José Mourinho made a jibe about Arsenal on Sunday (no, really), as he accused Arsenal of being “boring.” He said:
“I think boring is ten years without a title—that’s boring. If you support a club and you wait, wait, wait for so many years without a Premier League title, then that’s boring.”
The retaliation came after Arsenal fans chanted “Boring, boring Chelsea” at Mourinho’s players in the 0-0 draw between the two clubs on Sunday, due to the perceived negative football the Blues were playing. The Arsenal fans were frustrated as, had Chelsea left themselves more open at the back, their team could have capitalised on this and won the game, as Chelsea have been doing to Arsenal for many years.
Mourinho has made many slanderous comments about Arsenal in the past, many of which have been largely untrue or deliberately provocative. However, that’s another story. It is clear that Mourinho knows that Arsenal’s last ten years have been anything but boring, and that before he came Chelsea had won a single league title in their 100-year existence, and is only trying to wind a few people up. However, the propaganda he has produced must still be subdued, as his provocative remarks are often taken to be true by groups of Chelsea fans (and, to an extent, the club’s official twitter account) and other fans who have a deep-lying hatred of Arsenal.
In the George Graham era, Arsenal would often be subjected to chants of “Boring, boring Arsenal,” due to their defensive style of play, but under Wenger, the same has not held true, as the Gunners have always played an attractive, exciting brand of football. Which of the two is the superior and whether silverware is more important than artistry is firmly up for debate, but what needs no dispute is that life under Wenger has been incredibly exciting for Arsenal.
Since the “Invincibles” season of 2003-04, Arsenal have not achieved much in the way of trophies, but these eleven years have been crucial (and very successful) in terms of the long-term development of the club. Along the way, matters have rarely been dull, and endless exciting moments have been and gone for very different reasons.
There have been some serious highs: being top of the league on a number of occasions; beating the European Champions elect in three consecutive seasons; winning the FA Cup in dramatic circumstances last summer. However, there have been some crushing lows: trying to challenge for the league title with Manuel Almunia in goal; surprisingly regular thrashings at the hands of rival teams; chances to claim silverware thrown away. One thing’s for sure—these highs and lows have not been boring.
Arsenal’s beautiful brand of football has been orchestrated by some great players over the years. Most recently it has been the likes of Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez; in the past it was Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie. However, that beauty has been compromised by a whole number of not very good footballers.
When Arsenal played one of the greatest domestic teams of all time, Barcelona, off the pitch in 2011, and Andrey Arshavin scored a late winner to send the Emirates Stadium into orbit, I must admit that I was not thinking: “Oh. How very dull. I’d much rather we’d taken the 0-0 draw so that we’d only need to score and avoid defeat to progress to the next round. That match and Arsenal’s comeback nearly put me to sleep.”
Moreover, when I saw that Armand Traore and Johan Djourou were starting at Old Trafford with the likes of Ignasi Miquel, Henri Lansbury, Giles Sunu and Oğuzhan Özyakup on the bench, I did not think: “What a boring team selection from Mr Wenger. This game has 0-0 written all over it. I really wish we’d play less experienced players against the big teams and played more exciting football.”
Though it pains me to admit it, Arsène Wenger does have a few faults. However, being a dullard is not one of them. He himself knows that his job is to bring entertainment to people, and, whilst they’ve brought misery, frustration, and blood-lust as well, Arsenal have never failed to bring entertainment in some shape or form to my life.
Now that Wenger’s project is about to reach full fruition, it seems that the next few decades will be incredibly successful for Arsenal. However, I will never forget the years when Eboue, Denilson and Bendtner would regularly find themselves on the team-sheet, the latter of whom occasionally found himself playing alongside Mesut Özil.
There’s a famous film in Graham Linehan’s great comedy “The IT Crowd” where main character Roy recounts a scene at the funeral of his girlfriend’s family member in which a group of dwarfs attempt to carry a coffin. He says that the only way it could be described would be “funny.” This reminds me of some of Arsenal’s attempts to win big trophies over the years. Looking back at results such as the 6-0 at Stamford Bridge last year, I can’t help but laugh at the carnage that unfolded that day. Certainly, it wasn’t boring.
