The top five arsenal games of the decade

Hi folks!

I hope you're all having a good week. I haven't posted for a few days mainly because there's been very little of interest going on with Arsenal, I'm not one of those people who bothers to speculate about who we might sign as I see it as a fruitless exercise - Wenger rarely signs players the fans want so I think it's always best to comment after the event (if there is one).

Seeing as we are entering the last few week of the naughties I've suddenly started to feel all nostalgic about the past decade - only really on a footballing level. Let's face it, this past decade has seen countless wars, terrorist attacks, the rise of the minor celebrity and a fairly abysmal music scene. On a lighter note, the first part of the decade did see one of the greatest domestic football teams of all time - Arsenal and this is what I'm going to celebrate today. I've decided to trawl through what's left of my long term memory and pick my top 5 Arsenal games of the last 10 years - I must stress that these are MY top 5 games and probably in no way represents the views of the majority of Arsenal fans!

5. Middlesbrough 0 Arsenal 4 - 18th August 2001

Most people probably won't even remember this game but for some reason it sticks in the memory. In the summer we had signed Sol Campbell and there was a real air of excitement about the new season, especially as Thierry Henry had been on fire the season before. Having finished runners up in 2000-1, most gooners thought we could go one better and we did! It was the first game of the season so me and a few friends decided to drive up there the night before and stay in a really dingy B&B rather than do the drive the morning of the match. The talk before hand was of Campbell's debut but one guy turned round to me and said that Robert Pires was the man to watch this season and sunsequently put a bet on him there and then to finish the season as player of the year (which he did). It was a lovely sunny day and we went in at the break a goal to the good thanks to Henry but then Parlour was dismissed early in the second half and it was a backs against the wall job. We were magnificent, a new steel in the side, Pires was classy and when we won a penalty late on he stepped up to convert it with precision. Bergkamp then added 2 goals in injury time and the away support went wild.

Henry opened scoring

People may ask, what was so wonderful about this game? What made it so special? It was of those rare moments when you see the light, I knew Arsenal would win the league and I knew it after the first 90 minutes of the season! It's a special feeling and one which I have rarely experienced since and that's why I'll always treasure this game over so many others.

Teams:

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Fleming, Cooper, Southgate, Ehiogu, Ince, Mustoe, Greening, Windass, Boksic, Job. Subs: Crossley, Vickers, Okon, Wilson, Ricard.

Arsenal: Seaman, Cole, Adams, Campbell, Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, Lauren, Parlour, Wiltord, Henry. Subs: Jeffers, Bergkamp, van Bronckhorst, Grimandi, Wright.

4. Arsenal 2 Chelsea 0 - 4th May 2002

Up until 2005 I always felt like Cardiff was Arsenal's second home as we were there so regularly. Having lost to Liverpool the year before in the FA Cup final in a game I still to this day don't know how and why - we played Chelsea to secure the first half of our historic double. Once again it was a beautifully sunny day and the atmosphere inside and outside the ground was electric. The game itself was fairly uneventful, those were the days when we expected to beat Chelsea. Although much has been said of Ray Parlour's goal, for me the stand out memory was just after Ljunberg scored the all important second goal. Seeing Henry slide to his knees right in front of us (not caught on camera unfortunately) rather than celebrating with Freddy showed me that there was a bond between the player and the fans and just how much he loved Arsenal Football Club. For some reason this was a special moment, one of those I can still see in slow motion.

Henry just before he slid to his knees

I was due to head back to Birmingham after the game (where I was studying at the time) and I was actually walking with the guy that was giving me a lift but upon hearing all the Arsenal fans celebrating and singing in the distance I decided to turn back, suffice to say I headed back to university the next day!

Teams:

Arsenal: Seaman, Lauren, Campbell, Adams, Cole, Wiltord (Keown 90), Parlour, Vieira, Ljungberg, Bergkamp (Edu 72), Henry (Kanu 81).
Subs Not Used: Dixon, Wright.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot (Zenden 76), Gallas, Desailly, Babayaro (Terry 45), Gronkjaer, Lampard, Petit, Le Saux, Gudjohnsen, Hasselbaink (Zola 68).
Subs Not Used: de Goey, Jokanovic.

That's all for now folks, my top 3 will revealed in the next few days!

Have a good one.