Arsenal is a team associated with "positive football". They have little love for defensive minded teams, as their ranting at Manchester City after the draw last week clearly demonstrated.
The greatest Arsenal team were the "Invincibles" who went unbeaten in the 2003-4 Premier League season. They are held up as the example to which all teams (not just Arsenal) should aspire.
Yet, Arsenal fans rarely mention the Invincibles defense, which was perhaps the key to its success. Indeed, as the Wikipedia article mentions, "former Arsenal manager George Graham pinpointed [their] success to defensive improvements".
The Invincibles allowed only 26 goals that season, the best in the Premier League. The next best team (Chelsea) allowed 30. (By the way, not only did the best defense (Arsenal) finish 1st and the 2nd best (Chelsea) finish 2nd, the 3rd best (Man U) finished 3rd, the 4th best (Liverpool) finished 4th, and the 5th best (Newcastle) finished 5th. Notice a pattern here?)
Looking back at their defense, we can see that it included some of the best defenders of the time: Ashley Cole, the left back, has often been rated the best in the world at that position. Sol Campbell, a center back, was named the best at his position in the Premier League that season (and other seasons). Kolo Toure, the other center back, is similarly great, and in fact, is now the center piece of Manchester City's dominant defense, which the Arsenal fans deride.
Arsenal fans have a strange blind spot regarding defensive prowess, not only of their own teams but others as well. Barcelona, the best team in the world at the moment, is often held up as a model of positive football. Yet they seem to never point out that Barcelona also has perhaps the defense in the world, with a back four of Alves, Puyols, Pique, and Abidal.
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