Losing

I hate losing, absolutely hate it. Probably more so now than a few years ago actually, although the difference is when I lose now I'm at least able to look my opponent in the eye, shake his hand and walk off. I lost tonight playing footie - in a manner which I'll call the Bayern Munich method - that is, conceding two late sucker-punches in a footie game you've dominated most of.

Someone else who clearly hates losing, and indeed has admitted as much, is Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal. After their game against Chelsea yesterday, Wenger unloaded a rant which some have taken as a sign of a man finally losing it after having spent the past five years being outspent by his rivals.

You have to have some sympathy with the man, though perhaps it is about time he dropped his immense, stubborn obsession with perfect football and gave in at least a little to the current obsession in football with pace and power (though, on a seperate note, I believe that obsession is slowly killing football).

Judging by some of the fan reaction to the Chelsea defeat, quite a few are clearly beginning to lose the faith as well, and have increased the calls for a change, not only in footballing philosophy, but even potentially in their manager. This despite Wenger having given them ten years of Champions League football, several trophies and one glorious season where they were unbeaten - humans really do have a short capacity for memory and an apparent lack of appreciation for, or recognition of, the good times.

So what should Wenger do? Either he carries on with his beliefs, nails his colours even further to his mast and refuses to change. Or he puts up the white flag, gives in, sacrifices his reputation and succumbs to the modern obsession.

I'm fairly sure I know which one he'll choose, and I'm probably not alone in hoping he does choose that way - the Premier League needs Arsenal to keep doing what they're doing. Get the ball down, play it around and demonstrate what football should be about.