Arsenal win the league at Old Trafford – 20 years on

On Could eighth 2002, Arsenal went to Previous Trafford, beat Man Utd 1-0 due to a Sylvain Wiltord objective, and gained the Premiership title.

Twenty years on, Elliot Ross displays on that achievement, the rivalry, and that exact Arsenal workforce.

Comply with Elliot on Twitter @Elliot__Ross

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The Man Utd followers I grew up with within the 90s and 00s are actually struggling today. They hate how awful their membership has change into, and lots of are merely shedding curiosity. I’m not stunned.

Again after we have been youngsters they swaggered round with a definite air of superiority. That was the entire level of being a Man Utd fan. These uniquely grating characters appeared to genuinely consider Alex Ferguson’s success as their very own private accomplishment, as if United gained issues as a result of their followers “demanded success” and never as a result of, properly, they’d Alex Ferguson.

Perhaps the Man Utd followers you grew up with weren’t like those I knew. However I wager a whole lot of them have been. They seemed down on followers of different golf equipment as idiots who for some odd motive had chosen to help a workforce that didn’t win the league each single yr. That they had two speeds: rubbing your nostril in it (more often than not), or else (after any main defeat) seeming to fully lose curiosity and detach themselves from any affiliation with the membership. I’ve by no means seen supporters of some other membership behave on this manner.

My most cherished Arsenal reminiscence is the 1-0 victory at Previous Trafford that clinched the Premier League title precisely twenty years in the past tomorrow. It in all probability at all times might be. You in all probability have a good thought why that’s the case.

There have been two legendary Wenger groups in that interval, not only one. There’s no have to have a desire, after all, however I’ve lengthy felt that the singular nature of the Invincibles’ achievement has barely dulled the collective reminiscence of Arsenal’s 2001/02 Double, and simply what it meant. I really like that we went unbeaten, however I’ll at all times take two trophies as a substitute of 1 if I’ve to decide on.

I’ll take that beautiful FA Cup ultimate in Cardiff with Ray Parlour sticking it proper up Tim Lovejoy; Freddie Ljungberg along with his pink hair and funky tattoos and Calvin Klein underwear dumping John Terry on his repulsive face; and 38 yr outdated Lee Dixon warming up behind the objective and working onto the sphere to rejoice like a baby because the ball curled completely into Cudicini’s prime nook for the second time in 9 minutes.

I’ll take profitable the Double proper after nicking Spurs’ magnificent however hitherto trophy-less captain on a free switch actually no one on the planet had any thought was occurring till the second he turned up at London Colney with Wenger.

It’s true that we misplaced 3 times within the league, all of them at Highbury, to Leeds, Charlton and Newcastle. However we gained each single one in every of our ultimate 13 league matches of the season. It was simply win after win from 2 February onwards. Think about that. Bergkamp scored his wonder-goal at Newcastle initially of March, at a time when it actually, actually mattered within the title race. No person had ever seen a objective prefer it. Who might cease us?

Till his harm Robert Pires usually seemed like the very best attacking participant on the planet in 01/02. It was the yr we noticed the perfect of him in an Arsenal shirt, and the identical is true of Ljungberg and Parlour. And naturally, we nonetheless had Adams. If the Invincibles have been a pure Wenger workforce, the 01/02 Double facet nonetheless had a robust flavour of Graham’s champions from a decade earlier.

The 2001/02 workforce might do wonderful issues. Like happening to 10 males at Anfield, sticking Kanu again to fill in in central midfield, and profitable it comfortably. In a shiny gold shirt, sponsored by a Japanese online game firm. Arsenal have a very pretty behavior of clinching our championships at rival grounds. Lengthy could it proceed. Profitable the league at Previous Trafford throughout that interval, in opposition to that workforce, led by that supervisor, was one thing else.

Rewind it again. You must understand how we acquired right here to know why it felt so good. Lengthy earlier than the Previous Trafford 8-2 that pressured the panicked signing of Arteta and Mertesacker, there was the Previous Trafford 6-1. That was in February 2001. (By the grace of God, I one way or the other missed each video games and have by no means even seen the objectives, however just like the ache your physique feels when you’ve got a tooth extracted underneath a extremely good anaesthetic, you already know the trauma continues to be in there.)

They gained the league by a single level in 1999, 18 factors in 2000, 10 factors in 2001, having crushed us 6-1. We have been runners-up every time, however we have been miles off, and so they wished to make further positive in the summertime of 2001 by taking Vieira and placing him subsequent to Keane of their midfield. That didn’t occur. As an alternative, we saved Vieira, beat Barcelona to signal Campbell on a Bosman, and gained the Double on their pitch, proper in entrance of Alex Ferguson. A seventeen level swing in our favour.

As at all times, they tried to kick us off the pitch. As at all times, they’d assist from a really useful referee. They couldn’t do it. We have been too robust, fully resolute, just too good. It stays one of the vital snug 1-0 victories I can keep in mind in opposition to a prime facet. The XI that humiliated Ferguson and Keane in entrance of their residence crowd that night time was: Seaman, Lauren, Keown, Campbell, Cole, Ljungberg, Parlour, Vieira, Edu, Wiltord, Kanu.

The only real substitute Wenger used was 38 yr outdated Lee Dixon, despatched on within the 89th minute to take the piss, which he duly did by barging into Fabien Barthez for no different motive than it being very humorous.

When a glum-faced Paul Durkin blew the ultimate whistle, Martin Tyler provided a easy however sensible summation of what it meant: “Arsenal are the champions. They’ve taken the title away from Manchester United, and so they have achieved it right here, at Previous Trafford. It doesn’t get extra conclusive than that.”

Anybody who listens to the Second Captains podcast can have heard these strains lots in recent times. They characteristic on a superb audio-bed that splices Tyler’s commentary on Wenger’s biggest achievements with clips from livid YouTubers in the direction of the tip of his tenure. Hear right here: https://soundcloud.com/secondcaptains/bye-bye-wenger-sc-breaking-news-special-for-arsene

Arsenal followers are sometimes accused of “residing previously” after we point out something about that interval, essentially the most profitable in our latest historical past. I don’t see it that manner in any respect. There’s nostalgia, after all, however then why ought to we overlook these moments, or take pleasure in them any much less? Is there some type of statute of limitations on having fun with the reminiscence of such outstanding feats? Aren’t these sorts of reminiscences the entire level of soccer, and the precise motive why it has such highly effective cross-generational and cross-cultural attraction, as a shared language and a standard set of tales?

I considered this when Chris Sutton tried to bait Arsenal followers final weekend, saying Petit and Vieira wouldn’t have celebrated like our gamers did at West Ham in the event that they have been “solely” going for fourth. Don’t fall for it. Soccer media will get simple filler content material by insisting on a vexed relationship between a membership’s previous and current. Positive, they are saying, your membership achieved some main goal, however was it pretty much as good as the very best season the membership has ever had? If the reply isn’t any then aren’t you “missing ambition” by celebrating? This clearly has nothing to do with our precise expertise as supporters.

It’s why you get offended Man Utd legends sitting on TV insisting yr on yr that their much-diminished membership is in decline as a result of particular person gamers lack “want” when the broader technical and structural deficiencies are clear for all to see. It helps clarify why they’d Solskjaer as their supervisor for 3 years, apparently within the hope that if he reminisced concerning the Camp Nou in each single press convention and left Ferguson’s parking area vacant, the membership would one way or the other magically return to these glory days.

The jubilant celebrations we’ve seen from Arsenal’s gamers and followers on this bumpy street to (possibly) fourth present exactly the other dynamic. We all know precisely the place we’re and who we’re competing with. This isn’t a membership residing previously. If we have been, we’d all be judging our present workforce in opposition to the facet that gained the league at Previous Trafford 20 years in the past, and quickly driving ourselves insane.

Our expectations change with the occasions, however our hopes as supporters are principally at all times the identical. These are formed by our most cherished reminiscences. For many soccer followers, more often than not, there’s a fairly huge gulf between our sensible expectations and what we hope our workforce can do.

That’s the way it felt to us Arsenal followers in February 2001, shedding 6-1 at Previous Trafford. Watching our gamers rejoice the Double on the identical pitch only a yr later, in entrance of Alex Ferguson, we realized that generally miracles can occur ahead of you assume.