souled to the devil

actually, it's true that arsenal dun have an english soul, english backbone, whatever you call it. and it's also perfectly ok for me because 1) i dun like england and 2) if arsenal were to have an english backbone, they wouldnt be able to play like they do.

the epitome of an english team must be liverpool. can't pass, can't score, win by tycho goals.

you want to be like that?

not even chelsea can play like arsenal. different styles, of course, different philosophies. i am not trying to convince you ours is better. not really anyway. but it really is better.

anyway back to the spine of the issue. an english soul has its advantages. erm, actually only one: grit. and admittedly, we dun have alot of that.

but my belief, and i am sure arsene wenger believes in this too, is that you can win by sheer class, regardless of the physical intimidation and grit shown by the opponents.

of course, that would be perfection.

when there is no perfection, you need a degree of grit. but grit is something that's very basic. vanilla, in thomas friedman's lexicon. like discipline. it's something you need, but in order to take off, you dun really need it. it's like defending. you dun need to perfect it. you just need a decent amount of it.

upon 10, if i can have 7 for grit and 9 for class, i think i am much better off than someone who has 10 for grit and 5 for class. and the latter is precisely what the english backbone is about.

we only need grit as an insurance. like a plan b.

you may say we sold our souls, being an english team after all.

oh well, you could have said we sold our souls to the devil, but it wouldnt even matter.
i would gladly sell.

how can you fault such a game, such a belief?