Foresight – MLS Round 10 Weekend Preview

Four questions to be answered in this the tenth round of MLS action.

Beautiful Losers

     Arsenal’s loss to Birmingham City in the Carling Cup final was their third straight defeat in a finals appearance since they won the FA Cup in 2005.  This inability to clear the final hurdle has combined with a marked drop off in league performance which has seen 8 straight seasons of finishing either first or second in the Premier League with 5 seasons of third and fourth placed finishes.  Of course there are extenuating circumstances to this apparent decline, namely the rise of Abramovich’s Chelsea, as well as the relocation to and subsequent debt incurred as a result of their new Emirates Stadium; however one must question whether Wenger’s principles of fiscal responsibility, youth promotion, and hypnotic passing have superseded the desire to win.  Has the feeling of moral superiority and aesthetic beauty embodied by Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal become the new trophy?