We are all feeling understandably nostalgic and are counting down the hours until we arrive early for a change to see the reception for Thierry Henry on Monday night. We are all casting our mind back to the golden era from 2001 to 2004 when, domestically, we swept all before us, winning two Premier League titles and two FA Cups.
Well I would like to join in the nostalgia and the trip down memory lane by paying tribute to the forgotten man of our golden age. Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira – our French trio – are often referred to as the three musketeers, a reference of course to their nationality, but more so to our swashbuckling swift-attacking style of that period. However, as in Dumas’ epic tale there were of course four musketeers and Sylvain Wiltord – our club record signing from Bordeaux in 2000 – was Arsenal’s fourth French hero.
Wiltord arrived with some fanfare after winning the European Championship with France in the summer of 2000, scoring the goal that took the final into golden goal extra time, and topping the goal scoring chart in the French top flight with Bordeaux. He also arrived as the club record signing at some £13 million. Spending cash on French players was not new for Arsene Wenger but spending this much was. Indeed it took Wenger some 9 years to spend more on a similarly short player, Andrey Arshavin.
Many Gooners scratched their heads at the arrival, as we already had Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Nwankwu Kanu playing well. Where would this diminutive stocky Frenchman play? Well truth be told, it was tough for Wiltord in his first season to break in on a regular basis, but his uncanny knack of arriving late on moves and his superb ability to turn sharply in the box and get a shot away in tight spaces still secured him 15 goals in all competitions. This included a record breaking run of scoring in the FA Cup. Wiltord smashed in 6 goals en route to the final, which we sadly and inexplicably lost to Liverpool.
However, it was in 2001/02 that Wiltord truly came in to his own at the Arsenal, and it is this season which saw him secure legendary status at our great club. For me this was the finest season of football we have ever played under Wenger. Yes we were undefeated in the league in the 2003/04 season and history was made, but it was 2001/02 that saw the football that took everyone’s breath away, and Wiltord was integral. Many will look back and recall our main strike partnership being Henry and Bergkamp, but in reality, this was not the case. It was Henry and Wiltord that began the season, with Wiltord preferred to Bergkamp and Kanu and new signing Francis Jeffers in virtually every game. Wiltord admirably supported Henry, and some of the football we played particular on the break from August into the New Year was truly spectacular. We were simply blowing teams away in the first 20-25 minutes and so much of it flowed through the four French musketeers. Of course the understanding was incredible and seemingly telepathic at some points between the four Frenchman. They loved playing together for club and country and each knew where and when the other would move and into which space. Teams just could not compete when Arsenal were in full flow in 2001/02.
