From Keano : Bending over for Barca / Young keepers
Interestingly, I was going to write to you saying the same thing this morning.
Out of everyone in this scenario, I feel for Cesc the most. His attitude & behaviour during this situation are very commendable.
But if Barca do not offer what we deem to be his market value, then how can Arsenal accept the bid?
There would be no logical business sense in doing this. Or should we just let ourselves be mugged of £10m-15m because it’s Barca? I understand the whole, ‘carrying an unhappy player’ thing but if you sign to a club until 2020 then tough sh!t (though I’m sure he was somehow railroaded into that contract).
As far as I see it, the papers can report ever more excitedly, ‘Cesc to leave this month / this week / tomorrow / today etc etc’…& people can go crazy waving bye to Fab4.
But if the Spaniards don’t cough up then why should Arsenal sell? Ronaldo went for £80m with a number of years left on this MUFC contract. £40m seems cheap, plus they say they’ll only offer 40m euros. Just because Barca come calling, are we just supposed to bend over and take it?
Unfortunately, Cesc’s big heart went last season, as he & we realised the players around him just don’t cut the mustard. A real shame to end in this way.
By the way, what do you think of United in selling this young U21 Spanish keeper? I do remember you saying a while ago, ‘Buy experience for inbetween the sticks. If you are going to experiment with youth, make sure it isn’t with your goalkeeper. No successful club has won anything with a rookie shot stopper’. Or something to that effect. ‘Sheszney’ has suddenly become an old head.
From Alex Smith : Adios Fab
Hi Myles,
I would think most Arsenal fans want Fab to go for the exact same reason you do – his heart is not in it anymore.
It’s a shame really that he never lead us to success (not that it was his fault).
Will he ever be the leader at Barcelona? Will he be the talisman, the super-star? Lots of talent ahead of him, more acomplished than him. But maybe he will be better as a role player – I know lots of people argue about whether or not he’s a good leader. I’ve had my doubts.
My parting words to him would be something along the lines of: “Good luck Cesc. You gave us season after season of great performances, and helped shape the passing style we now heavily rely on. I’m sorry to see you go, but hope you’ll find happiness again back in Spain. Just know that you could have found success here too. We are so close, and you could have helped make it happen if your head was in it, and you ‘managed’ Wenger correctly. And know that lifting Arsenal’s first trophy after 7 seasons as its captain would be far more rewarding than being 9th in line to hold Barca’s umpteenth trophy of the past 5 seasons. But if that’s what your heart wants, then so be it. Take care.”
So I’m ready to move on. The situation has to be managed carefully though – if we let Cesc leave, it HAS to be for the right price. Barcelona as a city is known for mugging (and I can atest to this from experience), but we can’t let their football club do the same to us.
I’ll look forward to the new talent. We still have a decent core, providing we retain Wilshere, Nasri, Vermaelen and RVP, while getting rid of junk status players (Bendtner, Squillaci, Eboue).
As you have said in the past (I think): no single player is bigger than the club.
From Jeff Morrison : Fabregas
Totally agree. Cesc has waited long enough. He’s obviously going, so get it done and start the new era, however it looks.
Thought it was desperation when he was made captain.
As good as he is, he’s not a captain. Hopefully a healthy Vermaelen will do that. It was unfair of Wenger to do that to him, I think. Cesc’s loyalty up til now has been stellar, especially for one so young. Being captain was a drain on him he didn’t deserve.
From James Hutchins : Selling
I don’t think Arsenal need to crumble under the pressure of the calendar, if Barcelona want Cesc before he goes to pre-season then they need to listen and adhere to the requests of his contract holders.
Cesc is professionally duty bound, he may not like it but that is it. If he has a tantrum, he will look like a prat.
Contracts are serious things, you never sign the dotted line without being fully aware of the consequences. Samir Nasri is making sure he doesn’t make any mistakes in that area.
I’m sure the team can play on without Fabregas. There comes a time when a club needs to appear not to sell all its best players though. Hopefully that is from now on, otherwise we may lose Robin next year.
From Javi in Uganda : Fabregas + other transfers
I like your assessment of the Fabregas and transfer issue, and I hope you are right. Right that Wenger will change his spots and not push it to the very end.
I bet the shareholders will be the happiest at the end of the day, but is it possible for both the fans and shareholders to be happy? Wenger will definitely try and net off with a profit, but will it be at a huge cost on the pitch?
If Fabregas, Denilson, Bendtner, plus a few young ones bring in 50M with Fabregas contributing 40M, will Arsenal be better off with Cahill in, Scott Parker in, Gervinho in, plus an old experienced keeper in, all for less than 50M?
Am not talking Mata because I don’t think Wenger will spend that much. I also doubt he will go for Parker and Cahill, simply because he wont want to be seen going where every body is telling him to go, no matter how obvious it is.
From Brendan : Fabregas
Hi Myles,
I like your comment on the commodification of music through the invasion of cameras. Absolutely goddamn right.
I had to share this with you – when I read “Arsenal prepared to sell Fabregas” on the BBC website, I don’t know why, but a weight lifted off my mind.
I hate the expression ‘bigger picture’ – but in all the nonsense about Fabregas, the ‘bigger picture’ was being obscured.
No player / manager / owner is bigger than the club, or is indispensible to it. Not even David Dein is indispensible.. although he’s harder to replace than most.
From Mike Geraghty : We do need something to talk about
Hi Myles,
In response to your piece about Fabregas, I’d just like to add that it might also be in Arsenal’s best interests to move him on. The makeup of this side has been built around Fabregas. It is no wonder we are often described as “Barca Lite”.
I agree that Fabregas has carried this team for years, but then it was built around him so he had to be the main man. It often struck me in recent years that we have too many similar players who all want to play through the middle.
We\’ve had Arshavin, Fabregas, Nasri, Rosicky, Ramsey and even Diaby that all want to play in an advanced central midfield position. To accommodate this overload of small skilful playmakers we switched to a 4-3-3. This is a formation that hasn\’t suited any of our strikers, with the exception of maybe RVP.
Now if Fab4 does move on, then I think we should look at changing this formation. Because without rigorous implementation of the disciplined off the ball pressing game that Barca employ, this formation leaves too many holes at the back when employed by an attacking team.
Also, without strikers of the very highest caliber, the system does not help to break down teams who sit back and are very well organised at the back. I think it\’s fair to say that Arsenal have been porous at the back and impotent up front for large parts of the the past two seasons. Things have to change, signings are needed if we are to continue with this model.
Then again, signings are needed no matter what the game-plan is. I am encouraged by what you say about the European transfer window. I didn\’t know that it didn\’t open until July 1st. It\’s given me some enthusiasm. For a few days anyway!
From John Feeney : Transfer saga
You are quite right to stay out of it all, Myles.
One of the changes that has occurred since Sky took over football is the media obsession with “breaking news”. This can be something significant like the capture of Saddam or things as daft as Fabregas going home.
Ultimately, we have speculation and opinion presented as news which I find both tedious and horrifying with equal measure.
As an Arsenal fan, with a 10-year old son that worships Fab 4 in a healthy football-based way ( don’t get me started on the media obsession with celebrity), it will be sad to see him go.
This sadness is amplified by the fact that I am convinced ,in Parallel Universe somewhere, Jim Bowen is on Bullseye with his arm around Cesc saying ” Come here son, look at what you could have won”.
But for the intransigence of one man, Fabregas would be leaving these shores with happy memories and medals.
From Dominic Wright: Fabregas is too good for Arsenal
Fabregas leaving this summer will be a major boost for Arsenal. The lad is just too good for us.
Wenger has developed a style of play around Cesc.
The fact that he is one of the best players in the world, and up there with the best players ever to grace the famous red and white (and let’s face it we have had some good ones) you might say that this is not a bad idea.
But the problem with this approach is that as soon as the lad is injured or if he has a bad day, the system breaks down, and we just never win. It’s not because we don’t have the talent in the squad, it’s because the system without Cesc in it is all wrong.
What Wenger tries to do is stick with the same game plan whether or not Cesc is available, and whether or not he is on form.
He therefore simply tries to slot an alternative player in to the Cesc role, and the major flaw to this strategy is that even though they are extremely talented in their own ways, neither Nasri, Arshavin, Ramsey, Wilshere, or anyone else in the world can do what he does in the style with which he does it.
I don’t even think the great AW realises how much better he is than everyone else.
If he did, then he would realise that without Cesc the system needs to be different.
His all-round play is truly exceptional. He receives the ball in every part of the pitch and within the blink of an eye spots a pass, and plays the pass with unbelievable accuracy. When there is nobody making the runs, he just scores himself, and the lad is extremely tough to boot!
When he arrives at Barca, I am putting my money on Messi getting 60 goals next season, as he can split a defence even better than Xavi or Iniesta. He is that good. People say he won’t get in the team. I am telling you now, he will. You don’t pay £40 Million for a player to sit on the bench.
So, when he is gone, I fully expect to see a different system employed at Arsenal.
A system which benefits Nasri (if he stays), Wilshere (if he survives the nighclubs of London), Arshavin, Walcott and Ramsey. Name me a team in the EPL with a better midfield than that.
I honestly will miss the lad, and having just paid out £12k for 4 Club Level tickets, I will be disappointed that he has gone.
But, I think we will compete next season, simply because the team will have to employ a style which better suits the very talented group of players we will have left, rather than the unbelievable talent of one man.
Fab4 has been the best and the worst signing of AW’s tenure at Arsenal.
Without him we would have won more trophies, but having watched the lad for all these years, I feel honoured to have had the chance to witness such mastery of a football on such a regular basis.