Parlour hails the Wenger effect

Ray Parlour believes Arsene Wenger has taken Arsenal “100 years forward” as he hailed the current side as the best team he had ever played in.

George Graham may have guided Arsenal to league triumphs in 1989 and 1991 but they were still known as “boring”, while the club fell out of the title picture under Bruce Rioch and Stewart Houston.

Wenger nevertheless effected a complete transformation in the club’s fortunes, with a new regime, training ground and style of play, earning them a measure of nationwide respect.

Having arrived at Highbury in September 1996, the Frenchman won the Premiership and FA Cup double in his first full season in charge in 1998, and then repeated the feat in 2002.

Now, having won a third title, they stand on the verge of achieving the monumental feat of going through an entire league season unbeaten.

Parlour, who joined Arsenal as a trainee in 1989, declared: “The club has changed massively since I first came here.

“In fact, it’s probably come about 100 years forward. We were challenging for sixth place every season and, if we got into the cup final, then great.

“But the expectations are really high now. We expect to be up there every season and challenging for the Champions League.

“The training ground has changed and the whole atmosphere has changed. It’s great to see.”

With a new 60,000-capacity ground also set to follow by 2006, Arsenal are now poised to take the next step as they aim to match Manchester United in financial potential.

Transfer budgets remain relatively restricted, but Jose Reyes’ signing proved the club’s ambition.

When asked if this is the best Arsenal squad that he had played in, Parlour responded: “Yes, I think so.

“1998 was a special year as well as we had just 15 or 16 players who played about 35 games. We won the double and that was the change when we were thought we were good enough to do it.

“Ever since then, we’ve been challenging for the title or the FA Cup.”

Parlour won his third Premiership title this season, but admits that completing an entire league season unbeaten would eclipse any of his other achievements.

“If you can make history, it would be very hard to beat that. It would be a long time until someone did that again – and I might not be alive!” he remarked.

Arsenal are now just one game away from achieving that feat, with Leicester barring their path to potential sporting “immortality” at Highbury next weekend.

“It would be great if we could do that but we can’t say that we’ve done it yet as we’ve still got to get through 90 minutes against Leicester,” Parlour insisted.

“I think the lads know what it would mean though. I’ve known football a long time and there’s no team that has got close really.

“To be unbeaten with one game left at home to Leicester is unbelievable.

“It’s never been done before and it would be very difficult to do it again as it’s such a long, hard season. People don’t realise how hard it is.

“You’re playing three games a week at Christmas and sooner or later, you’re going to get a bit of bad luck or key men are going to get injured or suspended.

“But this shows our squad is big enough. It’s not massive but we’ve been lucky not to have major injuries and it’s been a great season for the whole squad, not just for 11 players.”

Parlour believes there is no reason why Arsenal cannot now go on to dominate the domestic game, starting with their first back-to-back triumph since the 1930s.

“The players are still young enough and hungry enough. The team is full of winners and people don’t settle for anything less,” he stressed.

“You get into the good habit of winning and, while it’s there, you’ve got every chance of carrying on winning.”

That attitude was exemplified by captain Patrick Vieira, who may have just cracked a rib but still played in his side’s 1-0 win against Fulham after a pain-killing injection.

Parlour concluded: “Patrick had a small accident in training but wanted to play and that shows the desire at this club. He’s the skipper and takes this unbeaten record seriously – as we all do.”