Yes, but in the early to mid 2000's those two players were in a phase where they could be considered lucky to even be in a first team of a top club, regardless of their talent. Once their stock really came up, Barca were almost undisputedly among the top 2-3 clubs in the world.
Oh and what about Tony Adams? Can't say I remember transfer activities from the early 90's, but surely he had to be in demand?
So basically the answer the the OP is, yes lots of players are loyal. Rotten van Pussy just ain't one of them.
I honestly would argue the opposite. There are extremely few 'loyal' players. By loyal I mean players who would turn down better prospects and working conditions elsewhere to remain at the club they feel an emotional or personal bond with. The vast majority of players described as 'loyal' in these threads were never in a position for their loyalty to be truely tested. Whenever a player is in contract negotiations there will be countless factors to consider in their decision to stay or leave. Many players described as 'loyal' have held their club to ransom to get a better deal than they would elsewhere. Is this loyalty? Sad fact of football is next to none of the players are 'loyal.' They at all times will go to the club whos overall package (money, teammates, position of importance, likelihood of winning something, likelihood of catching international managers' eye) is best for them individually. Whether that is at the club they are 'loyal' to or not is irrelevant.
I agree with your sentiment, but RVP said that he only wanted to win trophies with Arsenal and return us to our glory days. Either his words ring really hollow, or he has shown massive disloyalty to the club. Bob Wilson summed it up today, when he said that he was reading RVP's programme notes about how much he loved Arsenal, how proud he was to be captain and to lead the team, and less than a year later is watching him sign for Utd.
The problem is the press propoganda machine put these players in awkwards positions all the time and take words out of context - i havent seen the interview you refer to but I can definitely imagine him being asked the direct question 'do you think this arsenal side are capable of winning trophies?' - which is tantamount to asking 'do you need to move elsewhere to win something' - what is he supposed to say? it is the ultimate catch 22: A player's position in a club is made completely untenable if they outwardly undermine the manager, the players and the club's ambition. They all do it - they have to plead loyalty and commitment to the cause, otherwise the fans think they dont want to be there, their teammates think they dont want to be there and their position in the team will be seriously compromised. I just think everything a player says has to be taking with a pinch of salt in this regard - leading questions are asked designed to get a certain response, and more often than not hand tied players will say exactly what the media propoganda machine want to hear.
That could be right for other players, but Van Persie went out of his way to claim that he was a massive gooner and so on. He talked about things like that and posted pictures to claim all this. See the picture below. please log in to view this image
Is there a team in the world that hasn't tried to sign him? That's loyaly. You could mention Totti then as well. Del Piero, Juve had to release him, as he would never leave.
RVP wasn't a victim of press propaganda, they were his words, unprompted - and seemingly genuine about his love of Arsenal.
Mmmm looks pretty damning I'll admit - the problem is at the time he probably did love arsenal. Just like I really like Ive had jobs that Ive loved at considered myself a part of that working family. But when the time is up the time is up, and he obviously felt, and not entirely unjustifiably, that he wouldnt realise his ambition at arsenal. The releasing of a statement saying he intended to leave was a damned if he did and damned if he didnt. Personally I completely understand why he did it and dont consider it disrespectful - had he not released that statement he would have had an entire summer up to this week of 'are you happy at arsenal? are you staying at arsenal? Can you pledge yourself to the arsenal fans?' he would have had to either be elusive (which would be considered disrespectful) or lie (which would be considered disrespectful). Regarding the quotes from PISKIE - were those words necessarily hollow? he probably did want to win with arsenal. he probably did want to win the arsenal way. And in the same way you let the girl of your dreams go if it simply isnt working, he personally decided he wasnt going to win anything with arsenal. Can you honestly blame him for that? Im not actually RVP's fan club's representative here believe it or not - I just find it hard to imagine a single other person with RVP's ability placed in exactly the position RVP was in acting that far differently.
No need to apologise, but accepted anyway. Point was purely to point out the difference. You are a good poster. Sol was a **** to you guys, worse than any player who has left us, but he had more reason to do it.
How can you blame RVP for wanting away !!!!!!! he's sick and tierd of being a looser, season after season he ends up with sweet fug all, he simply wants too win things and lets face it he was'nt gonna win fug all staying at arsenil, simples
Reading this poorly written post led me to the conclusion that you were either a 4 year old or a Chelsea fan.
