David Winner of the Guardian pronounces Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal the sole heir of Dutch great Johann Cruyff’s vision of “total football.” Winner says no other team in world soccer so accurately reflects what he calls “Holland’s finest contribution to human happiness”: a soccer team that prizes “beauty and creativity above all and [is] compulsively devoted to free-spirited attack.” Of course, the irony here is PSV Eindhoven was the Gunners’ Dutch opposition in Wednesdays second-leg Champions League series at the Emirates Stadium.
They Gunners certainly play soccer that’s easy on the eyes, but really, much good it’s done them this season. The Champions League was now the North London club’s last shot at a trophy, after losing the Carling Cup final and being dumped out of the FA Cup in the last 10 days. Arsenal never really looked like a serious contender for the English League title this season, either. But, as Winner says, on form the Gunners play beautifully, even if it looks sometimes like they’d prefer to pass their way into the goal rather than take a shot from distance.