âI needed a change in my life, thatâs the truth,â he said. âWe werenât winning any titles and it was very frustrating for me. I didnât feel like I was developing anymore as I should do. âI want to be in a club that is able to win the big titles year after year and I donât see that kind of future for Arsenal. I still have many feelings for Arsenal but I fear that they wonât be able to push the other big clubs in England away. âIf you look at the team this season I canât see them finishing in front of teams like Manchester United or City. Or Chelsea. Thereâs just too big a difference between the squads. âI respect that Arsenal doesnât have the same financial opportunities as the others but it was part of my decision to leave that I find it hard to see Arsenal winning Premier League or Champions League in a near future. âI hope they will replace me and the others that have left with some quality players and maybe they can take Arsenal back to their level as champions.â === A fair assessment? Are we being too optimistic hoping to compete with 3 teams with huge financial resources? Or will the FFP rules bring Arsenal back into contention? For me, it's the off-the-field drama that is of paramount importance to staying competitive - signing new, and better endorsements in many countries around the world to bring finance in. Exploiting the Asian and American markets. As a brand, Man Utd are many years ahead, they've set the bar, Arsenal must rise to the challenge.
My god! He's really sticking the knife into you guys, isn't he? Do you think any of this is going to affect his status as an Arsenal legend?
I think they are fair enough comments in some respect, thats said I and most othe fans would prefer if he just kept his mouth shut but that would be asking to much from the modern day chav footballers, they all like to run their mouths and flash their tatoos, it's not just Fab or Nasri. They then try and sugar coat it by saying I love th club etc...
........Does anyone here really think we're better/ can compete with united and city?!....... nothing wrong with the comments.
It's a fair assessment and not particularly harsh. The current squad is'nt good enough to win the league.
Hardly. The guy is just saying the truth. Most Gooners accpet that we are not going to compete with the top 3 this year.
Seems like a fair assessment to me, I don't think we are at the level of man city and man utd at the moment. Hoddle is god That type of remark is why people think you are only here to wind us up!
I think this comment has been taken out of context by the media. I do agree with the general sense, that we will not be able to compete with City, Chelsea and United. It's called being realistic. However I think there are a lot of positives we can look forward to in the future.
Robin my friend please log in to view this image I don't think Mr H is here to wind us up. If anything I felt right from the start he had been sympathetic and supportive of us and the difficulties we have had of late. I do think he enjoys our company which is why he is a frequent visitor and he doesn't view us with the same level of rivalry as occasionally happens with supporters of clubs that are not too distant from each other. To return to his question, I think words like those reported by the OP if accurate can indeed affect our view of Fabregas. I for one have been luke warm to some of his manner when he was a somewhat uninspiring leader of the team and the way by which he chose to leave us. His skills can be sublime but I am not totally comforted by his commitment in an Arsenal shirt and if these words were true, as many here know, I have been quite clear about being happy to leave Cesc Fabregas in the past. Give me a Henry or Viera any day. In respect of the OP's post, well I agree with most here who say that what has been reported is not far from the truth but if Cesc did say that, I just wish he would have been more vocal while he was playing for us than to do so after he had left. Cheers pal
He's not going to be an Arsenal legend. Arsenal Legends include recent players like Henry, Bergkamp and Viera, players from further down the line like Wilson, Rocastle and Bastin, and managers who have achieved great at this club such as Chapman and Wenger.
I hold no serious grudges against Cesc, but he will not be remembered as an Arsenal legend. Just the best of a good group of players who weren't able to push on when the pressure mounted at the business end of a season. I agree that these comments may be taken out of context, journalists (especially the gutter press) do this regularly. That said, I cannot fault some of the points he raises. They are uncomfortable truths. We simply cannot compete with the likes of Man City and Chelsea in terms of the contracts and pay packets they offer. The spiteful/irrational side of me does hope that Real Madrid eclipse Barcelona and Arsenal prove everyone wrong by winning a major trophy. The rational/realistic side of me knows that this is probably unlikely and wishes Cesc all the best (paradoxically though, I hope Barcelona fail miserably). A tough situation, no easy answers. I suppose we should all hope that the Arsenal prove Cesc wrong and then cheekily mock him with our newfound success.
Cesc is not sticking teh knife in. I agree that his comments have probably been manilpulated to read differently as he would have meant no disrespect or criticism to the club. He has been openly criticised by team mates in Barca for tweeting good luck to his ex Arsenal colleagues and in media interviews constantly saying that he will always love Arsenal, he is similar to Henry in that he loved the club, he's moved on and will/should always be held in high regard by Arsenal fans. Where I do have an issue is that his transfer was not market benchmarked, in other words the rich kids of world football weren't given a chance to value him because he said he wouldn't play for anyone other than Barca, this immediately gave Barca the upper hand and allowed them to buy the player for much less than his true value. But this discussion has been done to death.....
Cesc is just being honest.... All we have to fight for this season and for the forseeable future is 4th spot, (us, spurs and loserpool). Nasri said the same thing in a round about way when questioned about whether he left for money. He said let's wait until the end of the season, and we'll see where Arsenal finish and where we (citeh) finish. Any player with an aspiration of winning things or being in the mix up till the death would be deluding themselves (just like some fans here), if they think they can realise that ambition with Arsenal.... At least the good thing is come end of season, we get to keep our players.... as I don't think we have any player the big teams would want! .
Thank you, Mr RvB Indeed, I am not here to wind you up. Were that the case, I could easily have taken a very different tack. The point I'm trying to make is this. Had Modric left us in the last window to go to Chelsea and, whilst there, had spouted to the press that he didn't think we were good enough for top 4, I'd have been very angry. Not least of all because he would have been one of the major reasons for our weakened state. It would have sounded like scoffing, no matter how well-intended it was meant by the player. I feel the same way about Fabregas making his comments in the press, about your club. No matter how well-intended his comments are (and I'm not convinced they are well-intended, at all), I cannot see that they are welcome by any Gooner with any degree of pride. If I were a Gooner, I would be extremely angry with the mere fact that he sees it as his place to continue to make comments about your club.
Do you think we are that deluded that we think we can compete with the big 3 and especially the two Manchester teams? We know we can't. And as Cesc said we do not have the financial power to compete. Cesc can make any comment about our club. He has given 8 years of great service. He is telling it as it is. And most Gooners that are sane agree.
Gooners and Sane are mutually exclusive! At the ground on Saturday, the gooners I spoke to expected us to give Swansea a good old hiding! Some are even saying our team is better balanced this season then last season!
We have never really competed, a league title here and there. Am glad Chelsea and Man city got money cos if they didn't our league would be worst than Scotland and Spain. Man U would walk are league year in year out like they have been doing just worst. Last time we won back to back titles was in the 30s, that pisses me off.
You are one crazy tiger, Mr SJW19! God alone knows what this has to do with what I wrote, but I'm not going to argue with you about it. Let's both choose, instead, to agree that you certainly won't be competing with the two Manchester teams. Back to my point, though, do you still revere Fab as a man who had the interests of your club at heart? Or do you think that he used you as nothing more than a stepping stone to get back to Barca?
We do have a better balance. mertesacker, santos, and TV an kossy with a year in the prem under their belt, and szneznky established makes us stronger at the back gervinho is actually an attack as apposed to playing nasri a midfielder in an attacking role, with RVP seeming fitter, and theo and better backup our attack is probably abit better And our midfield, with frimpong coming through, is maybe less creative, but is more balanced
