Football and Art: Are they really all that different?

“I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art. When you read some books they are fantastic, the writer touches something in you that you know you would not have brought out of yourself. He makes you discover something interesting in your life. If you are living like an animal, what is the point of living? What makes daily life interesting is that we try to transform it to something that is close to art. And football is like that.” - Arsene Wenger

So I may be old fashioned, but I don’t think anything really captures the beautiful game better than the 22 men on a pitch playing with pride, skill, honour, and most importantly joy. That being said, the artistic aspect of football has taken its hold on the game and has made what we all know and love truly surreal. From expensive commercials to new stadiums that push the limits in modern architecture to simply artists expressing themselves using the means of the world’s best footballers, I have to say that “art” in the more traditional sense has combined to produce an absolutely stunning product in recent years. I wanted to hear what your opinion was on this, so I thought I would contrast a bit of football “art” with the “art captured by football.” I think that the Zidane clip below captures the “art in football” rather well.

I’d love to hear what you have to say below! Do football and art go hand-in-hand or are they two completely different animals that should be kept separate?