I can only think that we have an author who has talked Arsenal up all season and when they have ultimatley failed, justifies defeat by the manner in which they have lost. Which is ironic actually, Arsenal, led by Wenger and Gallas are the worst role-models for the next generation of the game.

Football is about providing your fans with entertaining and winning football. Unfortunatley Arsenal are not the masters of either of these aims. Liverpool and Chelsea have proven that they are winning sides, the former less so in the Premiership, but their respective managers know how to get the most out of their team and win games for their fans.

As for entertaining football, and a team which should be applauded for having a young skillful side, look no further that Old Trafford. Who provide more moments of magic, audacious skill, and display of relentless finishing in one season than Arsenal have in their life under Wenger.

Nick, Manchester,

I am afraid that until arsenal players start behaving in the right manner (namely; gallas, lehmann, flamini, fabregas, eboue) then they can carry on playing the football they play, they will still continue to come unstuck. Constant haranguing of the referee when decisions go against them, sulking, over reacting to opposition "ill treatment" and sometimes downright retaliative hacks are not the attributes of a team i would be proud of and certainly not ones that of any team deserving of any more that the arsenal team will win this year; nothing.

Drew, Manchester,

exactly this is my favorite wenger

robin, zhuhai, china

when you find someone from blackburn also having an idea on how football should be played,then know the end of the world has come.

jimlewis, new york,

it always amazes me how the media fall for the Wenger claptrap. The "young team of stars" rubbish for starters - teh average age is less than a year younger than united's = replace van der sar with foster and utd are younger.
His teams are just as capable of being defensive//cynical/kicking as anyone else's. How many red cards have arsenal had since he arrived there ? Just look at the childish spiteful hacking in the FA Cup match at Old Trafford in january.,
His motivational/man management powers are also up for examination - the team think they are soooooh fantastic that they neglect trivial things like defending after they have taken the lead, or indeed , at all. Ferguison would not tolerate a "captain" who went to the other end of the pitch when defending a penalty. Wenger's teams can play some great football but their graceless whining means that it ius very hard to fell any pity for them. They may have "passed Liverpool off the pitch" but Liverpool wanted it far far more.

Arcana, london,

The article implies Arsenal are playing the most attractive football since the great Brazil team of 1970 which I find ridiculous especially as they don't even play the most attractive football in England when you compare them to United who seem to get less credit it seems because of their domestic dominance. Also there is nothing special about the way Wenger sets his team up barring injuries it is a simple 442, also when was the last time they played this 'brand' of football because I haven't witnessed it since the turn of the year. If you want real total football watch some videos of the great Dutch teams led by Cruyff.

josh, manchester,

I see this has obviously offended fans of Man United / Chelsea / Liverpool but that wouldn be missing the point - Arsenal (or Wenger) HAS done amazing things for the neutral this season and when they are in full flow they are a joy to watch - the last 12 or so games (bar Liverpool midweek) have not.

Heres to next season and some shrewd signings mr Wenger.

Sharpe, Wick, Caithness

Like mermaids - beautiful, hypnotic, captivating but ultimately, for their fans, fatal heartbreakers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 Championships, 4 FA Cups including 2 doubles

How soon we forget eh

Nathan, St Albans, UK

Although I do agree that Arsenal's football is very pleasing on the eye, beneath the exterior there is no substance. The ability to win ugly is a hallmark of all the great sides. If you watch the majority of finals, they are usually dull and cagey affairs and this is also true with most of the really big games. Even Man U for all their swashbuckling grace, can win ugly when necessary. Criticising Messrs Benitez and Mourinho is a bit unfair. Winning very important matches is a great skill to have. I have seen my team (Liverpool) play some sublime football at times in the past (throughout the eighties), and I do appreciate good football. But at the moment Benitez's Liverpool is a work in progress, in time and with more improved playing personnel there will be an marked improvement in playing style. You have to remember that Man Utd's swashbuckling style has been evolved throughout the Premier years, as Utd have had more success and improved the quality of player in their team.

Ian, Liverpool, England

What a load of rubbish.

Wenger missed his chances to strenthen his squad which has run out of energy (except for underutilized players like Woolcot).
Wenger is a great Manager but he needs to modify his philosophy

.P.S. Man U are more beautiful to watch, they win trophys and develop players; the thing is they also suppliment development with expensive, critical acquisitions in order to fill gaps in their squad.

abritincanada, Calgary, Canada

Absolutely outrageously biased article. The real beauty of Tuesday night was in the stands of Anfield. Liverpool's awesome crowd showed ALL fans the way to be. Their non stop passionate support for Liverpool in that second half was something else. It really was a sound to behold. Anfield truly is unique in English football.

Having said that, Liverpool's Champions League campaign this season has been infinately more thrilling and exciting than any other team's. They were all but out of the competition at one stage then fought back like lions and won 8-0 v Besiktas, 4-1 v Porto and thumped Marseille 4-0 at the Velodrome. Add in the incident packed games against Inter and Arsenal and what more do you want?

You can keep your pretty triangles in midfield at the bland and lifeless Emirates. I'll take the passion and colour of Anfield on these big Euro nights every time. Magical magical place.

Robert, Poole, Dorset

"I congratulate them on their moral victory now lets see if they congratulate us on our actual victory".

P, Liverpool, UK

I would rather win ugly than lose pretty. All the style and flair in the world counts for nothing if you cannot win trophies. Afterall, thats the true measure of success.
Arsenal are better than most teams in Europe on the ball and passed Liverpool off the park over the two legs. But Liverpool won and are through to yet another CL semi-final, Arsenal have to wait till next year.

M Patel, London,

I'm a neutral (a Blackburn fan); and I'm fed up of this talk of 'Arsenal's wonderful football'... Much as it pains me to admit Man Utd play better football; as the league table suggests; they attack better, defend better and are better to watch and most importantly tend to rise to the big occassion; so where is the praise for Man Utd? Arsenal ponce around with the ball far too much; just as Chelsea and Liverpool should play much better football than they do, Arsenal deserve everything they got... nothing. The big four continually sicken me with their hypocrisy, (Roy Keane is an example to all premier league managers). Finally why was the referee blamed my Arsene Wenger, why the failure to mention Adebamiss; missing a couple of sitters that would have made the 'dodgy' (i think it was a) penalty nothing more than academic. Just my 2 cents, not that us real football fans are every listened too... carry on eating your prawn sandwiches please.

Jon M, Preston, UK

good heavens, brian... whilst I appreciate that for those brought up on "boring, boring arsenal", these might seem like relatively exciting times, I'm sorry to have to tell you and the rest of the gooners who think football began with the premiership that manchester united have been playing the best football ever seen in the english league for 60 years now.

when you say you need a dixon, would that be the dixon who spitefully hacked down giggs after he scored that goal in the 99 semi? you've got a quite a few of those in your team now, my friend (did you not see them all "refusing to be intimidated" during the 4-0 thrashing at old trafford a few weeks ago?). petulant hackers all.

2003 title in the bag til roughed up by bolton? have a word with yourself. I bet you'd have won a european cup or two as well if only you hadn't been humiliated by juve's reserves in the last match at the group stage, etc. I'm afraid I read your post in a squeaky high-pitched voice.

jem, london, uk

Bill from London, Gerrard did such a great job for England in the last qualifying campaign, didn't he? Why didn't you single out Theo for his contribution to the Arsenal equaliser on Tuesday? Please confine your little-Englander mentality to the Talk Sport airwaves where it belongs.

Kris, London,

Arsenal scored from 2 set-pieces when Liverpool were subject to their flair performances at Emirates recently.

Do you remember Liverpool's goals in those 2 games? Gerrard's sparkling run to set up Kuyt and Crouch's skilled finish?

And they were both Englishmen - now that is how I'd like this country to be represented!

Bill, London, UK

I agree with Qasim, what a wonderful article. It has really lifted my spirits and taken the pressure off my dogs,who have been fed up with me snarling at them since Tuesday night!
We have been playing some of the best football ever seen in the English league for some 5 years now ,with unfortunately,little to show for it. Until Allardyce's thugs kicked us off the pitch at Bolton in 03,that title was ours,but what we have to do is show that we can not be intimidated while at the same time continuing to play our beautiful game!
We really need an Adams and a Dixon/Winterburn in the back four,people who will cajole,shout,encourage and show the backbone, that sometimes is missing from my team.

Brian Wildey, Fleurance, France

Eloquent, objective view. Well done.

Daniel Hanna, Melbourne, Australia

Defeat can't be the end of the world. It makes u strong. As a fan of arsenal - their football philosophy, their strength of character and the quality of club management - I am confident arsenal will come good. They will do so on a healthy foundation - football and finances - for so long that I won't remember this painful end to this season. Go Arsenal!

George, Accra, Ghana

Its great to see someone acknowledge the impact that Wenger has made to the game, especially given the grief the guy is getting at the moment.

When you look at how Man Utd have evolved over the last few seasons their system of play is not unlike Arsenal's of 4 years ago, with the interchanging attackers and wingers. Although he would never admit it I would bet that Fergie adopted some of those ideas.

Allardyce at Bolton was the same. Much was made of his "radical" methods to extend players careers through diet, yoga etc....all of which was brought to Arsenal more than 10 years ago by Mr Wenger!

Lee, London,

It was such a good read that I don't have words to praise it.

Satnam, Chandigarh,

Who has been inspired by Benitez's Liverpool, outside Merseyside? Oh well, perhaps perseverance and determination belong in a dustbin. Prettiness is all that matters, and substance, courage and will-to-win are uninspirational characteristics, possibly even to be despised. Either that or you have a short/ selective memory, Mr Syed. It is wonderful that Mr Wenger has recovered his once faulty eyesight. Now he can doubtless actually see his team play their admittedly flowing and inspirational attacking football. Perhaps he might also be now able to take a look in the mirror and examine the negative and completely uninspirational side to his character - the petulant, ungracious, and childish, immature side that stamps its foot and blames everyone but itself when it does not get its own way. I would love to see Arsene and Arsenal grow up because then they truly would be worthy of our admiration and respect. At the moment they are not.

Brendan, Cork,

Eamon, your little rant belies jealousy of arsenal and the plaudits they receive for their flair and style, even tho Man Utd will almost certainly win the title. Curious you claim to disagree with the article.

Jon, London,

Very funny. But why Sartre? I'm a huge Wenger fan, but I disagree that you need to disparage Benitez in order to praise his rival. Benitez has completely overhauled Houllier's very average squad in the past 4 years, finishing above Arsenal in the league for the past two seasons, and turning Liverpool into perhaps the most feared side in Europe. Credit where credit's due. And he still gets more criticism in the press than probably any other top manager. The fact is, if Benitez had Wenger's record over the past 4 seasons, he would have probably been sacked at the end of last season. Wenger is an artist, but like all great artists, he needs to rely to a large degree on the generosity and patience of his benefactors - they're the ones who commission him. Benitez works in a world without such old-fashioned virtues, but he should not be found at fault for this.

Alex, glasgow, scotland

Nothing more than myth-making, and a poor job of it at that.

Arsenal play good football, but the contrast with other clubs is nothing like what you depict it to be. Rather than simply admire Arsenal's good play and leave it at that, the author seeks to drum up a false contrast in a quest for a sense of moral superiority.

You implicitly claim to the effect that the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool never produce something aesthetically worthy of their fans' acclaim. Further, you implicitly suggest it would be impossible to be happily surprised by a Liverpool or Chelsea performance. Yet anyone who might watch the performance of a Torres, Gerrard, Babel or Cole would quickly appreciate these premises are absolute rubbish.

Indeed, a proper examination would conclude Liverpool have scored more goals than Arsenal. Moreover, a look at how Arsenal score their goals demonstrates they are more reliant on set pieces and/or aerial football than Liverpool are! So much for the illusion.

Brendan, Sydney, Australia

italy has won it 4 times

Rob Roy, London,

Excellent reading - an insight into the conflicting emotions involved in following Arsenal.

Like mermaids - beautiful, hypnotic, captivating but ultimately, for their fans, fatal heartbreakers

Niall, London, England

Manchester United play with as much, if not more, passion, beauty, artestry and brilliance, with a team just about as young as the Arsenal squad, and guess what? They will win.

So where does that leave this article or the Arsenal team??? Both a bit pointless really

Eamon, Dublin, Ireland

I agree with Gareth. This is poor consolation! Nice idea, though.

Jim, London,

..................
1) Defence is also an art form (sadly arsenal cannot master it), it is to be appreciated along with attacking football
2) The fact that Arsenal play all this beautiful football all the time is a myth, compare their goals scored column with ("ultra defensive") Chelsea and Liverpool, you will find there is virtually no difference between the teams
3) There is no doubt you are an Arsenal supporter, but your arguments are pathetic, football is about winning - and there are many different styles in doing so- The Italians have won the world cup 5 times now, largely based on good defensive organisation. Its people like you who contribute to the failings of the national team (criticise if they dont win, criticise if they defend, criticise if they dont attack recklessly, criticise when they concede goals...)

FO, London,

Excellent piece. The results will come in time, to reward the manager's devotion to his ideal. Football should be entertaining, and Arsenal provide entertainment (almost) every time they play.

a.downey, london,

Blimey.

There was me thinking we should kill games in the last ten minutes a la Chelsea, United and Liverpool by getting up to all sorts of mischief and time-wasting. Now, having read that, I think the Arsenal players should hand out champagne, nibbles and a DVD of the match to their embarrassed opponents.

Nice piece but frankly I still feel crap.

Gareth, Bath,

Thank you for this wonderful piece.

Qasim Kirmani, Edinburgh, UK

Couldn't agree more. There too many in this country (not least the FA) who would prefer we build long ball build teams with big strong boys from the New towns called Dean and Darren. The likes of Wenger and Ferguson have relegated these types to where they belong: the lower reaches of the Premiership and the Championship.

Joe Greene, London, UK