Where would you rank Arsenal on a list of Most Entertaining Teams?

How Entertaining Are Arsenal Compared To The Rest? By Dan

Even when Mikel Arteta was struggling before Christmas, I was never a Gooner who wished for a change of manager and I still don’t.

I equally don’t look at things as black and white whether we win or not. Even with us on a 5-match unbeaten run I am not enjoying our style of Football.

For the majority of my life I grew up with Arsenal having a reputation as being one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the country. Even when things were not going well and we were not winning anything, you could always rely on us to make chances.

For a long time it’s been quite sad watching Arsenal for the last couple of years.

Unai Emery never had an ethos, while it seemed Arteta’s first priority was to organise the defence. The Spaniard showed great man-management to get the squad to believe in his own principles.

I will admit that by now I thought a man mentored by Pep Guardiola would have us playing more attractive football. While I want him to succeed, I am losing faith. Don’t confuse that with me not wanting our boss to succeed. I’m desperate for that to happen, I just can’t ignore what I’m watching.

It got me and my brothers debating just how far have we fallen?

Where we were once a side where even rival fans would admit that we played the game the right way, where would you now rank us compared to the other 19 teams in the Premiership?

Put your positioning in the comments

Key
ME – more entertaining than us

LE – less entertaining then us

Man United
For a long time Ole has struggled to have an obvious ethos or even know what his best 11 looks like. Even though they are too I wouldn’t say they are entertaining to watch but better than us. ME

Leicester
I find Leicester one dimensional. Effective yet one dimensional. They still prefer to knock the ball over the top for Vardy to run onto and hit on the counter. That’s why Vardy never wanted to join us all those years ago, the Foxes build everything around him.
LE

Liverpool
Klopp has changed the concept of the modern full back, with that being crucial to Liverpool’s success. Has also trained his players to press high and win back possession instantly. Many are now copying the model.
ME

Man City
Pep’s attention to detail is almost obsessive. He is responsible for clubs getting their keepers to pass out from the back. Not as clinical in possession or in the final third as previous years, but still on their day the most entertaining team to watch.
ME

Everton
Hard not to compare Arteta’s year with Ancelotti given that they started their jobs at the same time. The Toffee’s manager has had better recruitment and more of a clear ethos.
ME

Spurs
Should be entertaining with the players they have but are managed by Jose Mourinho!
LE

Chelsea
Even when at Derby, Frank Lampard clearly wants to play an entertaining style of play and has put his faith in youngsters who will only get better.
ME

Saints
Copied a high pressing/high line style that seems to be all the rage, and they do it well.
ME

West Ham
As much as David Moyes claims this is a ‘new West Ham’, I find them quite dull to watch. A few bad results and fans will be complaining they want football the ‘West Ham way’.
LE

Aston Villa
Have a couple of flair players with the likes of Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley, the type of number 10 we could do with. A one man team though
LE

Leeds
There’s been a media love-in from the moment Bielsa arrived in England, with it seeming that only recently the press have questioned how great his attacking style is if you can’t find the balance with defending. My personal theory is there is no art in only attacking, and defending is just as important.
LE

Palace
They are great in their simplicity, and have an experienced defence who get the ball forward as quick as possible to their pacey forwards, but…
LE

Wolves
Lack of firepower and end product.
LE

Newcastle
Perhaps the most negative team in the League yet Newcastle knew what they were getting when they hired Steve Bruce. Steve Bruce is good at what he does, but what he does is never going to make him popular with the Toon Army.
LE

Brighton
Tried to convince themselves that Potter was this young tactical genius who was going to take the Seagulls to the next level. In reality they swapped Chris Hughton and a relegation scrap for Graham Potter and a relegation scrap.
LE

Burnley
Sean Dyche is good at what he does, but I don’t think even he would call his style of play entertaining.
LE

Fulham
I sense Scott Parker would like to play the free-flowing football Fulham played in the Championship but he simply doesn’t have the players to do so.
LE

West Bromwich
Managed by Big Sam should tell you how entertaining they are!
LE

Sheffield United
Not far off West Brom.
LE

I counted 6 teams who in my opinion are more entertaining than us. Given that we finished 8th last season that would make sense.

What I noticed when reviewing all clubs is that there are clubs who have a clear plan, then there are clubs where it’s not clear what the ethos is. We are one of those clubs.

Where would you place Arsenal in terms of how entertaining they are?

Be Kind In The Comments

Dan

READ MORE: Spot the player – Turkish side play in all white in the snow!

61 Comments

  1. Arsenal are the most entertaining one. Because their system isn’t stable yet, but their playing style is distinctive and fluid

    Liverpool rely on their players’ high stamina and crosses from their attacking fullbacks, whereas Man City’s system is already established and has become too formulaic. Man United depend on luck and penalties, whereas Spurs and Leicester always wait to do counter-attacks

      1. for once i agree 100% with you and if its this kind of biased unrealistic views i have to see on this page i much prefer your self-proclaimed realism which surely holds more reality than these lies to feel oneself better than the reality

        1. Krish Thank you! I am always ruthlessly honest at how I see things and regret that so many fans – generally, not just Gooners – will never bear the slightest criticism of the club or players they love, even when profoundly true. It is exactly this sort of fan bias , everywhere, that I so dislike and ironically, find it harmful to the club they love .

          If you have a personal or family proplem you have not hope in hell of solving it UNTIL and unless you honestly identifyand ADMIT it.

          Take, for example, alcoholism; it can only ever be solved when the alcoholic accepts he/ she has a problem and needs help. While they DENY it , even to themselves, they will continue to suffer as will their loved ones too.

          THIS analogy sums up precisely why I am so totally honest about the club I love. I wish others would do likewise and start helping, not hindering, the club THEY love, too. Being honest, personally and publicly, is FAR more important than currying favour on social media by condoning half truths and clear lies from others.
          I hold this principle passionately in life and as football is a part of life , so it applies here equally.

          1. I agree with you Jon. Currently Arsenal’s play is truly a reflection of the manager, Arteta.

            Slow, static, lacking movement and flair, and boring the opponents into a mistake. The constant back passing and lateral passes is exactly how Arteta played in our midfield.

            Just as he was total dependant on Santi’s creativity and flair, so his team looks equally lost and adrift.

            We rarely threaten quick counter attacks and lack the same directness Arteta did as a midfielder for us.

    1. come off the high horse, this is just obviously wrong.. being a fan does not mean that you have to be highly subjective and plainly wrong.. this is why fans hate fans of other clubs because some people just overrate their club and players etc.
      We are not even top 5 of the most entertaining clubs in the PL.. city are at least 5 times more entertaining than us.. take your rose-tinted glasses off and come back to the reality

      1. I’m always sleepy when watching Man City’s formulaic play, but there’s usually a surprise from an Arsenal’s game

    2. While I respect your opinion mate , can you honestly call our display recently against Palace , Burnely , Villa , Wolves , Saints as fluid ?

      1. Dan I do NOT respect either his or your opinions as both are clearly biased and therefore untrue! I never respect biased posts or articles.

          1. Sometimes Dan, things need emphasising as they are so important to say, being the truth. How a man of your undoubted intelligence can honestly think we are more entertaining than a number of clubs which you said were LE, can only be, to my realistic mind, fan bias , surprising and esp disappointing when coming from YOU, of all people.

            Others on here are, not surprisingly, saying the same as I am.

      2. We started playing smoothly from the Chelsea game, then it was decreased a bit because of our lef-footed defenders’ absence. I enjoyed watching the games because I kinda able to guess Arteta’s tactics

  2. At times i go cold watching our slow, deliberate, safe, static, one dimensional play. I haven’t not enjoyed watching Arsenal as much as i do now. It is the worse football i have seen as far back as i could remember. I used to go to games more in the GG era and while functional it was far more exciting than this fare on offer.

  3. Dan you show your Gooner bias in these ratings. We are not at all entertaining these days and only when SAKA, TIERNEY, MARTINELLI get the ball do we ever look like any artistry may follow.
    To my mind we are less entertaining than all, bar only Burnley, Sheff Utd, WBA, Newcastle and Palace. Our funerial pace in passing is the biggest bore with XHAKA AND LUIZ EASILY THE WORST TWO CULPRITS.

    Playing out from the keeper is like watching a crowd of chicks about to be eaten by a fox; a dreadful thing about to happen , even when it does not happen, it always looks certain to go wrong.

    LACK OF PACE IN GETTING RID OF THE BALL IS AGAIN THE PROBLEM , even Leno takes far too long.

    1. Further to the above DAN, how on earth you can honestly(presumably??) believe that Villa, Spurs and Leeds are less entertaining than us is laughably biased! I prefer total personal honesty always. Very unsure if you do though!

        1. Lol fair enough Declan, don’t think many fulham fans would agree, negative bias just like we have with arsenal. People are always more critical of there own teams.

  4. Normally i really like your articles and although i like the idea of your article it clearly shows your bias towards Arsenal, Dan you are better than that 😁
    you are comparing how entertaining the teams are so i dont get how your reasoning for Leeds is a point to make them less entertaining.. this ranking is not about balance, Leeds are surely more entertaining than us and we are surely in the bottom half

  5. Entertaining..?watching us play reminds me of Tony pulis’ Stoke city of yester years.whatever happened to arsenal way where players expressed themselves and enjoyed their football.i believe both tenacity and flair can be blended successfully.

  6. I really think sometimes people in journalism underestimates the literacy level. People should be charged when you write that black is actually white.

      1. He blasts your literacy level when the literacy level of his first line is atrocious lol 😂

  7. We just became exciting to watch last month. I think a lot of teams are being labeled LE just because they traditionally finish lower than us, but watch their games and they have a few standout players that make them very exciting to watch. Brighton and West Ham for example have been way more exciting than us this season.

  8. I love my team and get narked when they get criticised but at present we are miles behind at least half the teams in the Premier League in regard to entertainment and have been for a few years. . Sometimes we get a rare glimpse of how we used to entertain but most of the time we are boring. Slow transitions from back to front, sideways and backwards passing, so bloody slow. But, as I said, I love my team and you dis them at your peril.

  9. Don’t know what you see entertaining in Chelsea??
    Lampard has so much firepower as Creative players but still they play old style crossing game…
    Put the in 6 yard box in the hope that Abraham or Giroud will convert that..
    Nothing entertaining at all

    1. Chelsea fans may point out that they are playing badly but have still scored 33 goals, whereas we have seen Arsenal score 20….

      1. Well then Spurs have scored 33 but still you consider them as less entertaining…
        Your is incorrect because it’s contradicting yourself…
        Scoring goals cannot be the criteria for being entertaining or not
        There are many teams this year have scored more than Arsenal which you have listed as less entertaining
        If Chelsea have scored 33 so they are more entertaining then how others teams not who have scored more than Us??

        1. Ah I’ll stop you there as it was Dan that asked the question.

          He was giving a personal opinion and offered you readers the opportunity to disagree, so where would YOU put Arsenal in the rankings?

          1. Well not entertaining but I don’t see Aston Villa and Leicester less entertaining than Arsenal and Chelsea are more Entertaining than Arsenal
            I would see Leeds more entertaining than Arsenal even though they concede goals but there style of play..
            High pressure demanding football looks much better than Arsenal…
            There is so much energy in them right from 1st minute to last minute..
            Aston Villa have so many players performing together…
            Douglas Luiz, Olly Watkins, Tylor Mings
            Our own Talent Martinez, It’s not only about Barkley, Grelish anymore

  10. Wenger use to get his team playing entertaining football by having the same set of guys playing together for extended periods of time, this was possible with a very skilled and creative player at the heart of it.

    Now here is my suggestion to get back there, now that we identify the perfect player , we should approach Lyon and Houssem Aouar agent , invest the 25 million its reported we have as a part payment upfront for the player with the intention of taking him in the summer, we should so arrange it so attractive that they find it hard to refuse, after securing there signature to such a deal we return home and play with what we currently have, this quality player guaranteed to join us summer could even inspire us on

  11. Sadly pound for pound spent on the squad we are possibly the least entertaining team in the league … any team with Luiz xhaka elneny willock in starting line up is guaranteed drudgery … Pepe nketiah mustafi willian and (at the moment) aubemayang are entertaining but in the wrong sense of the word … bellerin ceballos lacazette have their entertaining moments but don’t offer consistent entertainment value … it’s pretty bleak all in all

  12. We’re nowhere near as entertaining as we should be! So many times i’ve sat here bored to tears, waiting for something, anything, to happen!!
    I always thought we were good for the neutrals, as you never knew which Arsenal would turn up, but I’m not even sure about that right now 😂 As you can see the disappointment of the Palace game is still with me and I’m
    nervous about tomorrow!!
    I have enjoyed watching certain teams this season – Leeds, Villa, Everton, West Ham. City haven’t been as good, but still like watching them…
    One thing though, at least we’re not the most boring team in the league – that belongs to West Brom…

  13. Just another click baiting exercise by Dan, as only a fool or a blind man would suggest we’re more entertaining to watch than any team other than those who were below us when we found ourselves miserably in 15th place…apart from the Chelski an West Brom affairs we’ve been an unmitigated borefest…sounds like someone was hoping this conversation would invariably lead to posters waxing lyrically about the good old days under Wenger…unfortunately it’s this kind of revisionist history that has played a prominent role in our continued devolution…it was problematic enough when it enabled our shambolic absentee landlord to retain the services of former manager for far too long, but now it’s borderline lunacy…it’s hard to turn the corner when a considerable proportion of the fanbase is constantly looking over their shoulder for something that no longer exists and frankly hasn’t existed for the better part of a decade…it’s time that you turn your attentions to what really matters, the future of this floundering club…we have more than enough on our plates right now to contend with so continuing to confuse matters with this sort of blabbering nonsense is totally counter-productive and self-serving

      1. Why don’t you reread your first 5 sentences then try, with a straight face, to tell me that you weren’t trying to illicit a particular Wenger-based response…when someone suggests that this article is supposedly about one thing but it’s really about something quite different, that my friend is a form of clickbaiting

        1. That’s not clickbait mate
          Click bait is you seen a title which is sensationalized to make you click on the article
          So you would have seen ‘ Where would you rank Arsenal in terms of Entertainment’
          You chose to click on that title and have not been misled at all lol
          The irony is you are only person to mention Wenger

          1. Are you actually trying to convince me that you didn’t do the very thing you know you were trying to do??? Just because only Gun Smoke took the bait, doesn’t mean you weren’t fishing for a particular response, it just means you were horribly inept at achieving your intended purpose…”I was never a Gooner who wished for a change of manager…”, “for the majority of my life…reputation as being one of the most entertaining…”, and the King Daddy topper “For a long time it’s been quite sad watching Arsenal for the PAST COUPLE OF YEARS”, like we were somehow entertaining until you-know-who left…not only is the grammar childlike, so is the attempt to encourage like-minded Wenger apologists to crawl out from under their respective rocks to reminisce…so if you can’t even fathom how this could have been “misconstrued”, you should probably never produce a document of any sort that relies upon your powers of observation…btw I didn’t even mention your later remarks regarding “how far we’ve fallen” yet only spoke of Emery and Arteta, or that “we were once a side that…played the right way”, which was a classic refrain for ardent AKBers, long past the time when we were actually playing the game the “right way”…don’t look now smartass, but the “student” has become the teacher!!

          2. That’s still not click bait mate
            Have you ever thought I simply mean it when I say I haven’t enjoyed watching us in the last couple of years ?

          3. It’s obvious that you’re struggling to comprehend what I’m saying…of course I realize that you haven’t enjoyed watching us play for the last couple of years…who the f***has…the point is this sideways, negative brand of football started long before the arrival of Emery, it was called tiki-taka, but the dumbed-down Wenger version, where we spent most nights trying to pass the ball into the net…so if I was wrong about your true intentions, of which I’m still not convinced, I apologize for thinking you were smarter than you actual are…so I guess you were right, I did learn something

          4. Of course I’m struggling , you don’t know what clic bait means
            I do have a rule though that anyone who gets insulting I don’t interact with
            Too deep , tooo angry
            So won’t be responding buddy

    1. TRVL, I really enjoy your honest and realistic posts. You are one of the few cerebral people who give me a reason to remain on this site , among the many fantasists and self foolers, who actually harm our club, by refusing to admit the many problems we have now and have had, as you say, for a decade or so.
      To properly tackle any problem in life, first you need to identify it ; NOT pretend it doesn’t exist.

      Realism always, please everyone!

  14. I disagree with the article but also disagree with those saying last or near last. That’s just plain stupid

  15. Where did you buy your rose tinted glasses, Dan? Leicester and Tottenham, Leeds and Wolves less entertaining than we are? Where do you buy your LSD it’s amazing quality? I think this is as far from how things are, as I have ever seen in your viewpoint.

  16. Not very highly at all!

    Ot and on the previous article I’d like to thank ozil for the joy he brought us in the past but got to say I’m glad to see him and us parting company at last, we need to learn a lesson on giving long excessive contracts in the future…..William also.

    Having just watched lyon Aoaur is slick and artistic but he reminds me of ozil his workrate is poor he doesnt like a tackle and shys away from a header is this the player we need for us in the pl? Buendia for me all day long pl experience and even had some exposure to the rough and tumble of the championship.

  17. i miss the Arsenal of the old which used to entertain . it was sizzling to watch. this other Arsenal i do not know what it stands for. is it wining, power, teamwork?… to build Arsenal as a world brand needed someone very intelligent. it needed Wenger. it is going to take time to go back to the top but one thing am sure is; the Arsenal brand is on the decline. does Arteta have the intelligence, flair and motivation to do it? could he be given enough time by fans and owners? does he surround himself with people with capacity to do it? for example Edu is not going to take him far. …at the end of it all i feel that the owners are going to take their cash elsewhere…it is going to be challenging to clone the past…they are going to sell…this is my take.

  18. Probably midtable like we are now. Not much higher or lower. I feel Mourinho is more entertaining with Tottenham, Leeds obviously are a side who are the talk of the town, and Leicester have players who can make slick passes. Though the others I agree with.

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