Arsene Wenger and Mikel Arteta are the two best managers Arsenal have had in this century, albeit there have only been three.
The legendary Frenchman joined the Gunners in 1996 and completely transformed English football. He arguably produced the best style of play the Premier League has ever seen, and his teams were a joy to watch.
Contrary to the narrative, Mikel Arteta has produced some excellent football since he became the Arsenal boss in 2019, but his philosophy is not as free-flowing as that of Wenger.
However, Sam Allardyce has noticed a similarity between the two.
Where does Arsene Wenger rank among the Premier League’s greatest managers?
Sam Allardyce says Arsene Wenger would compare Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to the Invincibles
Allardyce faced Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal many times over the years and had some heated battles with him.
The former Gunners boss came out on top more often than not, but there were periods when his sides struggled with the physicality and directness of the Englishman’s teams.
One side that had no problems dealing with the physical challenge Allardyce presented was the famous Arsenal Invincibles.
The ex-England manager has now claimed that Wenger would compare Arteta’s current side to that iconic squad from the 2003/04 season.
On Sky Sports, Allardyce was asked: “How do you think Wenger would view this current Arsenal team?”
He replied: “Like his Invincibles. His Invincibles were just as tough as this team, by the way.
“So when he goes on about how we used to play, before he went into the new stadium and he changed, the Invincibles side, the size of them, the fact that they could handle anything, and they had some top quality players.
“They had everything to win the title. They could fight, they could battle, they could outplay, they could outscore, and they could keep clean sheets and not concede whenever they wanted.
“It was a massive size. The team down the middle were about 6ft 4in on average. They were physical, they got sending offs, they got bookings.
“I remember Sir Alex Ferguson coming out and saying Arsenal are the dirtiest team in the Premier League because they’ve had more bookings and more sending-offs than anybody else. Arsene went mad on that, but it was actually true.”
Do you think Arsenal’s Invincibles record will ever be broken? If yes, by who?
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Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal could achieve a feat that the Invincibles never did
The Invincibles are one of the greatest sides football has ever seen.
Wenger had winners in every position on the pitch, and they achieved what nobody else has in the history of the Premier League – going an entire season unbeaten.
Arteta’s Arsenal will not be able to do that this season, but they could achieve other feats that the Invincibles never did.
The Gunners are still in all four competitions, and if they play at their best level, they could win the quadruple, which has never been done in England before.
Even if Arsenal win just three trophies, it would be a first in the club’s history, which would make it an incredible achievement.
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