They say that clubs take on the qualities of their manager and Arsenal are no different. Arsene Wenger’s team may play some of the most sophisticated football in Europe, but like their otherwise urbane manager, when victory becomes defeat their mood turns as sour as one of the Frenchman’s bitter post-match press conferences.

Fans have grown used to Wenger whimpering in defeat like a spoiled child who’s had his lollipop snatched, but after last night’s 5-1 thrashing by Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup he hit a new nadir for incredible childish excuses.

Asked whether the trophy was a priority, he retorted: “Not at all frankly.” Considering he had fielded the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas and Gilberto, it was about as believable as his suggestion that (and excuse us if you’ve heard this one before) he didn’t see Adebayor head-butting Nicklas Bendtner, that the scoreline was unfair on his team and that all Tottenham did was hit his side on the break. Magnanimous it was not.

But while Wenger was bawling, his players were brawling. Audley Harrison-lookalike Adebayor proved once more that he would have made a better fist of a career as a fighter than the British boxer (not hard, admittedly) with his attack on Bendtner (see above), while Gallas added insult to injury for the Dane by berating him – presumably for getting the bridge of his nose in the way of Adebayor’s header.

And let’s not forget that both Wenger and his team have previous. Wenger – who once squared up to Martin Jol because his team had the temerity to play on after a couple of Arsenal players ran into one another – has never been shy of complaining that his team were kicked off the park or that the referee failed to protect his players.

His team, meanwhile, have been involved in some of football’s most iconic fights. Whether it’s throwing pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson after the Battle of Old Trafford or rucking after the Carling Cup final defeat by Chelsea, they just don’t know how to lose gracefully. Like their manager, it's about time they learnt.

What do you think? Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport?