Dies Ist Meine Box

The most striking component of the Invincibles side [no pun intended] was their collective attacking ability, representing the epitome of Arsene Wenger’s footballing philosophy: score first and ask questions later. Although not quite held to the same high regard, there was a much-vaunted resilience in that Arsenal team that became a hallmark as well. While Wenger has managed to achieve some similarly breathtaking attacking play since then, we have all witnessed a massive decline in that latter quality.

There is an all too familiar scenario: a tough road trip after a grueling run of games against the likes of United, Chelsea, and Liverpool, traveling ‘up norf’ to play on a less than ideal pitch, towards the end of a long and difficult season. It is the kind of cocktail that would mean almost certain defeat to recent squads. In 2004, it was the kind of game that threatened the unbeaten run.

 At St. James' Park, Arsenal faced a Newcastle side knocking on the Champions League door, just two days after we faced Liverpool. In that match we relied upon our talisman to get over the line and to right a wobbling ship that had just exited two competitions in almost as many matches. This time, the result largely lay in the hands of our goalkeeper.

Very early in the match Alan Shearer found space down our left side and played an inviting cross to Craig Bellamy, who redirected a back-heel flick about a foot inside the near upright, destined for the back of the net. Tracking the direction of the cross, Jens Lehmann took a small hop to his right towards the back post, anticipating a glancing touch from the Welshman. Quick, perfect footwork got Mad Jens in position to leap back to his left and make a truly stunning one-handed save after spotting Bellamy’s tricky shot.

There may be some very reasonable debate as to whether we would have recovered a 1-0 deficit after 17 minutes. While Wenger maintained afterwards that the physical exertions of playing four matches in just nine days were not affecting his side, it is more than realistic to suggest that a second comeback against a team aiming for Europe, away from home against a vocal home support on a bumpy pitch, just might not come off.

Thanks to Lehmann, we never had to play out that alternate reality. It was a massive, massive save. I especially enjoyed how Jens slowly and deliberately got back to his feet like it was nothing out of the ordinary. On that occasion and many others like it, the NY Gooners took particular pride in singing our favorite chant for our mental German shot-stopper, to the tune of The Gap Band’s “Oops Upside Your Head”.

Dies Ist Meine Box!

Say Dies Ist Meine Box!

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