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When winning isn’t everything

On Tuesday night, an Arsenal side with an average age of just 18.6 gave a footballing master-class to an all-but-Emile Heskey strength Wigan side. The game was won 3-0 and could have been easily more, were it not for the heroics of goalkeeper Chris Kirkland. The passing football was sumptuous, the first touch, pace and sheer audacity just breathtaking; a joy to behold for Arsenal fans and neutrals alike. The subsequent press is full of drooling eulogies far longer than this one, declaring this to be the perfect exhibition of ‘The Beautiful Game’.

Beautiful indeed and few, if any, of the reactions to Tuesday’s game were overstated or unjustified. Yet is beauty alone really sufficient? This particular game resulted in victory, but the club as a whole are trophy-less since 2005. Arsenal, and their pioneering manger Arsene Wenger, have been accused countless times of trying to be too pretty, of being unable to match class with consistency, rave reviews with results. The question is, gorgeous as such football proposed by Arsenal often is, is it worth it at the expense of success?

Too often, sides that strive for the ultimate footballing purity are out-done by those favouring pragmatism. One of the greatest victims of such a clash is the Dutch World Cup side of 1974. This side was the ultimate exponent of ‘Total Football’, a philosophy demanding extreme technique, fluidity and talent. Led by the magnificent Johann Cruyff, the Dutch obliterated Argentina, East Germany and Brazil on their way to a final date with the efficient behemoth that was the West Germany side. Typically, the efficiency outdid the excellence, and despite a magnificent Dutch opening goal the Germans showed their steel to win the game 2-1. The Dutch went home with the plaudits, but it was the Germans that took the prize.

Indeed, what is the purpose of playing sport, especially professional sport, if not to win? Ask any Chelsea fan if they would take back Mourinho’s years of pragmatic dominance to be where Arsenal are now, the response is likely to be incredulous. In fact forget the fans, midfielder Michael Essien himself said this week, “Everybody likes to watch beautiful football, but to play beautiful football without points is… I don’t think it’s worth it. Arsenal is one of those teams that just plays beautiful football, but at the end of the day they don’t get the points that they want to”

Crucially sport is about results, results gained by any means necessary. Just look at the record of Italy and Germany; four and three world cup victories respectively, with each won with brutal efficiency, matching clinical finishing with watertight defending. Much as it pains me, I would rather have been one of the delighted Italians partying through the night after victory in 2006 than a dejected Brazilian contemplating a journey home halfway round the globe after a weak quarter final exit. Nothing, not even the most seductive of pretty football, beats the thrill of victory.

Yet in all sports the best praise, the highest platforms of greatness, are reserved for those that can deliver both. Nothing is more satisfying, nor more enjoyable than watching the outrageously talented perform to their optimum. What better than Brazil at their show-boating best, the All Blacks flowing at full speed, or Roger Federer stroking another ball into the far corner? It is here that sport can be so exciting, so thrilling, that its memories live on far past the original game and propel themselves into folklore.

Sure, Liverpool’s recent victory over Chelsea will be rightly regarded as a tactical masterpiece, but it’s that and nothing more. It ticks one box, and so while it might well be crucial in this year’s title race it’s hardly going to be remembered. Yet put one of those classic sides together, the type that mix superb football with great results, and that’s when they can guarantee a place in the record books: think Arsenal’s ‘invincibles’ in 2004, the treble winning Man United side in 1999. Those are the sort of teams which will really be remembered as great; and not just by their own fans. Win dirty, and a side will always be treated begrudgingly; win beautifully and everyone from the fans, to the press, to your own worst enemies will be singing your praises from the rooftops.

The sort of greatness we are here referring to is that achieved consistently over time. Take Gascoigne, or even George Best. These are the individual reflection of what Arsenal seem to have been in the last couple of years. Nearly great, but not quite; have the potential but choke short of success. No amount of audacious flicks and tricks can match up to those which really make the grade. Think Pele, think Maradona, think Zidane. These are the individuals which mix the game at its best with the ability to produce it when it matters time after time.

Still, why bother eh? What are the chances of being able to be both brilliant and brutal? Well, slim maybe but by no means impossible, especially for those at the peak of their sport. Every sportsman wants to go down in history for being both brilliant and successful, and as long as the two can feasibly be achieved side by side I would commend anyone who aims so high. Little in sport gives such satisfaction as victory, but victory in style, victory deserved, feels all the better.

Every time the new set of Wenger’s young starlets emerges, the praise hits the roof. This side they say is his best youth crop yet, and few who watched Tuesday night’s game will argue otherwise. Yet the Beautiful Game is only worth it if it brings beautiful results. Half-baked flair is as pointless as the term suggests. Every single sports fan loves beauty in the game, can sit for hours watching the greats do their stuff, but it must be fulfilled. There is no way that this author would recommend its abandonment, that’s not what sport is about. Yet as far as Arsenal are concerned it’s time to start delivering, or be consigned to the scrap pile of history along with all those who manage either beauty or success, but not both.

 

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