Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he knew his team could go an entire season unbeaten when Thierry Henry inspired them to a comeback victory over Liverpool.
The Gunners went down in history in the 2003-04 season, becoming the first side in Premier League history to go an entire campaign without losing a single game. That record still stands, though other teams have picked up more points than Wenger's team managed after their return of 26 wins and 12 draws.
Wenger was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame on Wednesday, along with legendary former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson. United came close to stopping that unbeaten run early on, and Wenger reflected on the ups and downs of his team's famous season.
"If you have the best players in the world, you have an obligation to be as good as you can be," Wenger said. "That is the real competition. Winning is not enough. The obligation of perfection is the most important thing for me.
"If you win the championship [as we did in 2001/02], you always think that you could have done it without losing those games. So I felt that I needed to find a new motivation for the players, to push harder and see how good we could be."
Arsenal drew 0-0 with United early in the season, with Ruud van Nistelrooy missing a penalty, before running away with the title. Still, it was only after victory against Liverpool in April, with Henry scoring a hat-trick as the Gunners came from behind, that an unbeaten season was truly on the manager's mind.
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When Liverpool visited Arsenal's old Highbury stadium, the home side had eight games remaining and were on the verge of wrapping up the title. They had avoided defeat in the reverse fixture against Man Utd a few days earlier, but first-half goals from Sami Hyypia and Michael Owen - either side of an Henry effort - left the unbeaten record under threat.
In the second half, though, top scorer Henry found another gear. After his fellow France international Robert Pires brought Arsenal level, Henry completed his hat-trick to give Arsenal all three points, paving the way for them to clinch the title at Tottenham later that month.
"The unbeaten run started to come in," Wenger added. "Man United missed a penalty with Van Nistelrooy and then we played Liverpool at home. We were 2-0 down at half-time [it was actually 2-1] and Thierry Henry performed a miracle and won us the game. And then I thought: ‘Now we can do it!’.
"In fact, when we were crowned champions at Tottenham, the most difficult part came then, because we had four games to go, and then not to lose. They had done something exceptional, so I told them, ‘Guys, now we really have to get together. Do you want to become immortal now, or not?’
"It is not easy to keep that degree of vigilance. They refused to give in. In the end, we did it."
Arsenal were captained that season by another Frenchman, Patrick Vieira, who shed more light on the unmatched achievement. The final four games brought two draws and two wins, and Vieira credited Wenger for ensuring history was made.
"He was the only one who believed that we could go through the season unbeaten," the former Crystal Palace manager said of Wenger. "When he would spread that message to the players, we never thought that would be possible, but you just need one person to believe in it and then spread that message to the rest of the team. From the start of the season, he knew that we could do something special with the group we had."
While Arsenal have failed to add another league title since 2003-04, they are well-placed to end their drought this season. Mikel Arteta, who played under Wenger for the Gunners, has shown his managerial quality by helping the Gunners open up a healthy lead over challengers Manchester City with just 10 games remaining.
