- Chelsea won the Premier League in 2004-05 after conceding just 15 goals
- Arsenal secured glory in 2003-04 having gone the whole season undefeated
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Jose Mourinho and John Terry have claimed Chelsea’s 2004-05 Premier League-winning team were better than Arsenal’s famous Invincibles side.
The Blues romped to the top flight title 20 years ago following a remarkable season that saw them rack up 95 points and concede just 15 times, an English league record.
Mourinho had replaced Claudio Ranieri as manager the previous summer, and his side finished 12 points clear of Arsenal. Their only defeat came against Man City in October 2004.
The Gunners had been the reigning champions, with Arsene Wenger’s men picking up 90 points during their memorable 2003-04 campaign having become the only top flight side to go undefeated.
As a result of their achievement, Wenger’s side are viewed in various circles as the greatest Premier League side ever, although others have supported Chelsea’s case while some have highlighted the success of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side in recent years.
And Terry, who captained Chelsea to glory, has given his view and claimed his former side don’t get the credit they deserve.
John Terry has claimed that Chelsea’s 2004-05 side were better than Arsenal’s Invincibles
Chelsea conceded just 15 goals when they won the Premier League under Jose Mourinho
Arsenal won the title in 2003-04 after becoming the first side to go undefeated in a season
‘I’m going to be really controversial,’ he told The Telegraph. ‘But I don’t think there’s any comparison between Chelsea 04-05 and the Arsenal Invincibles. I think we were way better. We lost one game, which we should never have lost to Man City.
‘Arsenal drew 12 games. When I hear the debate, I think the record of losing one, drawing eight and only conceding that amount of goals is sensational.’
Terry went on to highlight that he felt Chelsea’s achievement has been deflated in some quarters because of the heavy investment that came the summer before.
Ahead of what was the second season of the Roman Abramovich era, Ranieri was sacked and Mourinho poached from Porto where he had won the Champions League.
There was a hefty transfer outlay on the likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben, Paulo Ferreira and Petr Cech among others.
Mourinho echoed the thoughts of Terry, although he insisted he wasn’t bothered by the outside opinion.
‘Arsenal people, Man United people, Man City people, they don’t give a s*** about Chelsea 2004-05,’ he added. ‘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.’
Mourinho admitted he wasn’t bothered what others thought, but echoed Terry’s opinion
Chelsea legend Terry felt there was no comparison between his former side and Arsenal
Frank Lampard also weighed in on the debate and highlighted three great top flight teams
Frank Lampard, who scored 13 Premier League goals in 2004-05, also weighed in on the debate, though he was more measured when giving his answer.
‘I think it [2004-05] matches what the Invincibles did, it matches what Pep [Guardiola] did at Man City in our own way,’ he said. ‘We definitely deserve to be in the debate and the conversation about greatest Premier League teams.’
During the 2004-05 campaign, Chelsea also won the EFL Cup, while they reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.
They went on to win the title again the following season before Mourinho left the club in September 2007.
He subsequently returned in 2013 and won a third Premier League at Chelsea, until he departed for the second and final time in December 2015.
