If you kno me then you know how much I love Arsenal. Still, I consider myself a new fan. Having grown up mostly in the US, I had little professional soccer influence despite playing for much of my childhood. It wasn’t until college that a friend introduced me to a gem of a video game, Konami’s Winning Eleven 8. I had played various iterations of FIFA in the past, my dad even got me a Game Gear version one christmas. None of those experiences came close to comparing with that first hour of Winning Eleven bliss. Thus began my football education (or re-education rather) and soon, I discovered Thierry Henry. It was also around this time that I got Fox Soccer Channel with my cable package.

This would of course eventually lead me to the current love of my life, Arsenal Football Club. I will be the first to admit that I am no lifelong Gunner, having watched my first game on television in 2004, but since then, I’ve been a loyal follower having been blessed with the opportunity to make the trip to the Emirates. Arsenal, with Arsene Wenger at it’s helm, represents more than a football club, it’s the beautiful execution of a philosophical idealism. Matthew Syed, writer for the Times and also Sports Journalist of the Year, recently devoted an article to the artistic side of Arsenal’s style and the growing relevance of beauty in performance. Wenger tends to agree:

“I believe that anything in life, if it is really well done, becomes art,” he said in an interview earlier this season. “If you read a great writer, he touches deep inside and helps you to discover something about life. Life is important on a daily basis because you transform it — you try to transform it — into something that is close to art. And football is like that.”

It’s an age old adage now though that the team has won nothing in excess of four years now, that their pursuit of perfection, Joga Bonito, and beautiful football is not only in vain but ultimately detrimental to their winning pursuits. To me, such an explanation belies gross oversimplification.

First a disclaimer, these are not excuses, I want only to provide some context as the philosophical underpinnings of Arsenal extend beyond the pitch. In the age of extravagant star player signings, oligarch sugar daddies, oil money, and indebted Americans, Arsenal represent a beautiful economic efficiency. While the club, in recent years, has had its fair share of ownership turmoil, it has been able to maintain its financial independence and long term vision in funding and overseeing the completion of the indisputably impressive Emirates Stadium, just a taste of their big picture acumen. All of this has no doubt put a huge financial burden on the club which has restricted overall player. Elegant as ever, Wenger was quick to adapt.

In a rare interview this week he revealed: “When we decided to build the stadium I wanted to anticipate the possibility of financial restrictions, so I concentrated on youth. I also felt the best way to create an identity with the way we play football, to get players integrated into our culture, with our beliefs, our values, was to get them as young as possible and to develop them together. I felt it would be an interesting experiment to see players grow together with these qualities, and with a love for the club.” He pauses, smiles wryly, and adds, “It was an idealistic vision of the world of football.” (Arsene Wenger: Success – I make it, I won’t buy it)

These financial restrictions have made it at times tough to compete with the top teams considering the record outlays at hugely inflated levels for players like Ronaldo and Kaka (Moreover, does anyone actually think Berbatov is worth anywhere near €30,000,000?) While many would see this as a huge crutch, Arsene leveraged this scenario into creating an entire culture around the club, a footballing philosophy ingrained from the getgo, evident in how seamlessly the newboys have been able to integrate into the first team, all schooled in playing the same beautiful football. But does it hinder results?

“At the end of the day, I ask you: who is the most successful team in the world? Brazil. What do they play? Good football,” Wenger replied. “Who won everything last year? Barcelona. What do they play? Lovely football. I am not against being pragmatic because to be pragmatic is to make a good pass, not a bad pass. It is as simple as that. When I see Barcelona, to me it is art.” Wenger’s sentiments are deep indeed — central not just to his management philosophy but also to his raison d’être. And they are sentiments that have reverberated particularly powerfully in recent days as we have witnessed a series of sporting performances whose beauty has been exceeded only by their devastating effectiveness.

Arsenal is a life philosophy, it represents an execution of an ideal, as a team, as a family, as a business, as sport, as an art. Like chess, the life parallels of soccer are obvious yet enlightening. Arsenal, after yesterday’s dramatic second result against Bolton, sit quietly and confidently now in first place in the English Premier League, a far cry from the apocalyptic doom and gloom decried by the pundits after the 3-0 loss to Chelsea not long ago leaving the team 11 pts adrift from the top. Yes, the season isn’t over. Yes Chelsea have a game in hand. But it’s been so long, its been difficult. Life hasn’t always been fair. Let’s sit back and revel and most of all, enjoy the art.

Posted on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 9:23 am in Arsenal | rss feed for comments| Leave a response, or trackback