Cesc Fabregas

I think you might be confusing the categories for quality. Giroud/vermaelen/podolski are players who, while they weren’t quite to the standard of Fabregas, wore the shirt with pride, didn’t want to leave the club and ultimately we’d welcome back here warmly.

Sanchez is in that category because he’s a snake. Wanted to leave Arsenal for a domestic rival. Kept quiet about it. Made some cutting comments about winning trophies after he’d joined Manchester United.

Fabregas belongs with them.

We aren’t gonna agree on this so :+1:

Players are only as loyal as their options. If Barcelona had wanted any of those players then they’d have gone there. Quite literally in Vermaelen’s case.

Podolski was willing to leave Koln, his boyhood club that he loved with all his heart, to come to Arsenal because we’d pay more and are a far bigger club. If you think he wouldn’t have done the same to us if he was wanted by an elite club then you’re very naive. If you think Giroud would have said no thanks to Barca or Real because he loved us and wanted to stay here then the same applies.

I’ll never understand praising people for their loyalty when that loyalty isn’t properly tested. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence that the players praised for their loyalty are never as good as the ones who leave for bigger clubs and get called snakes.

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True.

The only two prime examples of player’s loyalty that I can think off the top of my head where they could have moved onto bigger things in their careers are Totti and Gerrard.

Then there are players like Puyol, Pique, Lampard, but there was hardly much bigger scene for them to go to so it was kind of easy for them to stay with their clubs.

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Don’t forget Fergie tried to sign Adams years ago…A real legend is big Tone………

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I suppose this makes players like Thierry Henry pretty loyal as every top club in Europe would have wanted him in his mid20s, same can be said for Eden Hazard.

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We were pretty much on the top stage, with better teams for the most part of Henry’s career than Real Madrid, Barça etc.

There is no doubt Henry was loyal to us, and is certainly a real Arsenal man since he retired, but it feels as if it was a different kind of loyalty and respect than say Tony Adams

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Yeah that’s a good point I suppose, plus the Champions league was a lot more open competition in Henry’s era.

It’s not naivety in so much “it is what it is”, to coin a horrible contemporary saying.

Pod, Verms and Giroud may not have attracted interest from a different club but they still wore the shirt with pride while they were here. In fact, Vermaelen is an interesting one. When he was captained, he put a shift in (unlike Fabregas). When he was injured, it didn’t spark suspicion as to whether his head was still at Arsenal (unlike Fabregas). He also left when he was surplus to requirements at Arsenal (unlike Fabregas)

Cesc was pitiful and deceptive in his last season here. It left a bad taste in the mouth. If it hadn’t have been for adebayor and rvc acting worse when they left us, this would still be a very raw wound.

Good example with the Tony Adams one guys. I think we can add Darren Anderton and Alan Shearer to that list as “loyalists”, so to speak

I’m under the impression Cesc handled it well. He always said he’d go back one day, he signed a 3y deal for us to get some money and didn’t talk too much iirc. The Barca clowns were dicks tapping gim up though. Also when he came back to England he had family in London and we were his first choice but we said no to him (we had Özil) so he signed for the only other top club around.

None of us really know ofc but that’s how I saw it. I’m not mad at him, I missed him for a few years but now I kind of nothing him.

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Well stop posting pics of yourself on the shitter.

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And the others didn’t? C’mon now

Why you trying to change him? :santi:

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I’m not trying to change him, just refine him a little bit. :hipster:

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He’s trying really hard too get another contract…

Fo real tho, match threads are so boring :expressionless:

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Good read this.

If he still had legs it would all be good.

That’s his main issue, needs others to really carry the load and in an age of increased athleticism coaches would rather play the more mobile players with similar qualities.

I find Cesc’s issue is more morale based.

Jorginho doesn’t have any athleticism either. At Napoli he had Allan to do the defensive work for him and now he’s got both Kovavic and Kanté to do it.

This is more a case of him not being perfectly suited to any of the 3 midfield roles that Sarri uses. We’re still talking about a midfielder who ended the 16/17 season with 5 goals and 12 assists despite only starting 13 games.