Pain in the Arsenal
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Pele Vouches For Arsene Wenger’s Tactics At Arsenal

By Josh Sippie

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 26JAN06 - Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele), World Cup Soccer Champion and Director, Empresas Pele, Brazil captured during the session 'Can a Ball Change the World: The Role of Sports in Development' at the Annual Meeting 2006 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 26, 2006.Copyright by World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch/Photo by E.T. Studhalter+++No resale, no archive+++
DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 26JAN06 - Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele), World Cup Soccer Champion and Director, Empresas Pele, Brazil captured during the session 'Can a Ball Change the World: The Role of Sports in Development' at the Annual Meeting 2006 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 26, 2006.Copyright by World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch/Photo by E.T. Studhalter+++No resale, no archive+++ /
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Pele is the greatest footballer to ever touch the pitch. He scored 1,283 goals in his career and if you did not know already, that is quite a lot. To put that in perspective, Lionel Messi has 479 goals in his career across club and international football. All that Messi has accomplished has gotten him only one-third of the way to Pele’s career mark. That may be one record that is left unbroken.

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Pele never graced England with his presence, but if he were playing today he would play for Arsenal. “Says who?”, says the Chelsea fan out there. Says Pele:

“Arsenal is a good team to play for. I like the teams that play open football. Between Chelsea and Arsenal? I would play for Arsenal if I had the chance,” the legend said via the Metro.

Nothing will make you more loved in North London than putting Arsenal above Chelsea in any sense.

To make things even better for Arsenal fans, Pele spoke out about Diego Costa and his bear-like antics:

"“It is not a good message for children. He didn’t get a red card, but he was charged. It was dirty. Unfortunately so many things like this happen on the pitch and this is not good. That’s clear. It is not good for football.”"

The incident at Stamford Bridge has finally been sorted out as far as doling out punishments, so at least that issue is behind us. In the mean time, we can revel in the fact that Pele appreciates Arsenal’s style of play much more than Chelsea’s.

As Pele highlighted, Arsenal play in such a style that allows for the individual to exert his creativity. We have seen Alexis, Aaron Ramsey and more do so. While it does not always go according to plan, it plays in the favor of on-pitch artists like Alexis who sometimes just need the ball and space to roam.

That was all Pele needed too so why wouldn’t he choose Arsenal? Wenger has always been a players’ manager. He lets players express themselves on the pitch and that is the exact opposite of what Jose Mourinho does at Chelsea. Mourinho’s tactics in Chelsea’s ‘superb’ title runs involved filching a goal and sitting on it and they have often been criticized for their boring style of play.

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Mourinho has a collection of fantastic players such as Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Willian, Oscar – all guys that can create. They are players with so much talent but they are rarely allowed to express themselves because they have to play for a result.

Arsenal’s game does not always translate. Sometimes they come out flat or players look off their game but in the end, players are allowed to play their game. In the end, if it works for Pele, it works for Gunners everywhere. Arsene Wenger’s style of play has appealed to the greatest footballer of all time and that has to count for something.

Next: Theo Walcott finally justifying striker role?

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