h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As well as moaning about the sun getting his players' eyes, Arsene Wenger has been complaining about the way Everton played against them on Saturday

""You cannot say it was real football, they (Everton) refused to play in the right way. But they were efficient and when they went ahead it convinced them even more that they were doing the right thing."

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/060121/1/geny.html

I watched this game in the pub (not the best vantage point I admit), and although Everton were more 'dogs of war' than 'school of science', I'm puzzled by this remark. Maybe it's because I was a defender when I used to play footie, but for me there's as much joy in a hard, crunching, fair tackle as there is in fancy footwork or stepovers. Isn't tackling, harrying, closing down, diving in for interceptions part of 'real' football too? The guile of anticipating a pass and scrambling for an interception, the energy and enthusiasm to chase every ball, to close down every opponent is all a part of the beatiful game for me.

But for Mr Wenger, who seems to be turning into Ferguson at the moment, it obviously isn't.

arsène turning into ferguson... yes, i've noticed it too. i think blighty's getting to him finally, he's lost his panache!

Well mayhap he should buy some players who dont mind a battle cause it seems to me it is pretty obvious how to play agianst Arsenal now....

Personally I think that when Vierra went they lost the man who gave them bite on the pitch - nobody accused him of shirking a challenge. The rest are ~ well French really.

Mckay, are you after a job on the Daily Mail? Why don't you just call 'em 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys' and have done with it?

Funny that the Everton match had (probably) the lowest number of French players starting the match for Arsenal in ages (only Thierry and Pires?).

Maybe letting Vieira go was an attempt by Arsene to get the card count down even further?

Obviously 'real' football requires the weaker team on paper to lose to the stronger team in a pale imitation of the stronger team's style, thus removing all spontaneity as Chelsea romp home with the title and Sunderland beat their own record for least points.

Oh.

Wait a minute...

Still who of us here when approaching a game as ostensibly a neutral likes "rough and ready" long ball football over the brand that Aresenal in their pomp play?

I know I for one would rather watch Arsenal style footy than Everton style footy.

I'd love to see a team playing Everton-style footy stick it up Real Madrid.

Or Milan.

you'd have to catch them first!

I don't care what I watch as long as Arsenal lose.

I like seeing an underdog win as much as the next guy. I almost always cheer when it happens (as I did when verton beat Arsenal) but the point I am making is that Arsenal really do play a much more attractive brand of football than everton.

As an relativly neutral fan when it comes to top flight football I would like to see more teams playing the type of football that Arsenal do than teams playing the way Everton do.

David Moyes has done very well with Everton and the 4-5-1 formation he poularised in his first "good" season has IMHO made the premiership much less fun to watch.

La Liga consitantly entertains me much more (but probably because I dont see so many "middle tier" games.

I'm becoming enamoured of the gritty football in The Championship, there's everything to play for from day one, though alas, even here we are seeing teams buying their way to the top of the league.

Yeah, but it's not working too well....

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