[POLL] Should we have bought back Cesc Fabregas?

[mcdowell42]

Seeing as cesc is going to win the league for the chavs,he won't need the other 10 players on the pitch.

[northbank123]

DB10 given that everyone on here bitches and moans about not having a quality DM I would have though we are accepting that Fabregas would play alongside Ramsey AND a DM - meaning Ozil is shunted out wide. To be honest that would be okay by me as we never play with a natural left winger anyway and the option to rest players/cover injuries would be great.

Look I'm not saying that not re-signing Fabregas was the right decision, ultimately I don't believe it was and I'd be delighted if he was an Arsenal player right now. I just think that it would need some thought and sacrifice, especially given we all know the system will fundamentally not change. And also that Ramsey is a more realistic comparator than Ozil.

[DB10GOONER]

DB10 given that everyone on here bitches and moans about not having a quality DM I would have though we are accepting that Fabregas would play alongside Ramsey AND a DM - meaning Ozil is shunted out wide. To be honest that would be okay by me as we never play with a natural left winger anyway and the option to rest players/cover injuries would be great.

Look I'm not saying that not re-signing Fabregas was the right decision, ultimately I don't believe it was and I'd be delighted if he was an Arsenal player right now. I just think that it would need some thought and sacrifice, especially given we all know the system will fundamentally not change. And also that Ramsey is a more realistic comparator than Ozil.

Agreed. The main hinderance of course would be Arsene "Tactical Genius" Wenger.

[QuartzGooner]

Quartz when I hear 'number 10' I think either second striker or a Silva/Ozil sort of player who will happily drift round on the periphery and not track back etc if the team is struggling to win and retain possession.

I don't think Fabregas' game has ever focused that much around the sort of predatory positioning (between opposition lines) and intricate footwork in tight areas, little flicks and dinks etc that comes with that role. He was a far more dynamic player with a fantastic range of longer passing, deceptive pace that could leave opponents for dead and an ability to hold his own in the midfield battle.

Even if we played him in a slightly more advanced role I wouldn't call it a number 10 myself or compare it to Ozil's - as I've said before I think the nature of his game is more similar to Ramsey.

Have to differ, especially if we consider his last few seasons with us playing behind Van Persie, because I think his main focus was supplying passes for Van Persie.

It is a long discussion, loads more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playmaker

[WE8SPURS]

Not gutted he didn't come back to us as it's the one position we can cover with quality players (Ramsey/Ozil/Caz) just sick to my stomache that he went there.

It's not so much how he would have changed our team but more poignantly how he has strengthened theirs.

Personally I wouldn't care about this if we had signed a world class DM, striker and quality left back cover but when you have Arteta, Sanogo and (for more weeks than i'm comfortable with) Monreal now as first teamers it makes this story that much more relevant.

[Bendtners Drinking Buddy]

If he had gone to PSG i dont think we would all be crying out and highlighting the fact we didnt get him so much, i agree with that........he has ended up at the most scummy club he could possibly have gone too, thats the galling thing!

[Yankee_Gooner_Dandee]

Can people stop saying we didn't need him because we have ozil and cazorla. He doesn't play the same position. Cesc can really only be compared to Ramsey and wilshire. Cms who play deeper and run the tempo. Not a number 10.

[QuartzGooner]

Can people stop saying we didn't need him because we have ozil and cazorla. He doesn't play the same position. Cesc can really only be compared to Ramsey and wilshire. Cms who play deeper and run the tempo. Not a number 10.

He is playing deeper for Chelsea as he did for us many times earlier in his career.
But later on with us he moved further up the pitch to Number 10.

He can play both positions, and play them well.

[Bendtners Drinking Buddy]

The day the season ended last year, if you could have chosen Cesc or Sanchez...who would you have gone for, honestly?

[WE8SPURS]

The day the season ended last year, if you could have chosen Cesc or Sanchez...who would you have gone for, honestly?

I for one would have definitely gone for Sanchez, he's more versatile and offers us more of what we need. Let's not forget we've won a trophy without cesc which is more than we did with him. Obviously he is a great player but all I'm saying is buying him back would not have won us anything, we would still need the players we do now.

[DB10GOONER]

The day the season ended last year, if you could have chosen Cesc or Sanchez...who would you have gone for, honestly?

I for one would have definitely gone for Sanchez, he's more versatile and offers us more of what we need. Let's not forget we've won a trophy without cesc which is more than we did with him. Obviously he is a great player but all I'm saying is buying him back would not have won us anything, we would still need the players we do now.

Reasonable points. But I'd add that we should have re-signed him. If it's a money issue then we could have offloaded Santi, Rosicky, Diaby and maybe even Jack (although I do think we should persist with Jack for at least another 2 seasons). Cesc adds quality, vision, true technical ability. We need a strong squad, not just a strong first 11.

My answer would be; I'd have chosen both.

[arseofacrow]

I'd have bought him back and offloaded some of the time wasters and shit on the wage bill.

[remigardeshair]

The day the season ended last year, if you could have chosen Cesc or Sanchez...who would you have gone for, honestly?

I for one would have definitely gone for Sanchez, he's more versatile and offers us more of what we need. Let's not forget we've won a trophy without cesc which is more than we did with him. Obviously he is a great player but all I'm saying is buying him back would not have won us anything, we would still need the players we do now.

Cesc was in the FA Cup winning team in 2005.

That said I'd have gone for Sanchez in a heartbeat, a fast direct forward is what we needed, except of course he's now stuck out on the wing.

[Gunner Rob]

it looked likely that he would end up at Chelsea if we said no, so it should have been BUY BUY BUY

but of course Wenger likes his former players to win the title - Nasri, Clichy, Van Persie....
I guess Fabregas at Chelsea will complete the set

[fivetothree]

Head over heart we did not need Cesc. Other areas of the pitch needed (and still need) addressing.