Book Review – Invincible – Amy Lawrence
Oct 23rd, 2014 by 'holic
Football books sell. It is why we have such a choice of Arsenal titles in recent months. Books about your favourite clubs, players even, have a magnetic attraction. More people, it seems, write about the Arsenal than any other club and so there should be no surprise at the number of books about the Gunners that have hit the shelves in recent months. There have been some crackers too, from Arseblog’s Together through to Dave Seager’s much anticipated Geordie Armstrong On The Wing in tandem with Geordie’s daughter, Jill.
The former is a celebration of Arsenal’s undefeated Premier League season from the supporters viewpoint, and today (Thursday as I write) saw the release of Amy Lawrence’s excellent view of that same historic campaign through the eyes of those who planned, directed, and delivered an unequalled achievement in modern football at the highest level.
In fourteen gripping chapters Invincible, well what else would you call it, relives an historic season through interviews, match reports of the day, and a subtle guiding hand from the rather less than impartial, but always objective, Amy. Her access to the characters involved enables this season to be relived by those of us fortunate to have witnessed it, but reveals the things we didn’t know, or have since forgotten.
The perfect foreword is provided by Arsene Wenger. Under pressure, certainly, at present, but the man who put together the squad that would fulfil what seemed an absurd target.
“I knew I had a special team in 2003-04 at Arsenal. It had always been my dream to go through a season without losing, even though it is not a normal ambition.”
And so to part one of the book, although the temptation to jump to and fro to capture special memories is great. I wanted to get to Liverpool at home and Totttenham away as soon as possible. Try instead though to follow it as written because the introductory chapter introduces the rivalry that existed between Manchester United and us, and puts into context that infamous Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty miss, and the subsequent events. Read Martin Keown proclaiming himself as Patrick Vieira’s minder. That speaks volumes about Martin, and the sheer physical presence of that team. This is not a strictly chronological account, but a well constructed appreciation of the characters and events that impacted so many of us for life.
Again by means of setting the scene David Dein waxes lyrical about the decision, not taken when George Graham left in 1995 but when his successor Bruce Rioch departed little more than a year later, to appoint Arsene Wenger to the post of Arsenal manager. Regardless of what has happened since, Dein’s recollections and his role in the appointment warrant an acknowledgement of his vision at that time.
The characters introduced, and the context set, let yourself follow the unfolding drama through the words of Sol Campbell (re Thierry Henry) “He was very delicate sometimes, like an artist. I’m sure he would be like some kind of Picasso.” Or perhaps Freddie Ljungberg, “I didn’t understand a word Ray Parlour in his cockney accent was trying to say when I first got there, but I learned, because everybody tried to interact with each other in their language.”
Before long you will find yourself at the pivotal part of the season, and the author rebuilds the feelings when successive cup defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea were followed by a half-time deficit to Liverpool in the Premier League. No quotes about this, you will have to buy the book, but I feel a chill down my spine one more time. Will anybody who witnessed the events of that week ever forget what was arguably Thierry’s finest half in an Arsenal shirt?
I cautioned against jumping ahead of yourself earlier, but if you cannot resist then you might care to read the early chapters and then leapfrog to chapter ten. Here the capture of the ultimate prize in English football is also set in context. Be prepared to join Pat Rice on a journey from 1971 to 2004. For this old boy it evokes wonderful memories of a night spent on the Shelf watching us secure the title for the first time in my life. Who then would have dared to dream we would repeat the achievement?
And that is the essence of the book. No matter your age in 2004, prepare to have deep rooted memories brought back to the forefront of the mind. I sat reading my idols words as they would have spoken them. Skillfully strung together, and still provoking the odd emotion that no man should admit to.
If you were there in 71 and/or 2004, buy the book. If only now do you appreciate that we probably had four of the six best payers on the planet back then, buy the book and read their words. Let me make it simple. If you are an Arsenal supporter, buy the book.
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Thanks all. Sunderland preview to follow on Friday. Have a good end of week, ‘holics.
42 Responses to “Book Review – Invincible – Amy Lawrence”
Amy has come far since her days writing for the Gooner. Mrs TTG had put it on my Christmas list if I am a good boy
You will point her in the direction of the subtly placed Amazon ad in the sidebar Ttg? ;-
Very nice review ‘holic 🙂
It may be 2 in 2 for an Arsenal related book being requested as a Christmas present from an elder sister… 😛
Go for it Wind. Great to see you last Saturday, You’re looking well.
Interesting from the BFG:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/23/per-mertesacker-arsenal-confidence-low
Most intriguing statement: “We came back [to win] …. There was a bit of belief but not THAT belief.”
And…
“Football-wise, we lack a few things….The passing game is not as efficient as last year. We are not at our best, we have to admit that. We have to be honest to ourselves and train harder.
“Again, it is away from home on Saturday and again, I think we have to do better with our possession – to put more pressure on them, not to lose so many balls in the middle of the park, to play more in wide areas. I think it is better to expose them there, instead of playing one-twos through the middle. It doesn’t work as much as last season, so we have to work on that.”
Cheers H.
I will be asking my younger sister for my copy. She did oblige with God’s effort last year but I may not have been such a good boy this year. Fingers crossed.
Dear ‘Holic,
What lovely words. Thank you very much for my first proper review and I couldn’t have wished for anything nicer.
You are a gent!
Have a good evening all at this bar.
Told it as I saw it Amy. Thank you for bringing it back to life.
Holic, how can I get this book on this side of the pond. (US)
Holic
She will be drawn to it as a magnet!
Thanks Holic a really interesting post Maestro!
Will definitely have a get a copy of this one.
SAG, it should be available via the Penguin group in the USA…
SAG: See http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_1_7?k=amy+lawrence+invincible&sprefix=amy+law
Tip-top preview guvna of a must read book. On my list also. Cheers.
SAG: Kindle edition available from amazon.com, too.
Cheers Maestro, I can only return the compliment! 🙂 Always a pleasure to see you on a matchday.
Holic, NBN, and the Doc thanks. Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Never mind being a good boy whatever that entails, Ttg, my advice to you is to give the book to your wife as a Christmas present. Or at least threaten to if she doesn’t buy it for you.
I am between wives currently (no, I don’t mean a threesome), but if I had one she’d be getting a Vinturi Wine Aerator … http://www.vinturi.com/
Öskar
Great Effort Amy! Can’t wait to get my hands on this! Nice review ‘holic.
The good old days! A time when “men were men” and ticky-tacky was just that, “tacky”! Up the Arse!
I’d like to buy the book but I can’t read. 🙂
Any pictures?
Here you go Cynic. Enjoy!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S_07W3C4tSw#
An unrelated, well maybe not, question to those who would know: looking at her author’s page in Amazon I see that a critical study of Peter Greenaway films, a Montgomery Clift biography and a feminist analysis of early Hollywood era is also listed under “Amy Lawrence”. Is it the same author?
If it is indeed the same writer then that is an impressive range.
I will pass around the link to “Invincibles” to some devout football fans — but not Arsenal followers — as well.
A collection of great goals from the Wenger era:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vSA40QntQI .
Even just by looking at the highlights of the goal the changes in our approaches and styles over the different phases of Arsenal under Arsene is quite noticeable. While the memorable goals from the earlier golden era highlight a superior physicality, individual technical flawlessness & audacity and breathtaking simplicity, the more memorable goals from the later years have some remarkably intricate compositions.
Certain patterns of goals reappear across players who are otherwise dissimilar: both Kanu and Arshavin had the penchant for the sly and the devilishly inventive. Henry and Cesc as players are dissimilar in most respects but many of Cesc’s better goals carry with them the echo of Henry’s strikes.
The few of Bergkamp’s gems included in this collection demonstrate how utterly, incomparably, mystifyingly original he was as a player. It was as if he was playing a different game in those moments, beautifully simple in its own way but borrowed from a different culture, contrasting spectacularly with whatever else was happening around him in those moments.
Thanks for the review Holic, and also – keep up the good work Amy! I enjoy reading your work on the Guardian website and the Beeb!
I read far less than I would like to (I just never seem to get round to just lying on my back on the sofa reading a book for some reason) but this is one I have to read. I’d only been following Arsenal more seriously for a few years at the time and I have no problem in admitting that I didn’t appreciate the achievement enough at the time. It was more like “well, time to switch on the telly and see how much we win by today” – if the match was even on the telly, that is. This was of course before streaming had become commonplace and the TV coverage hadn’t yet exploded so far from all games were on and sometimes they would only show the second half if it clashed with a domestic ice hockey game! The CL wasn’t as widely broadcast either, with only one game per night being shown and for some nights no games at all. For example, as I recall it I never saw the Chelsea CL loss because it simply wasn’t aired here, which in a way was quite lucky as not having seen the game makes the loss a bit less painful. To this day I can’t recall having seen Chelsea’s goals in that match; I’ve only seen the Reyes one. Or maybe I’ve just blocked them out. I mean we let fucking Wayne Bridge score and that’s not something you’d want to remember, is it…
Lets leave yester-year behind us for one moment, as it is utterly depressing to think of the side from 10 years ago and then ‘compare’ it to the shambled version that is today’s mob. Anyone who takes encouragement from the horrendous display in Belgium must drink from the same cup as Wenger. Holic, for all your optimism, no matter that Arsenal snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, the inept performance was still humiliating, no matter the final scoreline. We played a side far worse than even Celtic have been over the years in the ECL and only a complete fluke of a turnaround prevented us from losing. Wengerball is failing beyond all recognition. The irony of the huge transfer outlay of the summer has merely resulted in the most disjointed Arsenal side in living memory should not be lost, one that is too overloaded with some majestic creative attacking personnel, but is totally devoid of sufficient defensive ranks. Take the talents of Sanchez and Welbeck out of this side and I dread to think what a perilous state Wenger’s empire might be in. Arsenal are on the brink of a crisis, finishing third or fourth seems a distant dream on current evidence; Sanchez must be thinking ‘I swapped Barca for this this lot…what have I done!’
ttg, my belated condolences mate.
Interesting sounding book, H. Must check it out.
Read the first four chapters of Invincible last night, covering AW’s arrival at the club and the assembly of his early era winning teams. Hearing it through the voices of the players involved really makes it feel like you are getting the inside view, and provides a reminder of how little we on the outside know at the time of what is really going on inside the club. Top reportage.
Doctor Faustus@23, watching that video I noticed that the first 10 goals (50-40) was scored from distance. As in players were actually shooting. Not all this tiki taka stuff going on right now. Wenger might need to show them this clip too, and let them know that you don’t have to play one zillion passes before you score a goal.
@David, I hear bro, but sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy those years, and really see why we love this club so much. And at the same time wonder what is going on with this legend of a man that brought us all those happy memories. I really hope he can get it together, I highly doubt it.
Holic – thanks for the review. Your comments combined with Ned’s take on the first four chapters means that I’ll certainly be adding this one to the library.
For what its worth – and just to embellish some of the points made so cogently by Holic, Trev, Esso, Bath, Ttg & co – Stillmans weekly slot in Arseblog is a must. I must admit, when I read the comments from the AGM saying that the 3% rise in ticket prices was due to “demand exceeding supply” my lower jaw hit the floor. Furthermore, the utterly paltry, vague and downright inexcusable explanation offered by “Sir Chips” for essential services by Stan Kronke to merit a £3m fee (so essential, as Stillman notes, that they couldn’t bother their arse explaining what they were) that the phrase “let them eat cake” was the on that immediately came to my mind. Anyways, its all here:
http://arseblog.com/2014/10/let-them-eat-chips/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arseblog+%28Arseblog+-+It%27s+fucking%27+excellent+-+an+Arsenal+blog%29
Joe @31, That is an excellent piece by Tim.
A lot of us are wrestling with his question:
“Do I prance out or wait until I am priced out?”
Only a matter of time. Will the money men or the antipathy win the race?
Joe and bath, gentlemen both. I was close to making that call this season. Only the fact that my excellent seat was available for one last season of lease swayed me. It will be cheaper getting individual tickets for the must see games on my silver than forking out ever greater sums just to line Stan’s pocket. Then I will take in a few more aways, assuming the friendly fire witnessed of late doesn’t escalate. Arsenal will get less of my money, but they will always have all of my footballing heart.
Many thanks H2H, wind and others for your kindness.
Joe,
I have always been uncomfortable with Kroenke as owner since I spoke to an American friend of mine who described him to me as ‘a mediocre sporting entrepreneur’. He hastened to add not mediocre in business terms but in terms of the quality of his franchises. He didn’t know much about football but knew Arsenal was a big establishment club and Kroenke was a mid-table operator.
My first entry on this board was to talk about the relative attractions of Usmanov and Kroenke and a couple of people jumped on me because they thought I was espousing Usmanov’s cause. I wasn’t at all although I didn’t make that very clear. I was saying that if you have two unsatisfactory owners you best opt for the one who will make the club most successful. Frankly it is impossible to criticise Chelsea if you then leap into the arms of Usmanov but at that time Kroenke seemed to be seen by several on this board as a much more benign option. He might be more benign than the Glazers but the attitude of this Board is becoming a real turn-off to the genuine fanbase, not the corporate box-holders who don’t know which team is playing in red.
And here Wenger comes in. Kroenke loves Wenger because he operates so efficiently and with such transparent honesty that he is a perfect front for people who are economical with their long-term intentions. Whatever criticisms you may have of Wenger he deserves infinitely more than being a fall guy for a mediocre American sports tycoon and his acolytes. Wenger is much more important and classy than that but he must be careful that the lack of interference he has with his plans isn’t part of a strategy to use him to draw fire from the board or ensure enough success(at a healthy profit)to enable them to point to their regime as a positive era in the club’s history. Very few quality managers are likely to be so undemanding of the board and comfortable about working within financial parameters other mega names would not tolerate.
Sadly it is becoming so ridiculously expensive to follow Arsenal that many people who can still afford it (including me) are wondering how much longer that will be the case. Ultimately the thing that would really hurt is if supporters are regarded as an open wallet. I think that may just be happening
It’s a wonder you survived that drink, ttg. Thank goodness for all of us that you did. 🙂
TTG @ 34: Excellent post! A question for you: where do you think the Arsenal ownership is most likely heading to? Assuming — and I guess many agree with this assumption — that the current owner is not at all a football man, let alone be an Arsenal man, and is not here for the long haul.
My wild guess is that with some more financial success and the odd trophy thrown in here and there and thereby increasing both the commercial prospects as well as footballing appeal of the club he would sell the club to the highest bidder making a hefty profit in the process.
Who would buy? Maybe someone from that part of the world where the super-rich already own just way too many football clubs around Europe’s top leagues? Where we are going to have World Cup in the Winter soon, (turning blind eye to the labor exploitation used to build the infrastructure) where even Arsene is close to some conglomerate.
Football-wise we would probably be much happier with a Man City like “invest for glory” ownership, but I wonder how we would rationalize the moral ambiguity or such a scenario and whether we would remember these times of uprightness where we can legitimately express our disgust about the owners of a Chelsea or a Man City.
One just have to take a look at the sports franchises he owns here in the States to actually see what kind of owner the guy is. I don’t think any of his franchises have ever won a thing. I might be wrong, don’t know if he owned Tampa bay when they won the championship in 2003.(NFL). He owns Denver nuggets (NBA) and they are mid table team. Also a Hockey team can’t remember the name, but as an owner he really don’t care much about winning or the fans. I don’t know where we will end up in the long run, but recent signs showing that it won’t be good ending for the fans. He owns a soccer team here too, well that’s what we call football here in the States, crazy I know.
Dr. F
My American friend tells me Kroenke has never sold anything he has acquired in the sporting field so that suggests he might want to build Arsenal up . I think and no offence at all intended to our American posters he really likes the idea of owning a blue chip British sporting institution. Arsenal is a classy franchise. ( ugh!)
If he did sell there is an obvious buyer- Usmanov- and such is the enmity between them that Kroenke is likely to resist this but if Usmanov’s price is high enough that may change. Otherwise I don’t expect there to be any shortage of bidders. It is already a very big name, we have a great infrastructure and although there is work to be done on the commercial side the growth of effective tiddlers like Chelsea and Citeh shows what is possible if the cash engine gets rolling. It’s a sad prospect if you want the club to be the repository of traditional values but there will be many who want trophies at any cost and goodness knows who might buy. But I don’t see Kroenke as a seller in the short to medium term unless his health or personal circumstances change
SAG
Didn’t the Colorado Rapids win the MLS a few years ago?
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TTG @ 38: Thanks. I agree the appeal of owning a classy, highly visible European outfit with tremendous global following should not be underestimated. And most likely you are right that the ownership wouldn’t be changed in the short or medium term.
I don’t mean this as a disrespect or sarcasm but I am genuinely not sure what “traditional values” might be except for that of self-sufficiency and maybe less unethical than the rest. But even there have Arsenal always followed a single theme or is our history too — like every other institution’s — a fractured and fractalized collection of many narratives, sometimes in opposition with one another?
If one day the stewardship of the club moves into the hands of less scrupulous (or to qualify it more accurately, people who wouldn’t let ethical concerns get in the way of ‘winning’ ambitions) individuals and groups and the ownership changes hands to someone who is willing to play that game (a la Man City) how would the future Arsenal supporters look back at this time? With fond remembrance of a more morally palatable age gone by or marvel at how naive we used to be? Can anyone know?
Because our personal relationship to the club is so intimately ritualistic, and hence so sacred, we tend to overlook the seamy underbelly of the entire capitalistic apparatus in which the functioning of the club is embedded.
The whole raising ticket price and dividend-by-some-other-name are troubling trends indeed looking at it from the perspective of our personal relationship with the club, but looking globally at how the world (and especially big businesses) conducts itself I wonder what else we could have expected!
Ttg, I really don’t know. They probably did, I would have to google that.