The Arsenal team I started supporting under George Graham were never renowned for their entertaining style of play. If anything, the ‘fashionable’ and stylish team in North London were supposedly them lot from up the Seven Sisters. But ask me if I would swap GG’s pragmatism and trophies for Tottenham’s swashbuckling approach

“It is NOT ok to lose” – Homer Simpson

I immediately realise the redundancy of asking the following question to football fans on the internet but has anyone ever played Pro Evo? I’m sure you all have and I’m sure you are all well aware of how competitive the game can get. I always find football games rile me up more than the Street Fighters and Call of Dutys of this world. Like ‘real’ football, there are far more nuances in Pro Evo than your average beat ‘em up or shoot ‘em up which mean that winning feels like having an orgasm in a champagne filled Jacuzzi while losing is as painful as a sandpaper condom.

In typically heated battles against a former good friend of mine, following my usual crotch-thrusting victory dances, he would always try and throw the possession and shots on goal figures at me in some kind of attempt to claim something called ‘the moral victory’. The suggestion that somehow, regardless of the result, he was still better than me by virtue of the fact the stats showed that he played better. Such talk ceased after I flipped and bludgeoned him to death with a Playstation 2 control pad before burying his body under the patio…

The question of whether one would rather play better or win reared it’s head a couple of days ago as I questioned Mean Lean’s assertion that he would rather Arsenal finish second playing great football (thus attaining the moral victory) than win the title playing in a far more ugly manner not unlike the Stoke City urban assault team.

A noble sentiment no doubt. As gooners (and football fans in general) we all love to watch free-flowing ‘pure’ football with all kinds of flicks, tricks and demonstrations of real skill and ability from the players. When we pay for tickets, Sky TV and pint upon pint of match day Kronenburg in the pub, we want to know that we are getting value for money in the form of entertainment.

All that said, there is absolutely no way that I would personally ever take entertainment in place of winning.

In the comments, I stressed the importance of winning and why I felt that if you aren’t playing to win, what’s the point of being there at all? Entertainment is important but if that’s you’re primary aim for going to football, wouldn’t you be better served watching a film or going to the theatre?

The Arsenal team I started supporting under George Graham were never renowned for their entertaining style of play. If anything, the ‘fashionable’ and stylish team in North London were supposedly them lot from up the Seven Sisters. But ask me if I would swap GG’s pragmatism and trophies for Tottenham’s swashbuckling approach and finishing every season empty handed and I would still be laughing in your face now. Loudly, very, very loudly!

1-0 to the Arsenal

Staying with the Spuds, most neutrals will tell you that one of the most entertaining football matches in recent years was the still eye-gougingly painful 4-4 draw at the Emirates. I don’t know about the rest of you but I would take dull uneventful 1-0 wins every day rather than ever have to go through that ever again. Saying that, I’d rather drink a cocktail of molten lava and sulphuric acid than go through that again…

When you win, you can bemoan the performance all you want but getting those three points (or progress in cup competition) should always be the most important thing at the end of the day.

Interestingly, Arsenal’s last trophy was procured after showing up at the Millennium stadium with the strict mentality of simply avoiding defeat. How many people were complaining about lack of entertainment and not playing well when Paddy et al were dancing around with the 2005 FA Cup? Not many I’d bet.

Happy Days!

Don’t get me wrong. This is far from an attack on attacking, positive play. If it gets the required result then that’s a bonus. Playing well and winning is what we all want but if it has to be one or the other, I always feel the emphasis should be on the result first.

Away from Arsenal, Relegation specialists West Brom are always quick to point out how they like to play football the so-called right way but I’m pretty sure it’s the fans of the abovementioned Stoke City who have cemented their place in the top flight that are the more satisfied with their team’s progress in recent years.

The great Dutch team of the 70’s never had anything to show for their ‘Total Football’ while their more conservative German neighbours have had no end of success.

In Spain, you have a team like Real Madrid who ludicrously sacked Fabio Capello in 2007 despite winning the club its first league title in four years because he had the nerve to adopt a more conservative approach. As a result, you have a club so hell-bent on playing ‘good’ football, that their often desperate attempts of achieving it have almost made them somewhat of a laughing stock.

So, is playing well really more important than winning? Well, you wouldn’t be happy if you had a Ferrari without an engine, you wouldn’t be happy if you were dating Christina Hendricks and she refused to put out and ultimately, you wouldn’t be happy with a football team that can’t convert amazing football into success.

Discuss.

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