It's a question I've pondered recently. With the countless website and news sources offering lists of the best of, the worst of, the greatest ever etc, does the dramatic and recent mean the disregarded are useless?
The issue came to mind during Sky's pre-match build up for the Arsenal v Liverpool match. Gary Neville pined for the Arsenal team of 1998 as the best he played against. The conversation drifted nearer, with talk of the sides of 2002 and 2004. Was it a rights issue that prohibited talk of pre-1992? Of course Neville and Jamie Carragher were players in the discussed eras. While the 1988-89 team has been preserved in folklore as a result of Anfield and Fever Pitch, has the 1991 title winner been neglected?
Defeated only once in the entire season (in February at Chelsea), unbeaten at home, featuring the division's top scorer (Alan Smith), conceding only 18 goals in 38 league matches. Yet barely recognised?
The main addition to this team was the signing of Swedish midfielder Anders Limpar from Cremonese. Having featured twice at the World Cup that summer, Limpar was at the time an exotic treasure, having played in Serie A and very much an unknown quantity. He announced himself on the English stage with a stunning goal in the Makita pre-season tournament at Wembley against Aston Villa.
Limpar played with a grace rarely seen in an age of English football without any European fixtures. Hugging the left touchline but floating inside, he was very much a taster for the man who performed a similar role for the "Invincibles", Robert Pires. Limpar's career peaked in that season - 11 league goals earned him Sweden's player of the year award as well as an English title medal. He went on to play for Everton (winning an FA Cup) before returning to his homeland. Anders told the Guardian in a 2012 interview that playing for George Graham was like "living in Iraq under Saddam Hussein" and that he didn't even get a handshake when told he wouldn't get a new contract.
The foundation of the miserly defence was the famous back five, including new signing David Seaman in goal. Graham said before the season that while John Lukic had been one of the top six keepers in England, David Seaman was the best. Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Steve Bould and captain Tony Adams were still in place from the 1989 championship side, but it wasn't all plain sailing...
Adams was convicted of drink-driving in December 1990 after crashing into a wall, but another new signing Andy Linighan stepped up to cover the skipper, who was inside for 57 days of a four-month sentence. It just so happened that the sole league defeat came during this time. He continued drinking until 1996, when a very public admission of alcoholism (and the arrival of Arsene Wenger) became the catalyst to scale even greater heights.
George Graham's side were tough and resilient, no more evident than at Manchester United in October 1990. The game's only goal had been a controversial one, Anders Limpar's effort from an acute angle was judged to have crossed the line - but it was a second half tangle between Limpar, Winterburn and Denis Irwin which led to 22 players getting stuck in so much that even the mild-mannered David Rocastle (RIP) had to be restrained. After the dust settled, Arsenal were deducted two points and United one. A sense of injustice followed, with Graham giving a talk to the team in front of the cameras about a solid mentality.
In a statistic unlikely to be repeated in modern times, only nineteen players featured in league matches, including a substitute appearance for a young Andrew Cole. Another promising forward, Kevin Campbell, emerged as a powerful, hungry striker, with nine league goals in fifteen starts.
To add fuel to the legend, Perry Groves was assigned shirt number 12 on fifteen occasions!
The title was confirmed on a bank holiday Monday, before a home game against Manchester United. Liverpool, the only other challengers, lost 3-1 to Nottingham Forest earlier in the day, giving the Gunners the treat of a guard of honour from the visitors that evening. The match featured a hat-trick for Alan Smith, and a semblance of revenge after the same tie in the League Cup had ended 2-6 to United in November.
The legacy of this team that George built was apparent - that back five (with added Keown) remained at the heart of the club for the best part of a decade afterwards, while the supporters' love affair with Paul Merson continues to this day. Rocastle tragically died in 2000 aged just 33, having left for Leeds for a large fee in 1992. Campbell and Thomas had decent careers after their departures, while Smith's career was ended by injuries.
Perhaps I have a fondness for this side, as they were the first that I got to see with regularity, while my Michael Thomas-signed VHS copy remains somewhere in the house. The red shirt is a classic, slightly less conservative than previous efforts, but Adidas and JVC work perfectly.
I'll forever associate this Arsenal team with Anders Limpar, in the same way other teams would be remembered with greater players (1998, 2002 and 2004 with Vieira, Bergkamp and Henry). Perhaps the last great winners of Division One.
Champions.
