Former Chelsea captain John Terry insists his Blues team were “way better” than Arsenal’s Invincibles. The Gunners went an entire league season without losing in the 2003-04 season, only for Terry and his team-mates to lift the title in each of the following two seasons.
The big change for the Blues at the time was the arrival of Jose Mourinho. They had finished second in the league and reached the Champions League semi-finals in Claudio Ranieri’s final year in charge, but found another gear under Mouriinho.
Despite losing once in the Portuguese manager’s first season, they picked up 95 points – five more than Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal managed the previous season. They finished on 91 the following year, conceding just 37 goals across the two seasons combined, and Terry made his feelings clear.
“I don’t think there’s any comparison between Chelsea 04-05 and the Invincibles,” the former England star told The Telegraph. “I think we were way better. We lost one game, which we should never have lost to Man City. Arsenal drew 12 games.”
Terry also spoke about the instant impact made by Mourinho after his arrival from Porto, saying: “The detail and flow of training was exceptional. It was spectacular, what he was doing at the time. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Mourinho reflected fondly on that first triumph, achieved with just 15 goals conceded in 38 games. “Arsenal people, Man United people, Man City people, they don’t give a s*** about Chelsea 2004-05,” he said.
“In the same way as us, Chelsea, we don’t give a s*** about the Invincibles or what they did. What matters is what we know. What we know what we did and what we share between us.”
Arsenal haven’t won the title since that 2003-04 season, while Chelsea’s last league title came under Antonio Conte in 2017. They now have another Italian in the dugout in the form of Enzo Maresca, and he has the slightly humbler target of securing Champions League qualification after two years outside the competition.
“In the last game against Brentford, we did enough to win the game,” Maresca said as Chelsea prepare to face Ipswich on Sunday. “Unfortunately, we didn’t score, but we shot more than 20 times, so it’s a matter of taking the chances. It’s important we continue to create and at the end we will see [where we finish].”
Arsenal are in a better position when it comes to Champions League qualification, sitting nine points above the Blues with seven games to go. They are also still in with a chance of winning the competition this term after a 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their quarter-final.
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