Arsenal 3rd-best team in 2000s as FourFourTwo do the maths
The Premier League made its step-up to become world's most popular in the 90s, which meant even team not considered top were able to attract a high calibre of foreign players.
That meant a changing landscape for the league, as Liverpool's 80's dominance faded, replaced by the duopoly of Arsenal and Man United. A duopoly that persisted until the mid-2000s - when Chelsea changed the picture again with a cash-rich owner.
FourFourTwo went ahead and looked at the teams' total points' tally for the noughties, just to see how much that change ris reflected in the clubs' success.
And sure enough, Chelsea's 3 titles and no finishes below 3rd between 2004 and 2009 were enough to catapult them into second, ahead of Arsenal, if only by two points (773 vs 771).
The fact Arsenal managed to nearly remain second despite no longer fighting for the league since 2006 is a testament to Arsene Wenger's consistency - whose Arsenal never finished below 4th during that period and amassed fewer than 70 points on only two occasions.
We are of course a bit sad the double-winning 2002 side and the Invincibles were not enough to stay ahead of Chelsea but we guess that get FourFourTwo's point across: a sugar daddy owner for Chelsea did change the rules of the game.
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