34 wins, 105 goals, 18 conceded and an Invincible Premier League title — the complete FM26 recreation of Wenger's legendary Arsenal 4-4-2 with Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira and the fearsome foursome.
Across his 22-year spell as Arsenal's Manager, Arsène Wenger achieved success in abundance. However, the pinnacle of his success came in his last league title victory at the club, as his Arsenal side of 2003/04 went all 38 league games undefeated to secure a special, golden Premier League trophy — the only of its kind to date. It was specially made to commend league winners who would go an entire league campaign undefeated. But how did Wenger's side achieve such outstanding success?
Ingenious Player Positioning
Arsène Wenger's Invincibles side weren't particularly 'revolutionary', akin to that of Chelsea's 2004/05 league-winning side under José Mourinho. However, they were incredibly intuitive and their players' positioning is a great, clear example of this: like most sides during this time, Wenger's side set up in a 4-4-2 formation. However, once certain players made certain adjustments to their positioning, their formation was actually largely that of a typical 4-2-3-1 formation that you will tend to see sides utilising today.
This all began from the back, from where Kolo Touré could drive forward with the ball. Upon distributing the ball to a team-mate, Touré could situationally remain in his slightly advanced position, in line with Gilberto Silva in midfield. Touré's advancements would trigger a chain reaction of counter-movements; Patrick Vieira, in midfield, would also move slightly higher, whilst Dennis Bergkamp — Henry's strike partner — would drop off the frontline, allowing Henry to remain higher.
These counter-movements could occur without an initial trigger anyway — in this case, Arsenal would actually have a string of triangular passing angles to utilise, which could also resemble a zig-zag passing pattern if swiftly conducted. For a detailed breakdown of how these role pairings and positional rotations work in FM26, our FM26 role synergy guide covers the best combinations in depth.
This added an extra level of unpredictability to Arsenal's game, as their '4-4-2' wasn't in the same mould as other sides' respective 4-4-2 formations.
Incredibly Solid Defensive Strategy
A hallmark of Arsenal's supreme success in 03/04 was their incredible defensive strategy. This began from the front, as Arsenal's front two would aggressively close down the opposition centre-backs, forcing them either into a pass out wide or a long ball. If the centre-back performed the former, Arsenal's entire defensive unit would collapse onto the ball's side, retaining a compact, impenetrable centre — however, if the centre-back performed the latter, Arsenal's physically dominant centre-back duo could easily hound opposition attackers to prevent them from progressing.
If Arsenal's initial high-press was bypassed, they would drop into an incredibly solid mid-block shape. From here, the overriding aim was still to force the opposition into wide areas, from where they would invite crosses into the box, trusting their aforementioned physically dominant backline to handle the balls into the box. Our FM26 pressing principles guide explains exactly how to replicate this two-phase defensive approach in FM26.
Let's Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
When Lehmann, in Arsenal's net, had the ball, his distribution was diverse — he'd tend to distribute the ball quickly, in any case. Arsenal tended to focus play down the left, as this is where most of their best players were situated, and from here the likes of Henry, Vieira, and Pires could link up with one another. Additionally, Arsenal players would tend to pass into space in order to drive the momentum of their attacking moves.
Generally, Arsenal attacked with marvellous speed and unpredictability, as they were able to situationally drift between short and direct attacking moves at the flick of a light switch. Finally, upon regaining possession, Wenger's side were devastating in punishing opposition teams.
Out of Possession
When Arsenal didn't have the ball for prolonged periods, they would sit off in a compact, strong mid-block structure, from where they would force teams wide. To close any midfield space, Wenger's backline were instructed to hold a higher line, as their respective pace eliminated much of the risk of the ball in-behind. From here, the backline were also encouraged to step up more and engage in closing down opposition attackers, trying to halt their advances.
Upon forcing the opposition wide, Arsenal would invite crosses into the box as they trusted their backline to handle anything thrown at them. Finally, upon losing possession, Arsenal's players would quickly retreat into their mid-block structure to avoid being caught in transition.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper — Jens Lehmann
Jens Lehmann was one of the very first 'Sweeper Keepers' in football, and his ability in doing so was imperative to Arsenal as he could quickly eliminate opposition attacks in-behind.
Full-Back | Full-Back — Lauren
Lauren was, perhaps, one of the most underrated cogs in this Arsenal machine, as he expertly guarded Arsenal's right side both in possession and out of possession. Both full-backs, in this system, would move wider — from here, Lauren would largely remain deeper, although he could advance higher on occasion.
Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back — Kolo Touré
Kolo Touré was the catalyst of a lot of Arsenal's attacking moves, as he could quickly initiate their strides forward with strides forward of his own — from here, he could progress the ball with a line-breaking pass to find an attacking player ahead of him. When Arsenal didn't have the ball, Touré showcased elite reading of the game to cover for his team-mates, often dropping deeper to close any empty space behind the Gunners' rearguard.
Centre-Back | Centre-Back — Sol Campbell
Sol Campbell would largely remain devoutly focused on his defensive responsibilities.
Wing-Back | Full-Back — Ashley Cole
Like Lauren, Ashley Cole would move wider in possession. From here, he could consistently provide overlapping runs or, alternatively, he could simply hold the width to allow Pires to invert ahead of him. Upon overlapping Pires, Cole would look to reach the byline before crossing the ball into the box.
Deep-Lying Playmaker | Screening Defensive Midfielder — Gilberto Silva
Gilberto Silva was Arsenal's primary screening midfielder, both in possession and out of possession. When Arsenal had the ball, he would tend to come towards the ball to keep play ticking and would move wider to compensate for one or both of the full-backs advancing. When Arsenal didn't have the ball, Silva would focus on screening the Arsenal back four.
Box-to-Box Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder — Patrick Vieira
Patrick Vieira was the engine of the Arsenal machine: his elite athleticism saw him eating ground for breakfast, whilst his supreme physicality saw him dominating multiple opposition midfielders at once. In midfield, Vieira would advance higher up the pitch and, at times, would run beyond the likes of Pires and Bergkamp to supply late, third-man runs in-behind. Whilst Vieira would tend to move into the left half-space (where most of his penetrative runs were directed), he was given licence to roam from his position to get on the ball and keep Arsenal's possession game ticking.
Upon receiving the ball, Vieira could utilise his frightening athleticism to carry the ball forward, driving beyond multiple opposition players as if they were on-watching mannequins. Finally, when Arsenal didn't have the ball, Silva's aforementioned screening gave Vieira an ideal platform to aggressively close down the opposition, which he was masterful at doing.
Advanced Playmaker | Centre Forward — Dennis Bergkamp
Dennis Bergkamp was, simply put, a magician. Whilst his quality didn't fully show itself in regards to his goal contribution numbers, his ingenuity was crucial to conducting a lot of Arsenal's sweeping attacking moves. From this slightly withdrawn striker/attacking midfielder position, Bergkamp would usually drop towards the ball, offering himself as a quick passing option — the scope to do this was large, as he was given licence to roam from his position.
However, he wasn't tied to exclusively coming towards the ball, as he could often make runs in-behind, especially if Henry dropped off the frontline momentarily. Upon receiving the ball, Bergkamp wasn't afraid to take on his man before finding an attacking team-mate with a riskier, creative pass. Finally, when Arsenal didn't have the ball, both Bergkamp and Henry were incredibly aggressive in closing down opposition centre-backs — the only slight difference between the two was that Bergkamp would often drop into a midfield position as Arsenal retreated further.
Wide Forward | Tracking Wide Midfielder — Freddie Ljungberg
Freddie Ljungberg's role, in this system, was very flexible and largely depended on the positioning of those around him. In general, Ljungberg would initially stay wider before drifting inside to sit slightly narrower — from here, upon receiving the ball, he could take on the opposing left-back and try to reach the byline to cross the ball in.
All four of Arsenal's main attacking protagonists (Bergkamp, Ljungberg, Pires, and Henry) possessed a certain fear factor that culminated in them being one of the most fluid and frightening frontlines in football history, and this is reflected in the player instructions of their four respective roles. Finally, both wingers were very hard-working and would consistently track any advancements from opposition full-backs.
Inside Forward | Tracking Wide Midfielder — Robert Pires
Pires' role was also quite indistinguishable, as it reflected both the 'Inside Winger' and 'Inside Forward' roles in FM26. However, I chose the latter as I felt this was more synonymous with his tendency to make runs in-behind the opposition's defence and his tendency to shoot from range. From here, Pires would largely move narrower, however, he could also roam from his position like the other attackers in this squad. Finally, upon receiving the ball, Pires would mainly cut inside and shape to shoot or link up with the likes of Henry and Bergkamp in central areas.
Channel Forward | Centre Forward — Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry doesn't warrant a narration of his wonderful talent, as it simply speaks for itself — 175 Premier League goals speaks for itself. In this system, Henry would begin in the left half-space before drifting wide and, at times, rotating positions with Pires. From this wider positioning, Henry, upon receiving the ball, could take on opposition defenders before shooting or finding a team-mate with a riskier, creative pass. This sheer level of ingenuity and class was simply too much for most opposition teams to handle, as he could single-handedly win the Gunners games.
Furthermore, Henry would tend to make a lot of runs in-behind the opposition's defence. Finally, when Arsenal didn't have the ball, Henry would, unlike his team-mates, remain higher and would typically split wider to be in an optimal position to immediately attack the left half-space should Arsenal regain possession deep and look to swiftly launch a devastating counter-attack.
Results
Premier League
In testing with Arsenal on FM26, we somehow managed to eclipse the magnificent achievements of Wenger's side in real life, as we also won the Premier League as Invincibles — however, we did so by drawing eight fewer games, whilst winning 34 of our 38 league games. Across said 38 league games, we scored 105 goals (2.76 goals per game) and conceded just 18 goals (0.47 goals per game) — the league's best record for each statistic.
Domestic Cups
We secured our first piece of silverware for the season in the Carabao Cup: a 0-3 win over Brentford at Wembley saw us lift the trophy. On our way to the Final, we beat the likes of Crystal Palace (4-2 AGG) and Burnley (3-0). We made it a domestic treble by winning the FA Cup, defeating Liverpool 1-2 in the Final. On our way to Wembley, we beat the likes of Man City (1-3), Chelsea (0-2), and Crystal Palace again (2-3).
UEFA Champions League
Unfortunately, a domestic treble it would remain. A marvellous journey in Europe was ended in heartbreaking fashion in the Final, as PSG beat us on penalties after an initial 1-1 draw. On our way to the Final, we overcame North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur (3-1 AGG), Galatasaray (5-2 AGG), and Sporting (0-5 AGG), after initially topping the League Phase.
Conclusion
Arsenal remain the only club in Premier League history to go an entire league campaign unbeaten, and that's a true testament to the paramount achievement made by Wenger and his superb side. They are a side that will go down in history, and rightfully so: a side characterised by rapidly destructive attacking moves, formidable defensive solidity and discipline, and a fearsome foursome up top that destroyed all in their way. Simply put, and as Wenger would likely describe them himself: C'est magnifique!
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