EPL: Entertainment Must Come with Results

The whole "entertainment vs. results" debate is an interesting one. Some people do not care if they see dross football as long as their team wins, and a smaller amount of fans want to see good results and flair on the pitch. Unfortunately, the latter is very difficult to find in the Premier League.

This topic reared its ugly head for me this weekend, as I settled down to watch Chelsea Vs 'Boro. The match was absolutely appalling, genuinely some of the worst and most boring football I have ever seen played.

The cost of a ticket to Chelsea is approximately 50 quid. Now, I cannot honestly believe that people were happy to leave Stamford Bridge because they had seen a Chelsea victory.

The 'entertainment' on offer was of such a poor standard that you could have heard a pin drop in the stadium. There was nothing to shout about, nothing to get excited about, nothing decent on the field, no: there were simply 22 people running around a football pitch, and one of them happened to score a goal.

It was mind numbing.

When I go to football matches, I want to be entertained. I am spending the money I have earned to watch good sport. Yes, I support Arsenal and yes, I want to see them winning football matches. But I would rather see a thrilling display of football and get a positive result the majority of the time than continually see drab 1-0 wins like the Chelski faithful have to sit through.

I did not always think this way though. For a long time, I agreed with the principle that victory was to be taken over entertainment at all costs. It took me far too much time to realise that both winning and enjoying the football on show are possible, and for that I must thank Arsene Wenger, and to a MUCH lesser extent, Alex Ferguson.

It has got to the point now where I will never understand the mindset of people who do not care how the football is played, as long as victory is secured. After all, do we not support football teams to be entertained and take enjoyment from the sport rather than watch uninspiring rubbish?

It is true that once you have started to support a team, you are linked with them for the rest of your life and there is little you can do about it. I am not suggesting that one should stop supporting a team because they play terrible football.

But the problem is that so many teams put results above playing good football that there is barely any excitement in many Premier League matches any more. A lot of teams will score a goal then not bother trying to score another, and play defensively for the rest of the match.

Unfortunately, our opponents tomorrow are a team built of this ilk which is perhaps why they have been so successful in the Champions League. Liverpool score a goal, then put 11 men behind the ball to essentially stop teams from playing the game, which is how teams play European football.

I can understand this method, but I do not respect it.

Indeed, Liverpool have lost the reputation of the 70s and 80s where they were known to play champagne football, and in their desperation to return to the elite of the game they now play for results rather than for the love of the game. It is a sorry state of affairs for such an important football club.

I believe Arsenal will win this Champions League tie. Wenger will set out the side to win the game, and will not sit back on a 1-0 lead like so many other teams would. To be honest though, as much as I would love Arsenal to go through (and I really would), I only want that to happen the Arsenal way:      win, and win with style.

Indeed, thankfully Wenger thinks the same way. And if there is any justice in football, his attacking mentality will take Arsenal through to the Champions League semi-finals.