biggest legends of the club, Arsenal and Arsene were the best matches that Thiery Henry could find, the club and the manager unleashed the true potential of the talent that Henry had after years of being labeled as a prodigy.

The Second transfer although it was before Henry was the man who was their talisman across the two eras at Arsenal, the Invincibles era and the pre- invincibles era [where also they were one of the best teams in England] it is none other than Dennis Bergkamp, who arrived from Inter Milan in 1995 for what was then a club-record £7.5m ($9.2m) which proved to be an absolute bargain. Bergkamp possessed outstanding qualities that included being technically gifted he can easily be termed as one of the best technically gifted players that football has ever seen especially his ability to control in tight spaces and that magical first touch add to that his vision, game intelligence, work ethic, and passing range. Dennis Bergkamp in his prime was a proven match-winner who could win matches on his own by dribbling past defenses and latching on to half- chances. During the later years of his Arsenal career, Arsene Wenger gave him a creative role where he would provide runners around Bergkamp like Henry who could respond to his vision and passing range with his speed.

The squad at Arsene Wenger's disposal was also a good squad which had some world-class players, including Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, and Sol Campbell. These players were all at the peak of their powers and were able to produce consistently high levels of performance.

This is a feat that has stood the test of time, we never know whether this record might be broken or not, but for now the 'Gunners' are the one and only 'Invincibles'.

By- Richard Joseph