The Great Big Cesc Scandal

So after two whole months of publicly tapping up Cesc Fabregas, those pricks at Barcelona have finally faced up to the fact that they can't afford him decided that they'd prefer to make a serious bid for him next season. Their new president Sandro Rosell claims:

Arsenal feels very hurt by Barca. They don't want to listen to offers or sell and they are not putting the player on the market. There was a strong dispute a few months ago and they have not forgotten it.

He will arrive, even if it is not now, it will be next year. We will see. One thing that is certain is that we will not go mad trying to sign him.

No shareholder would pay €60 or €70 million for him. We will not go all out for him. We would only pay his value in the transfer market.

You know what, Sandro...

First of all, no Arsenal fan feels "hurt" by this. I think the best words to describe how this whole affair has made us feel is "fucked off". Hurt suggests that their actions weren't necessarily disrespectful to our club but we are the ones who took it the wrong way. Even in their attempt to try to look amicable they can't help being disparaging. And we should do business with them?

Obviously after the way they tried to bully us into selling our player and also with the way they publicly tapped him up as well, we would strengthen our resolve not to sell him. What the hell would you expect?! We're in a situation where we don't need the money and they don't even have that much money to begin with. Who has the upper hand then? They're the ones trying to buy him and then want to call the shots. That's absolutely ridiculous. Of course we'd tell them where to shove that £40M they tried to offer us.

He claims they're going to be back for him next year and who knows, maybe they will get him depending on how our season goes and if Cesc either feels frustrated that he can't win cups with Arsenal or if we've won the Premiership and perhaps the Champions League and he feels he's done all he can at the club and it's time to move on. I'm sure when the time comes for him to go we'll be able to adequately replace him. My only concern is that Barcelona will be back with their dirty attitude next season and we're gonna be forced to go through this whole debacle again because they'll want to try to force us to accept a fee much less than Cesc's worth.

Some more quotes coming out of that article have highlighted Cesc saying he wants to go back to Barca. Hold on now, before you get your Fruit of the Looms in a knot you should read what it says:

I have not spoken to anybody in the last few days and I want to ignore anything regarding my future for now. I want to enjoy my holidays and I don't want to talk about Barcelona at this moment.

I make no apologies for the comments I have made in the past. I have expressed my interest in returning and I stand by that, as that is my personal wish.

This is nothing that should come as a surprise to anyone. Cesc had made it no secret that he intends to return to Barca someday. With that said, there are some who are treating this as though he just came up out of the blue with these statements. He never said anything about definitely wanting to go back this season. He wants to return to play there to honour his grandfather. He wants to do it when he feels he's given all he can to us. That might still be a few years from now. What's wrong with that? His granddad took him to Barca games from the moment he started walking. He's already spent six seasons with us and the day's gonna come when he'd like a new challenge. It just so happens that he's eying a challenge back where he started and to do something for his grandfather before his time comes. There's nothing ungrateful about what he said. What's ungrateful is how fans are now turning on him. Cesc has never ever uttered a bad word about or been disrespectful to Arsenal FC or its fans yet he's somehow gone from hero to zero with some of our stupid impulsive fans.

Arsenal fans are so fickle that it's downright annoying. One minute they're praising you, naming babies after you, worshiping the ground you walk on, then the next they're badmouthing you, calling you all manners of evil and building a cross for your crucifixion.

During the season when he was scoring week in, week out he could do absolutely no wrong. As far as Arsenal fans were concerned he was the second coming of Christ. lately things have taken a 180 degree turn in terms of fan opinion of the Spaniard. With all that's happened for him this summer he should feel as though he's on top of the world and so should his fans but if he was to take all the vitriol being directed at him to heart how could he be?

Some of the things being said about him have just been absolutely appalling. I've even seen a few idiots calling for him to be stripped of the captaincy. The captaincy?! Are they serious? If Cesc was more of a captain last season, he would've bled from the ears. This is all because of that one very ambiguous video which surfaced a few days ago where people claim Pique (purposefully) spat at some old guy and Fabregas

Remember in the Barca match at home last season how Cesc slapped that penalty WITH A BROKEN LEG to keep us in the tie with a chance at the Nou Camp? He wasn't much of a captain then?

Or how about at Stoke in February when Ramsey had his leg twisted into a pretzel by that wet fart Ryan Shawcross? Who was it that shouted at each and every player on the pitch, whom I might add were very visibly shaken by the horrific injury, to not lose focus and rallied the team from scraping a 1-1 draw to win the match 3-1...scoring a goal himself? Isn't that the mark of a true captain?

Who ran the length of the Spurs half in the North London Derby at home last season to score a very iconic individual goal against our most hated rivals?

Remember when Cesc forced himself to be fit enough to make the bench for the Villa game and get on the pitch and score two goals when the game looked like it was headed for a scoreless stalemate? You're telling me that's not the mark of a true leader - knowing that he'd put his body on the line like that for the sake of the club's title chase and for the sake of the fans? How many players in the modern game would do that? Adebayor? Robinho? Berbatov?

Wasn't Cesc the skipper who captained our team to a close title race this season? Wasn't he the one who captained the team while playing through injury with a broken leg?

Who dedicated his World Cup win to Arsenal Football Club and its fans? Anyone who claims Cesc shouldn't be the Arsenal captain is just downright ungrateful.

What these people don't realise is that this is exactly the trickery Barcelona planned to get their grubby hands on Fabregas. All these incidents happening in the media that are turning the fans on Cesc will just prove to be a push factor to take him back to Barcelona. This is exactly what they want! Don't fall for it!

Anyway that's enough blogging for now. Leave your comments in the comments section and let me know what you think. Dust!

Where Do Cesc And Robin Go From Here? (Part 1)

Whether you're a fan of Spain or Holland, if you're an Arsenal fan you'd be happy to know that no matter who won the World Cup yesterday Arsenal would start next season with a world champion among our ranks. That player has turned out to be Cesc Fabregas.

First of all, congratulations are in order for the young Catalan whose pass in extra time provided the assist for Andres Iniesta to find the all important goal for Spain to claim their first ever world title. It now means that Fabregas has a World Cup medal to go along with his European Championship medal he won 2 years ago.

While I'm very happy for Cesc, I have to say I'm sad for van Persie. In my opinion, he needed this World Cup title more than Cesc because of what it could've done for his reputation. Whether Cesc had won the World Cup, he'd be known as Arsenal's world class central midfielder. Fabregas is always spoken of in high regard by many pundits, managers and players. Throughout the years he's always been regarded as exceptionally talented at such a young age.

At 23 years old Cesc has now won the World Cup as well as the European Championship and this is coupled with the fact that he's highly sought after by Barcelona. He's so sought after that we've slapped a £50 million price tag on him. This is why as I said before, he's in the category of 'world class'.

Many naysayers may say he's not truly a World Cup winner due to how much time he spent on the bench for Spain but they can go to hell. If not for Cesc's pass to Iniesta the game might've ended goalless and gone unto penalties and who knows what would've happened there?

On the international stage, he's won both major titles available to him and the only way he could add to that is to repeat the feat of being European and World Champion for a second time by featuring as a starter in the Spanish team the next time around, if Spain manages to repeat this success.

At the club level, however, Cesc has a lot left to achieve. He still needs to win a league title and a Champions League title and then he can think about being in the running for a FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Hopefully what the World Cup has taught Fabregas is that his time spent on the bench is just a foreshadowing of what would happen should he leave Arsenal for Barcelona. Cesc, although not given enough playing time at the World Cup, had given better performances in his short time on the pitch than both Xavi and Iniesta and each time he's been subbed on he's either looked likely to score or likely to create a goal.What I'm saying is that even though his performances have been better than both Xavi and Iniesta's, he's not been made to start due to the seniority both those players hold in the team. If he was to go to Barcelona, it would serve as a clear indication that the same would happen there. Even our chairman Peter Hill-Wood believes this:

If you want my opinion, I’m not sure he would even get in their team. Do they need him? I’m not sure that they do.

Cesc has a good head on his shoulders and while it's pretty clear he wants to return to Barcelona someday, it would be best for him to stay at Arsenal for another 2 or 3 seasons and achieve what he can here as our captain and try to win the Premiership and maybe even the Champions League with us. This would help to establish him as one of the truly great players of the decade. When Xavi and Iniesta have both aged and the Barcelona management are ready to move them on, Cesc will be ready for a triumphant return to Barcelona where he'll be sure to be a starter in that team as he'll still be in the prime of his career while Xavi and Iniesta will be heading downhill.

Don't Be A Sheep

by Rachid

Cesc Fabregas had more to say on the silly rumours linking him with Barcelona. According to the Arsenal skipper:

I haven't said that I will definitely leave Arsenal. Everything is possible. Now I have my head and my focus on the World Cup. I am very proud to be captain of Arsenal and I love the club and have respect for them. It gave me such pride to be made captain.

Quite frankly I don't see why we're still on this. Yeah it's clear Cesc is considering going to Barcelona but it just won't happen. The last time he spoke on this issue he said he'll leave it in Wenger's hands and what that means is that Wenger will decide his future, not Cesc.

When Barcelona offered us a measly £25M for him we told them it's not enough and we will not be making counteroffers with them nor entertaining further negotiations. In other words, we said 'That's that, we're not selling him and that's final'. You'd think that the board saying this to them would kill those rumours, but no, they still persist.

Is it that the media just want us to lose our players that badly that they'd help Barcelona continue their bullying and tapping up tactics? I certainly think so. What's even worse is the group of mindless Arsenal fans who are willing to believe anything at all they hear or read or see on tv. They're the ones who allow these rumours to continue as they're the ones who keep falling for them and reacting to them as if they were true about him leaving. Why must Arsenal fans be like this though? Why are Arsenal fans so pessimistic? More importantly, why is it that whenever stories like these circulate and officials inside the club make comments to kill them, many fans prefer not to believe these quotes but take everything spewed out by media houses such as Sky Sports and BBC Sport as gospel? Don't they see that it's their mindless following that is allowing the media to perpetuate this kind of bullshit?

Moving on...

There's word Lorient's Laurent Koscielny has agreed personal terms with Arsenal and both clubs have agreed on a transfer fee but the deal's yet to become official as all that's left to be done is for Arsene Wenger to dot the Is and cross the Ts. Apparently it's hard for him to do that though, when he's in South Africa without his Blackberry. What it means, however, is that we can rest assured that we have a defender coming in.

Word on the street is that we upped our £6M bid on Everton's Phil Jagielka by £4M and David Moyes has urged his board not to give in to our request. What I've heard is that this has caused us to turn our attention elsewhere - to Werder Bremen in fact, where Steve Rowley has been scouting Per Mertesacker. It is believed we're looking to offer Bremen the £10M we were gonna offer Everton for Jagielka for his services.

We're also being linked to Rangers' Madjid Bougherra and Benfica's Rafik Halliche. Both of these defenders are Algerian and if these rumours are true then it suggests that Wenger's had a firm eye on the proceedings in Group C at the World Cup.

Something that really irks me is that people are stupidly looking at the fact that we've let Senderos, Silvestre, Gallas and possibly even Sol Campbell go and we haven't made any defensive signings as yet, to suggest that we're not going to be making any signings at all. What the fuck?! Seriously? Are people that fucking inane? If we really weren't planning on signing replacements then it would mean we'd enter the new season with Vermaelen and Djourou as our only two senior defenders in the team. It doesn't take rocket science to see that that certainly can't work, especially for a team with title ambitions. Of course we're going to be signing more players. How many times does Arsene Wenger need to say it for people to believe it? He doesn't even have to say it. It's actually a given that we will, really.

People need to chill the fuck out and relax. This is the summer and a World Cup summer at that. There are many players who have their focus on the World Cup right now and those that already participated and got eliminated are off enjoying their well earned summer vacations. It's hard to do business with players right at this moment.

Not only are players off relaxing but so too is Arsene Wenger. He's in South Africa doing media work for French TV but as peculiar as it sounds, this is how Wenger is used to spending his time off from the club. The man is off enjoying himself, relaxing and recharging for next season and it's quite fine if he's not ready to make his signings yet because there's a time and place for everything and right now he's not at work for us.

Are people really dumb enough to think that they realise that the team needs strengthening but Arsene Wenger doesn't? How dimwitted do you really have to be to actually believe that? Seriously!

I think while there are the sheep who are stupid enough to follow every maniacal ranting spewed against Arsene Wenger, there are those who look to chastise him for every single reason they can find. Whether it's because we haven't won a trophy since fuck knows when or because they got soaked walking home in the pouring rain. I don't get why Arsenal fans have to be so negative all the time and create panic around the club when there really needs to be none at all. I just urge all of you reading this not to be as mindless as those who give those jerks creating drama around the club a soap box to stand on and speak. Think for yourself and question authority.

Anyway, this is the end of my rant for now. Leave your thoughts below. Dust!

Cesc Finally Speaks...Well Kinda

by Rachid

I've stayed away from the Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona rumours for as long as I could but today I saw something that forced me into giving my two cents on the matter. It was this video interview I found here on Sky Sports.

As I watched a few thoughts came to my mind which I'm now gonna share:

• In the past Cesc would've just categorically denied any claims about him wanting to go to Barcelona within hours of the rumours coming out in the press yet today he's saying he doesn't want to say much about it. It's just like when a celebrity's asked about their sexuality. If they're not gay they'd just be frank about it and say "No I'm not." but when they are, they beat around the bush because of the controversy it creates. It's the same thing here. Cesc wants to leave and it's pretty obvious. He would've shot this rumour down when it started two weeks ago if he didn't want to.

• I don't get why he wants to leave now. I mean, if he had said this last year it would've made more sense given the poor season we had then. Why now? Why now when we had a better season this year than last? Although the season didn't pan out how we hoped it would, there were definite positives to take from it. Wenger clearly has more money at his disposal this summer to spend on quality players to improve us. If we the fans know this then shouldn't the captain of the team know it as well? Why the impatience now?

• He knows there are fans who are gonna turn on him if he goes. In fact, there are some who already have. He's trying to be gracious and diplomatic as to not piss the fans off. As such he's sugarcoating the interview by saying how much he feels at home here and how much he respects Arsene Wenger. To me it sounds like a man who's in two minds and he wants to play it safe just in case he does leave.

• Cesc saying he had the most important conversation of his life with Wenger is a bit ambiguous. It could mean that he told him how important it is for him to leave and go back to Spain, confirming all the stuff Guillem Balague had been bleating about for weeks or it could mean he gave Wenger an ultimatum to improve the quality of the squad or he's gone.

• If Cesc wants to leave we still call the shots. He's still contracted to us and we can either hold him hostage here or demand a hefty price tag for him. If he goes we get quite a lot of cash to replace him with a player of equal calibre. On the other hand, if he stays we have an unhappy player on our roster who we might not get the most out of because he'd rather be playing elsewhere. It has the potential to be a lose/lose situation.

• Why is it that we seem to be changing captains every 2 years? We need some sustainability to the captaincy and if Cesc goes then Arsene Wenger needs to make sure we have a proper captain to replace Fabregas and make sure we don't have another Gallas situation on our hands.

Watch the video for yourself and tell me what you think in the comments section below. Be sure to click the follow button to the right of the page and follow the blog for updates on new posts. Until next time, take care fellow Gooners.

And The Rumours Keep Coming...

by Rachid

There's not much happening in the world of Arsenal today so it led to me trawling NewsNow for Arsenal content and I came across this:

"I have always dreamed about going to Spain and playing for the best team in the world.

''They were unsure about me when I was playing in Russia but I have shown them that I'm the real deal and I know they are ready to talk to me.

"I want to play for the top team and be trying to win every competition, I don't think you can rate one better than the other, it is all about winning. I want to play for them and that is never going to change.

"I know Gael Clichy would love to play out there as well, and he would work well in their team.

"It would be tough trying to compete with Xavi and Iniesta but that is the competition I want, I don't want to walk into a team."

 Maybe I just don't want to believe this because I really like Arshavin as a player and as a character but I can't understand why he'd say something like this, especially so soon after Wenger warned him to watch his mouth after the whole Russian interview controversy. I also don't get why he'd be making these statements when Barcelona, or no other club for that matter, have made an offer for him and it would mean that he'd have to stay at Arsenal another season after saying that to face the vitriol the fans will obviously dole out to him. It's not as if it's never happened before.

Something else I've been thinking about is why is it that these things only seem to happen with Arsenal players. Why is it that whenever a transfer window nears, it's always some controversy surrounding our players leaving? Why don't we hear United or Chelsea players flirting with other clubs to come get them? I might seem paranoid but I truly believe it's just another attempt by the media to settle our team. It seems Arsenal's the easiest team in England for the media to target to start witch hunts against the manager and player so time and time again we see stupid little stories and rumours like this.

The fans are to be blamed as well. Many times things like this come out the fans immediately believe it, no matter how far fetched it sounds and no matter how little logic there seems to be behind it. Why is that though? Why is it so easy for fans to believe made up stories involving our players but when the players come out and categorically deny them on Arsenal.com it's harder for the fans to believe those quotes that have come directly from the horses mouth.

It also seems now that the whole 'Cesc To Barca' drama (and I really hate using that D word) has gone dormant, the media needs a new target to unsettle and it seems the two players being focused on this season are Clichy and Arshavin. I don't think it's much of a coincidence that both players are linked to Barcelona again. Whenever these rumours come up, Barcelona's always the team we hear showing an interest in them. It's getting ridiculous now. Ridiculously boring.

Anyway leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Dust!