5 reasons why Arsenal have not been a big club since the end of the Invincibles era

Ten years ago, a statement of this nature, such as the title, would have been met with incredulity and laughter. After all, the 2003-04 season was perhaps one of the best in the history of Arsenal Football Club.In fact, so synonymous are the words “invincibles” and “Arsenal” that a quick google search of the word “invincibles” produces results related to Arsenal and other teams that have gone unbeaten an entire season. It seems then, that the best thing to happen to Arsenal FC in the last few decades is that their 2003-04 team went through the season unbeaten, and in style.That then is a damning indictment of Arsenal’s status as a genuinely big club. They are now classified as “has beens” and do not incite near enough the fear that the club did ten years.While it is difficult to pinpoint what exactly has led to Arsenal’s status being relegated, we try to narrow it down to the 5 most important things.

#1 The definition of success has changed

Success has many definitions. Targets and measures of success differ from one club to another, and no two are the same. Except in the case of true behemoths.

Think of Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Juventus and you imagine a champion team, a massive force of nature not to be taken lightly. Even on their bad days, and they have all had bad days in the last 10 years, the yardstick of success has remained the same – winning silverware, attracting the best players and thrilling the fans.

For Arsenal, the case is not so. Or at least it certainly appears that way, judging from the efforts of the board and the noises coming out of the club. Defeats are met with a shrug of the shoulder, mid-season collapses are treated with a “tough-luck-boys” approach and the whole environment around the club is one of doing just about enough, but not quite going the distance.

Sure, 17 consective years in the Champions League is a fantastic achievement – not many clubs have been able to do that. But what should be used as a springboard for further success has been treated as a laurel to rest on. 

Arsenal are simply meeting expectations, not exceeding them. It’s all well and good when your expectation is to be the best, or at least aspire to. But when the bar is set to a standard lower than the best, it’s a recipe for comfortable mediocrity.

Ten years ago, Arsenal were a genuine big club, not just because of the quality of players, but because of what the institution stood for – excellence. The same cannot be said for any Arsenal team since.