Arsenal legends Campbell and Parlour on Invincibles era, 'Wenger Out' and the players they need

By Jigar Mehta and Vinayakk Mohanarangan

It’s not often that you get to see your footballing heroes live in India. But Mumbai was abuzz on Tuesday as Arsenal fans got to watch and interact with ‘Invincibles’ Sol Campbell and Ray Parlour who visited India for the first time to launch the PUMA Arsenal 2015/16 home and away kits.

The atmosphere was electric as the fans chanted Arsenal songs, while Campbell and Parlour entertained them stories of the ‘Invincible’ period — when the club went unbeaten from May 2003 to October 2004, winning the Premier League undefeated in the process.

Campbell was one of the rocks on which Arsenal built a solid foundation during the unmatched streak. In his five years and 195 appearances at Arsenal, he won two Premier League and two FA Cup titles. Having crossed the North London divide to join Arsenal from Tottenham, Campbell had the audience in stitches with digs aimed at the Gunners’ local rivals.

Parlour, on the other hand, was Arsenal through and through, having joined the club when he was 11. Often underrated, he broke into the Arsenal first team in 1992 and became a fan favourite for his energetic performances in midfield. He enjoyed remarkable success with the Gunners — winning a League Cup, three Premier League titles and two FA Cups. One of his finest moments came in the 2002 FA Cup final when his breath-taking 30-yard strike helped Arsenal to a 2-0 win over Chelsea.

Both players spoke at length about manager Arsene Wenger’s approach over the years (and his criticism), the need for aggression in the current squad, the signings Arsenal need and the atmosphere in the team during the 49-match unbeaten run.

Q. How has Arsene Wenger’s approach changed since the Invincible era?

Ray Parlour: I don’t think his approach has changed – his personnel might have changed. Probably didn’t have as many good players, lost few important players and obviously the moving stadiums is a big thing for the football club – moving from Highbury to Emirates – there wasn’t that much money to spend on players. So he’s done an unbelievable job just of getting into the Champions League every single season. Now I think the club is in a much better situation. They can go and buy player like Mesut Ozil with 42 million pounds and Alexis Sanchez and hopefully they can bring one or two more big players in to really give them a great chance of winning this season. Certainly winning the two FA Cups the last two seasons has been great for the team and the squad and for the team spirit. The first trophy is always the hardest to win for a squad and they have done that now and they have loved every minute of it…they have been on the bus tour around London and they will now want more of it, hopefully.

Q. What do you think turned around for them in the last few seasons that they have now started winning trophies?

Ray Parlour: Well they have been getting better players – the signing of Sanchez was superb last year. He is one of those players who hit the ground running, he was fantastic in his first season – the first few games he was brilliant. So that is a big, big thing. They are improving as a squad itself. They are getting older. The age of the squad is very good around 25-26, probably coming into the primes of their careers. So if he can keep all the players together now and add a few more quality players, we will have a very good squad. Probably over the last few years we lost a few big players such as Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Samir Nasri. So now they are keeping their best players – they have signed them on long-term deals – and that is really healthy for Arsenal.

Q. Your take on the ‘Wenger Out’ calls/criticism against Wenger?

Sol Campbell: I think the fans were just getting frustrated but they should have really given Arsene the benefit of doubt and seen what he could do over the next season. The last season, there were a couple of altercations that were way over the top. There was this one incident on the train and the fans were almost gunning for him –for a man who has done so much and revolutionised Arsenal.

If you see the last season, in the end, it was a fantastic season. We didn’t win the Premiership, but the back end of the season was incredible. We were winning all the time, the consistency and topping it off with the FA Cup win. They should have given him that kind of space and respect and look at what’s happened – qualified for the Champions League for the 18th consecutive time and the FA Cup (win). Overall it was a great season. Yes we got to do better in the league but at least it’s a great start for us compared to five years ago when there was nothing… just barren and always not winning anything. They should have really given a little bit of time to Arsene and judged him at the end of the season and not at the start or midway through the season.

Q. Mourinho came out in the end last season and said, “Arsenal played the best football… they just lacked the consistency required.” Is that down to lack of leadership in the squad? During the Invincibles era it was obviously Patrick Vieira and you and Denis Bergkamp. Is that something missing from the squad today?

Sol Campbell: I think Arsenal’s got a great squad. The beginning of the season hurt them a little bit with a few injuries. They need to start firing from game one and not say game 10-12 onwards for it is almost too late by then now. You really got to start off well. Back in the day people would say, come Christmas time and we will start rolling. Now you got to start rolling in and around August; definitely by September you got to start rolling and getting points and getting into the groove. I think last season that’s what hurt them.

I think Mourinho is right. Arsenal were one of the best in terms of football out there around the world but now it is all about getting the balance right. Because in football in steely kind of games and being hard to beat (opposition) – when you are playing away from home on a Wednesday, in rain away from home and if you can come away with a win – that is the true kind of football. You got to have it when the sun is shining and it’s at home and you are playing lovely football and even away – that’s when you really show your character.

I feel they need to change the dynamics in the midfield. Have someone slightly different who can play that kind of deep role in midfield – kind of play kick-up – someone like a Patrick (Viera) or Gilberto or (Emanuel) Petit… they need someone different – physically different as well. Just something different… Ray Parlour was one of them. They have a lot of ball players… they need someone who understands the game and yes can play football but his attribute should be - he can cut the game up, block the game and allow the back four to have a breather… they definitely need someone like that for sure.

Q. You mentioned about the deficiency midfield, but also upfront… (Karim) Benzema is one striker who has been linked to Arsenal. Is there one striker out there who you think will fit into the Arsenal structure?

Ray Parlour: Benzema would be a great signing for Arsenal. The fans will be very excited to have him in the squad. (Edinson) Cavani is another person who has been linked to come in and he has great experience with the national side and the teams he’s been with. That’s the kind of quality we need to look at now. If they are available, who knows, something could happen now, that could be brilliant. We know how hard Bayern Munich players are and how hard it is for deals to go through. So I am sure Wenger knows about the inevitable players in the market and he knows that he could get them — maybe they are the ones he goes for.

Q. There was a lot of aggression during the Invincibles time – we had characters like Vieira, Parlour and others also. Do you think that kind of aggression is missing… someone who can give it back to the opponent?

Sol Campbell: I think it’s all about controlled aggression. Aggression with no control is just… you need to harness it and I think that, for us, yes we were kind of aggressive but we were also gentlemen at the same time. We didn’t go out and try to take players’ careers away. Yes, we tackled hard, yes we played a hard game but then we played a skilful game. It was a balanced kind of play we had. Yes, we had got other players like Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg who didn’t really tackle as much but they added something different to the game. So it’s all about balance. If you can’t control aggression you will end up conceding too many fouls or you can’t calm yourself during the right moment – and you give away penalties or freekicks in wrong positions.

Q. Do you think the Arsenal teams after the Invincibles era lacked this controlled aggression?

Sol Campbell: No. They have got aggression but… they have got different types of players. I think they need a couple of different kinds of players with a different kind of skill set, still top notch. But just different to add that flavour, little bit like Chelsea - Chelsea has got that mix of skilful players, steely players, players who could just stick the ball in the net. I think that is balance. We are top heavy with too many skillful players. They need a bit of added ingredient. Someone whose mentality is steely, not only physically but also mentally.

Q. One player from the current team who needs to stand up this season and pull his weight so that Arsenal can mount a challenge for the title?

Ray Parlour: Well, certainly Sanchez was a different class last season… he has got to do the same this time around – Ozil has got to get better. I think he is such a talented player – very good on the ball but these sort of players have to really step up. They have to keep the same consistency. I think it’ll be a big season for Jack Wilshere. I am really hoping he can stay fit because he is a quality player. We have seen what he has done for England – those two cracking goals (vs Slovenia in World Cup 2018 qualifiers) – he has got to score a few more goals from midfield if he can.

And that midfield area – there is just so much competition – you’ve got Aaron Ramsey – another good couple of seasons for him; Santi Cazorla – he was very good last year. There’s a lot of good players there but it’s just about getting consistent – Hector Bellerin has been superb at right back… and if Laurent Koscielny can stay fit – I think he is our best defender and Nacho Monreal has also improved a lot. So they have got good players – it’s just about pulling all together and getting the team to go out every single week and put the performance in. Consistency is the key to winning leagues. You can’t play really well one week and then have a really poorly game the next week because you get beaten. It’s about getting to that level and sticking to it. I would have rather have people getting 7.5 out of 10 every week than people who get 9 one week and then get 4 the following week. So consistency is the most important thing for the players.

Q. The unbeaten season required special kind of mental focus. Is there something that Wenger told you all during team meetings or is there an individual chat that really stood out?

Ray Parlour: Well he was always really positive. At the start of the season, in the pre- season, his mentality was always to win everything of course. He was always positive. He did say the year before that we could go unbeaten. Maybe one of the players – Martin Keown I think — felt that it just put too much pressure on the players but Wenger knew that he had a squad that maybe could (go unbeaten). He will always look back and say that that was one of the best squads I had and managed. And we had a lot of winners in that team — mentality where you’d never get beaten or you never knew when you were beaten.

In certain games we were really under the cosh, maybe we had a poor game but we managed to get a draw out of it. Credit to all the lads, the staff the others involved in the club that we went unbeaten. But the last four games were difficult, really difficult. After winning the league we still had four games in a row and sometimes you take the foot off the pedal but we had to keep going and showed focus and finally did it. It was a brilliant season.

Q. Any matches from the Invincibles campaign that particularly stand out?

Sol Campbell: The away game against Manchester United at Old Trafford because of that dubious penalty – and that was a defining moment, really, for that could have ended the invincible (run), just there… I mean Ruud van Nistelrooy hit the bar and then the famous chop by Martin Keown will go in the history of Arsenal football forever. So that was a game that will definitely stand out for if they had scored that with only two minutes to go, that game was finished.

Ray Parlour: Probably the Liverpool game as well that took place after we had lost in the Champions League and FA Cup and Thierry Henry scored that hat-trick against Liverpool. That was a great moment. And obviously, winning the league at White Hart Lane. Sol certainly enjoyed doing that but it was a great moment to do that because the rivalry was very intense and to win the league there… I’ve never seen a stadium empty so quickly. Which was great (laughs all around).