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poodris 2,818 pts

Wenger and the scrub mentality

Posted by poodris about 9 years ago · 7 replies

http://www.sirlin.net/ptw-book/introducingthe-scrub

A scrub is a player who is handicapped by self-imposed rules that the game knows nothing about. A scrub does not play to win.

You will not see a classic scrub throw his opponent five times in a row. But why not? What if doing so is strategically the sequence of moves that optimizes his chances of winning? Here we’ve encountered our first clash: the scrub is only willing to play to win within his own made-up mental set of rules. These rules can be staggeringly arbitrary. If you beat a scrub by throwing projectile attacks at him, keeping your distance and preventing him from getting near you—that’s cheap. If you throw him repeatedly, that’s cheap, too. We’ve covered that one. If you block for fifty seconds doing no moves, that’s cheap. Nearly anything you do that ends up making you win is a prime candidate for being called cheap. Street Fighter was just one example; I could have picked any competitive game at all.

A common call of the scrub is to cry that the kind of play in which one tries to win at all costs is “boring” or “not fun.” Who knows what objective the scrub has, but we know his objective is not truly to win.

Let’s consider two groups of players: a group of good players and a group of scrubs. The scrubs will play “for fun” and not explore the extremities of the game. They won’t find the most effective tactics and abuse them mercilessly. The good players will.

Play to win, not to do ‘difficult moves'.

I’ve also never seen a prize for a player who played “in an innovative way.”

You can gain some standing in a gaming community by playing in an innovative way, but that should not be the ultimate goal. Innovation is merely one of many tools that may or may not help you reach victory. The goal is to play as excellently as possible. The goal is to win.

This is the perfect description for Wenger and the real reason this club cannot win anything meaningful anymore.

7 Comments

poodris 2,818 pts
Posted about 9 years ago by poodris

nb, I am not calling for Wenger to be sacked immediately or whatever, I'm calling for him to set winning as his goal, rather than playing according to his old fashioned football ethics.

Mate Kiddleton 1,512 pts
Posted about 9 years ago by Mate Kiddleton

To be fair he's already started winning playing differently (Chelsea in the Shield, Man City come to mind). I have no problem with the tactics tbh, West Ham was a leadership failure on the pitch imo and not enough player motivation.

Gunner Gunners fire long distance screamers at people 5,132 pts
Posted over 7 years ago by Gunner

It has meaning if you are a big club with hardly any chance of winning the league. If you make the final as a small side, you are most likely going to be relegated. Ex: Hull, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace?

Gunner Gunners fire long distance screamers at people 5,132 pts
Posted over 7 years ago by Gunner

I hope this year it is either Chelsea or Tottenham who get relegated after losing in the FA Cup final

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