Your ‘expansive’ football is too pretty to be successful

MANCHESTER CITY boss Mark Hughes has warned Arsene Wenger he will win nothing with pretty football.

Two weeks after he accused Manchester United of playing “anti-football” against the Gunners at Old Trafford, Wenger takes his team across town today to Eastlands, where old boys Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure lie in wait.

Wenger once accused Hughes of rearing a side that “had an appetite for violence” when the Welshman was boss at Blackburn and judging by his most recent remarks, the Gunners chief’s views on teams who do not play the pure brand of football he believes in have not changed.

Yet Hughes is unconvinced that teams can be successful without a harder edge to their game, using his own team as an example to prove the point.

“Arsene has a fantastic philosophy. Everybody in football appreciates it,” said Hughes. “We are trying to reach the heights he has reached. I know we have the capability to play football as expansive and creative as Arsenal. But you can’t be successful if you just have that kind of player.

“Last season was an illustration. At times we played fantastic flowing, open football. But against certain other types of teams we could not compete. I have done OK against Arsene’s teams in the past. I know what they enjoy and what they don’t. We will try and exploit that.”

Such comments are unlikely to go down too well with Wenger, who can expect to meet a City side not afraid to get stuck into the opposition. Yet they could hardly be described as kickers either, even with a firebrand like Craig Bellamy involved given Carlos Tevez is out with a knee injury.

Certainly Wenger would never have described Toure and Adebayor as such during their respective eight and three-year stints with the north London outfit. Both joined City during the summer, allowing Arsenal to pocket £40 million (€47m) in the process.

The loss of Adebayor in particular was not lamented for long given his reputation as a disruptive influence.

Yet, according to Hughes, that side of the Togo striker’s character has not surfaced since his move north, only an appetite for goals.

“A lot of things were said about his demeanour in the last year but I have not seen anything like that,” said Hughes.

“Emmanuel is playing with a smile on his face. That is evident to everybody. He is scoring goals as well. As a striker that is important when you move to a new club.”

The presence of Adebayor – who has scored in all three games during a 100% start to their league campaign – and Toure at City is crucial to the club’s progression in more aspects than just their performance on the field.

In attracting two men who were an integral part of a top-four team, the Blues can show leaving a club like Arsenal no longer has to be viewed as a step down.

“They are looking forward to this game with relish,” purred Hughes. “They are both really enjoying being a big part of what is happening here. There is a lot of focus on us and they want to show what they are capable of.

“They have a huge amount of respect for Arsenal and were a big part of their success there. Now they want to show even when you leave one of the top four it is not a downward step when you come to a club like Manchester City.”

For his part, Wenger insists he has no regrets over seeing both Adebayor and Toure leave Arsenal for Eastlands.

“There are no hard feelings for Toure or Adebayor,” the Arsenal manager insisted. “I always wish my former players to be happy. It is part of life that players move on. That is not a reason that you want them not to be happy. I am extremely confident they will be and wish them well.

“Adebayor has started the season on fire and we have to put that fire out,” he said.

However, Wenger maintained: “I do not regret losing him. I believe we lost a great player, but we have other great players behind. I believe in Eduardo, (Carlos) Vela and (Nicklas) Bendtner and we of course already have (Robin) van Persie as a big asset in our team.

“We have a good striking force, we have (Theo) Walcott who can be turned into a striker so we can cope with that (loss).”

Wenger insisted: “I personally do not think that Adebayor was obsessed by money.

“I must say that to be fair to him. If you consider the Premier League, you cannot say we are one of the bottom clubs financially. We have very fair financial potential.”