Sir Alex Ferguson had a bitter rivalry with Arsenal over the years but the former Manchester United manager was full of praise for their historic Invincibles side
Thierry Henry has opened up on Arsenal’s Invincibles in response to Sir Alex Ferguson’s claim that the achievement is bigger than anything he has ever achieved.
The Gunners went unbeaten in the 2003/04 Premier League season, the first team to do so in the modern era and is an unprecedented feat that has never been matched since.
Ferguson had a bitter rivalry with the north Londoners and Arsene Wenger over the years, but he recently admitted that the historic accomplishment is above everything he did at Manchester United.
And Henry, who was an integral part of the Invincibles, has responded to the legendary manager’s high praise.
Asked what made them so unbeatable the Frenchman put it simply – “they were lunatics who hated to lose.”
Theirry Henry says the Arsenal Invincibles were “lunatics”
Theirry Henry says the Arsenal Invincibles were “lunatics”
He told GQ: “We were all leaders. We hated to lose. Obviously, we got sometimes smashed, sometimes we lost badly. But we were all leaders. We were always challenging each other. We were special. The likes of Patrick Viera in midfield and Dennis Bergkamp and then Sol Campbell, and Freddie [Ljungberg]. I’m not going to name the whole squad obviously. Because you easily could.
“We were lunatics that were there to try to be perfect. And we managed to do it in a season. A lot of teams came close to it. I hope that it will happen again, like I always say, I don’t have a problem with that. But we were the first to do it in the modern era of the game. ”
Henry insists the last stretch was the most difficult after they were crowned champions and pays tribute to Wenger for keeping them motivated until the end of the season.
He added: “So yeah, to stay unbeaten in the Premier League… I have to say that it is tough, because every game is a battle.
“And back in the days, not having a go at anything, back in the days it was a proper battle. I have to, again, thank the boss Arsene Wenger about that, because we were champions with four or five games to go, I think.
“You still have to play those games, and he said try to play it, and you will see, it’s something that’s going to stay in the history of the game Those last four to five games were the worst games we’ve ever played because we were going through the motions at times. But what kept us in some games is that we were arguing all the time at half time. And we woke each other up in games when we needed just to switch it a bit.
“But it is something that at the time we didn’t realise at that moment, but the boss, that’s why he was the boss, he could see the future.”