Should Arsenal sacrifice attractive football for winning trophies?

Trophies or attractive football, surely there can only be one choice?

Arsenal fans have been starved of trophies for some time now and I wonder how much longer it will before they starting winning trophies again.

One game that showed that the Gunners would probably have to wait for a little longer to get back to winning trophies again is their Carabao Cup game against Liverpool.

Liverpool fielded a team of youngsters and it seemed they had done their best for Arsenal to progress, but the Gunners still lost the game.

Sometimes winning trophies come with the price of not playing attractive football, and I do question if Arsenal fans would choose to fill the trophy cabinet over watching beautiful football.

They have been linked with moves for Max Allegri and Marcelino Garcia Toral. These two managers have some reputation in that they have won trophies.

Allegri won five consecutive Italian league titles among others, while Marcelino won the Copa Del Rey with Valencia last season after beating Barcelona in the final.

The former left his job at Juventus after winning a cabinet full of trophies on the back of pragmatic football. He could surely do the same at Arsenal.

Marcelino might also win a trophy or at least help lead Arsenal back into the Champions League, but the Spaniard’s Valencia never played attractive football.

Both of these managers set up their teams to be efficient, but their football is boring. Arsenal fans may have to decide if they want to end their long wait for another major trophy or if they want their team to continue playing attractive football while continuously going trophyless.

For me personally, it has to be trophies. I am fed up with not winning major silverware, it really is that simple.

22 Comments

  1. It has to be trophies. Wenger played
    pretty soccer only to lose repeatedly
    to teams like Stoke City.
    Fans come to see a winning team not to see sexy football only to lose.

      1. Well said!once again Wenger after 22 years at ours/his club has moved on,he,s’got a new job,for once FIFA took the right decision in employing him no matter what his detractors say about him”he has forgotten more about football than they will ever now”πŸ˜„πŸ˜„πŸ˜„do you think he wastes his time thinking about people like, trust me he doesn’t!!,πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚,do something I don,’t know get a life with ArsΓ¨ne not in it!;

    1. You calling it soccer says it all lol!, I bet if we start playing boring park the bus football no one would watch us not even our own fans n on top of that we loose global audience n fan base. Only fans left will be plastic fans like that of Chelsea n City who only tune in to see n celebrate the trophy day. No thanks.

      1. This is how we have been brain washed to thinking attraction football is winning.tell the kid today to support arsenal they will laugh at you.thats the next generation that is sober.winning is trophies not one game and loose next one with so called attractive football

    2. Trophies all day long
      No one remembers teams who play pretty football and win nothing..history tells you that
      Trophies builds confidence
      Confidence allows you to express your self and attractive football follows

      There is not a better feeling in the world then watching your team lift that cup..ok apart from seeing your children born but its damn close to it

  2. Why can’t we do both? If the management, board, and owner did their jobs and fulfilled their responsibilities they would.

    Tired of this be grateful for scraps mentality, this mediocrity forced on us by Kronke. Live up to your obligations or sell the club to those who will.

    Imagine telling the Invincibles to “be patient,” that would get you smashed and sent flying out of the locker room.

    Oh how the mighty have fallen.

    No longer a sleeping giant, just a bloated, lazy, mediocre one.

    1. Perfect answer, let’s start winning games+even though Freddie doesn’t have much time to train with the team and fix problems.,,with winning games confidence will grow,our players more confident will at least try to play better football like the 3 goal in 8 minutes,then with the right selection it will become harder to be beat us but it is going to take some time, for now I,LL take wins,better performances,sweat, giving their whole for 90mns and clean sheets!πŸ‘πŸΌπŸ‘πŸΌπŸ‘πŸΌ

    2. True. And actually if you look at who won the most or the main trophies around Europe in recent years you see that all bar Juventus played attractive football: Man City, Liverpool, Barca, Real, Ajax, PSG, Bayern.

      The main reason is that attractive football usually means more goals. More goals – fewer draws. Juventus who is the exception had the best defenders AND defensive midfielders in the league. in 2019 such approach to winning can only work if you’re Juve in Italy, Bayern in Germany, or PSG in France.

      That’s why even though Arteta is a gamble, those saying Allegri at Arsenal is not are wrong.

  3. Ridiculous and irrelevant article in the actual circumstances specially in these moments when probably after next game we may fighting relegation.Ours worries now should be to get a good coach in place before January for him to get a couple players to fix the back and midfield.Thinking in trophies?.

  4. Playing with style is my preference.
    Top 6 in the league and making it out of the group stage is my expectation.
    Carrabao and the FA Cups are for the U19’s

  5. Winning trophies by playing functional unattractive football is the hallmark of cup team with limited resources, I’m thinking your West Hams, Brightons and the park-the-bus-spoil-their-attack Mourinho style teams.

    This is not the ‘Arsenal way’, if such a term really exists, as it might have done in George Graham era circa 1990.

    The flowing attractive football we have grown accustomed to over the past two decades, is more accurately described as the ‘Arsene way’, or simply :Wengerball’ and we may not see the likes of it again for quite some time yet.

    If you want winning football at any cost, hire someone like Simeone. If, however, you’re someone like me, you’ll appreciate the identity bestowed upon us by one man and feel obliged to preserve it at ANY cost.

    I feel like the board/owners are more interested in profit margins rather than the soul of the club. Why should our American overlords care about a brand they only noticed when it became profitable?

    The fans are being fleeced into paying for mediocrity.

  6. This is a non-topic!

    Serial winners like Barcelona, RM, Manchester City (under Guardiola), Liverpool (under Klopp), Bayern, …etc all play attractive football (albeit different style) AND win trophies! At international level, Brazil is the most successful national team in the history of the World Cup!

    If Arsenal wants to be one of the top teams in the world, we need to play attractive football AND win trophies!

  7. Why must we sacrifice good football for trophies. Football is a and entertainment.
    There’s no harm in playing beautiful football and winning trophies. Barcelona has been playing beautiful football and winning trophies, Brazil plays beautiful football and wins trophies, City plays beautiful football and wins trophies etc Arsenal played beautiful football and won trophies,even the current Liverpool team plays good football.
    We should stop mourning as if beautiful football is inimical to winning trophies. What we need to to is get a coach and the right players that can give us what we want. Every organisation or human being must have an identity and style for which is known for.
    For me beautiful football and trophies. Very possible

  8. Winning with attractive football costs money. The squads you see that win this way usually have unlimited budgets and purchase the most technically gifted players. Do we have the budget that can achieve playing this type of football??? I would prefer to win, which means with our budget having to set up to stifle the opposition on occasions.

  9. False dilemma.
    The Top 4 in the PL at the moment (Liverpool, Leicester, City, Chelsea) all play attractive football. But apart from Chelsea, who has let in 24 goals like us, they are still able to keep their opponents from getting loads of chanves and goals.
    Our main problem is giving away too many chances. This has been the problem for 8-10 years at least. But solving that problem does not have to be at the expense of playing attacking football.

  10. Attractive football?We’re playing crap.
    Straightening Arsenal out needs a clear out for a start plus a manager prepared for a long haul.
    A new chairman would be good start and work downwards as I’m not to sure about their ability going by their last manager choice.All I can see is a hard days night ahead.

  11. Do Liverpool play attractive football? Did ManCity play attractive football when thry won the PL 2 years running? Why should attractive football and winning trophies be mutually exclusive?

  12. Are we playing attractive football now, are we winning now? *NO* is the answer. Were we not playing attractive football and achieved the invincible? The problem started when Kronke & co stepped in and turned the club to selling one, selling off quality players and began to recruit the likes of Sylvester, Squillacci, Chammakh, a retired keeper – Czech, a weakling – Mertsecker, clueless Senderos, Mustafi, etc. After all the likes of R. Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Bayern Munich,even Liverpool, Man. City etc are playing good and sexy football and are winning Trophies, it’s all about the owners, Board and Mgt. and coach/Manager. Are they interested in football, do they have passion for the game of football, or did they invest in order to smile home with at least Β£5mil. at the close of the season? Winning trophies is neither a function of playing beautiful football nor ugly one. Playing Beautiful football and winning trophies is not a function of having unlimited source of fund, Swansea played beautiful football under Brendan Rodgers and won The Carabao cup without having unlimited source of fund and that endered him to Liverpool. Arsenals’ problems are: Wrong person/ownership, corrupt Board who thrives in making wrong decisions or are very very slow in making the right ones. The Manager, Management and Board’s lack of motivation to the quality players we have by recruiting more good ones to compliment their sacrifices on the field, they just sit and watch while things kept going from Bad to worse and lol they ‘ll be feeding the fans with lies. Beautiful or Ugly football, Until they sit up and put their acts properly together, no trophy will grace the Emirates stadium period.

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