Arsenal's 'Invincibles' voted greatest Premier League team

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18070486

Rightly so.

 (making use of the great smileys here)

Going a season unbeaten is no mean feat, but I would have thought Chelsea's record points tally in 04/05 was a greater achievement. 

Record points tally after record spending lol.

That is true but is not really a criteria you take into account when selecting the best team.

You thought wrong.

I think people get caught up to much in going unbeaten in a season. Chelsea only lost 1 game and, more importantly, got more points, the criteria which decides which team is best in each season, than the 03/04 Arsenal team. Chelsea have gotten more points than the 03/04 Arsenal team twice and Man Utd have equaled the points tally once.

So if you look at how we measure which team is best each season, Chelsea 04/05 - 95pts, Chelsea 05/06 - 91pts, Arsenal 03/04 - 90pts and Man Utd 08/09 - 90pts. 

Then it becomes conjecture on the strength of the league each season.

Chelsea's points tally can be beaten. Arsenal's invincible season can never be beaten.

Invincibles >>>>>>> anything else.

So, when a team equals an unbeaten season, as you are right nothing can surpass unbeaten, but only gets 38 points, hypothetically speaking, and gets relegated. Are they to be considered equal to Arsenal's unbeaten season?

There are instances, such as Perugia in the late seventies, that have gone unbeaten and still not won their league - not even the best team that season on how we measure which team is best, by points.

We won the league though. And did so playing amazing football. We captured everyones imagination the way we won the league that season. Something no other team has done in the Premier League before or after.

Just accept it.

Really, you are going to argue asthetics as a reason for a great team. 12 teams have scored more goals in a season since (even Arsenal this season have scored more goals), Chelsea in 09/10 scored 30 more goals and almost doubled the goal difference. 

So, to be the best team you need to go unbeaten and play shekshy football (and depends on your definition of sexy) not what actually matters - how many points you gain in a season.

In 04/05 Arsenal and Chelsea drew both games, if Arsenal in that season matched the other matches as they did in 03/04 they would have again finished on 90 points unbeaten but in second place by 5 points to Chelsea. Which team is better in that situation?

You sound so so bitter.

Edit: Oh, and if you want to know why you're coming across as bitter, it's because this is a thread about the Arsenal invincibles being voted as the best team in the Premier League as part of the 20 seasons celebrations. It's not open for debate, the award has been decided. Chelsea 04/05 were a good team, so were numerous United title winning teams, but they didn't win the award. So stop trying to take away from this unique achievement, which has deservedly been honoured.

What so you thought that posting this on an internet forum will not result in debate about the decision.

I have put forward my case for why I think this is not the correct decision, I can't change the panel's mind, but so be it. I think Chelsea's 04/05 was better than Arsenal's 03/04. I know this is only regarding the EPL but Chelsea also won a cup that season, something Arsenal didn't achieve in 03/04. And, I dislike Chelsea more than Arsenal. Arsenal supporters however...    :P

Um, no. I posted it thinking it would result in discussion surrounding the merits of this team. However you seem hell bent on steering the discussion on to which team (or teams) are more deserving of the award.

So to get it back ON topic, i'll ask you this. What was something about the invincibles that you enjoyed?

Technically good attacking players and the pace at which they played, something that definitely had an impact on other teams in the future. Cole was excellent as an attacking FB.

Yeah i think that whole left side (Cole-Pires-Henry) was just an incredible combination, and all 3 were on fire that season.

For me it was the sheer confidence of the side that you thought they could go into any match able to tear their opponents apart. The two wins over Leeds that season (4-1 away, 5-0 home) probably still give the Leeds defenders on the day nightmares.

For the record, there was no panel bullion, this was voted for by whomever wanted to vote, i gather you got your vote in for chelsea?

i am assuming there were large numbers of voters from supporters of all clubs - of which arsenal are not the largest, so bias cannot be attributed to the decision. The invincibles must've won most of the neutral vote so deserve it for me (although im obviously bias lol)

Interestingly on the stats side of it, no other premier league winning side has got that many points, while scoring that many goals, and conceding as few. Bit of a mouthful but a supporting stat nonetheless. Shows both good attack and good defence, plus the obvious mental resolve to not lose a single match.

For me the Chelsea side in 04/05, and ManU in 06/07 would be closest. Chelsea with 95 points and only conceding 15 goals (!), ManU because I thought they were a spent force that season, picked them to drop out of the top 4 even, but ronaldo got good and their most recent wave of domination began... 

I dont quite understand what the point of this is despite your disclaimer at the beginning of the sentence. If it was about the bigger picture then ManU 98/99 would be the obvious winner, with ManU, Arsenal and Chelsea's FA Cup/League double winning sides also ahead of Chelsea 04/05. Incidentally, the invincibles' bigger picture was that they were essentially together for 4 seasons (01 - 05), and won 2 leagues and 3 fa cups in that time.

A great side.

Again, obvious bias notwithstanding :)

Not sure who are referring to regarding this quote, as 12 teams have scored more goals in season since 03/04 with Chelsea scoring 30 more goals in 09/10 when they won the league, with a GD of +71 the highest ever in the EPL, and Chelsea 04/05 with 95 points and 05/06 with 91 points and Man Utd 99/00 with 91 points got more points

Anyway, I have made these points in my discussion with Buffy.

Read the sentence properly.

Chelsea 09/10 got less points and conceded more goals

Chelsea 04/05 scored less goals

Chelsea 05/06 scored less goals

ManU 99/00 conceded more goals

Apologies for the vote thing, i thought these awards were all voted for on the EPL website, but only some were. Would be interesting to see this go to a vote, they should have done that.