Twenty years on: What was it like to play against Arsenal’s Invincibles?

The mere mention of the Invincibles tends to elicit the same response from their opponents, even 20 years on. ‘Look at the size of these boys!’ “It was like the Billy Connolly sketch where we’re the two wee Scottish guys saying: ‘Let’s get into them,’ and then you’ve got these guys at 6ft 4in looking right through you.” Patrick Vieira taking on Alex Rae For Leeds United’s Dom Matteo, that is also what caught him off guard. “He gave you a chance because he was so graceful and didn’t panic on the ball, but the amount of times it would pitch up about four foot and you’d fancy yourself to get a nibble only for him to flick it over your head… He was incredible as you thought you had him, but you really never did.” It’s a common theme among those to have played directly against Arsenal’s midfield in the early 2000s. Usually, we’d look to Shearer to bully centre-halves, but with that midfield in front of them, it made their job so much easier as they covered the ground so well.” Vieira mixes it with Jermaine Jenas and Lee Bowyer Newcastle were one of the teams Wenger name-checked as their rivals going into the season given they finished a place behind Arsenal in third the year previous. People rave about Haaland but he is nowhere near that level of all-round player that Henry was.” Twenty years on, the football produced by Arsenal’s Invincibles stands the test of time.