Buy back Cesc Fabregas, or let Man Utd buy him?

[spendsum4uckingmoney]

Controversial I know but hear me out on this. Technicaly we are obviously far weaker without him. He is brilliant. However, last season we finished with more points (2 more) than with Fabregas and Nasri. Hell it would have been more if we didn't have the exodus so soon to the kick off of the season.

The style of play we play atm is pretty average, but we do have something and that is we are far more direct. 2008 was a really frustrating year because we kept doing this tippy tappy stuff. Always in front of the centre back and no penetration. Today it's almost like we know we aren't good enough to do that and so we are modest. Our passing is longer in the midfield areas. Very often the opponent doesn't have time to put 11 men behind the ball because we are much more direct. I actually like this new Arsenal! a bit more quality is needed but the balance between directness and short pssing, in the final third is much more favourable. Cesc was a world class midfielder but we didn't win anything with him and I think some of it comes down to the style of play he and the others played. We've had too many pretenders like Nasri and Hleb who think they are the shit, but who can't break down a team. Cesc was obviously a lot better than the two. I would take him back anyday but whilst technically we may not be as good, I think as a team we are better.

[northbank123]

Are you saying are we a better team than 2008 or are we a better team than we would be if we had Fabregas? Because what you're saying seems to lean towards the former.

And in any event, I would have to say that the answer to both is a resounding no.

[spendsum4uckingmoney]

I'm saying we are a better 'team', albeit with a weaker squad.

[donaldo]

We won an FA cup with Cesc more than what these bunch of fucking losers will ever win

Cesc was a world class player let down by a manager who didn't bring in quality to play around him.Remember Cesc was carrying Denilson Diaby and Song

[afcforever]

NO

[Arsenal Till I Die]

We won an FA cup with Cesc more than what these bunch of fucking losers will ever win

Cesc wasn't the reason we won the FA Cup in 2005

[northbank123]

I'm saying we are a better 'team', albeit with a weaker squad.

All that 'tippy-tappy stuff' is the only time we've really looked like being able to win the league in the past eight seasons. And in a title challenge against two Champions League finalists, much stronger than the current league.

For weeks now I've watched us scrape wins against piss-poor outfits but spend most of the game passing the ball sideways in front of the opponent's two banks of four because we lack invention and spark - and this is the high point of our season would you believe?! Instances of us playing genuinely attractive football are few and far between unfortunately.

Our two full-backs were superb in 2008, Flamini had a great season, Fabregas was typically class and we had Adebayor who was scoring plenty, backed up by Eduardo and van Persie. Ultimately we fell short come March time because of injuries and moreover due to fatigue stemming from a lack of depth and squad management, but that team was actually capable of achieving something with a few alterations (although Wenger happily let it disband).

This current team isn't capable of achieving anything. Never will be until they start competing against the better teams rather than gifting them soft leads. Best case scenario is they'll play cack for 75% of the season and then when 4th place is in danger they'll put together a streaky set of results to scrape by, just like in 2009, 2012 and probably 2013.

[donaldo]

We won an FA cup with Cesc more than what these bunch of fucking losers will ever win

Cesc wasn't the reason we won the FA Cup in 2005

I didnt say he was.The OP said we didnt win anything with Cesc when we did

[I Hate Hleb]

Seeing as we look less threatening and create fewer genuine chances, then I would have to say no. Indeed, I would be very surprised if any gooner thought otherwise.

[SteveO 35]

No we definitely are not better because we don't have a midfielder that consistently delivers top quality passes in the way he did or who can run a game in the way he did. Santi has glimpses of brilliance but can also be a passenger half the time, whilst Ramsey works his arse off but fails to deliver the right pass almost every time. Jack has a lot of ability but neither the assist or goals ratio of Cesc, whilst Arteta has been sacrificed to cover the lack of investment in a central defensive midfielder. Rosicky could be the one man capable of taking on Cesc's role as he has the energy and the class but is simply too unreliable. The Great Abou is never allowed a consistent run of games in his rightful position

When one of our midfielders produces the sort of performance Cesc did in the San Siro where he ran the game from beginning to end then maybe we can claim we are at least as good a team without him than with him

Come back Cesc !

[GranadaJoe]

SteveO said'"The Great Abou is never allowed a consistent run of games in his rightful position".
I hope your tongue is firmly in your cheek, because Lord Wenger would undoubtedly give the ineffective prat a run of games if he didn't spend the majority of his life in a nice warm treatment room playing FIFA.

On the Cesc subject, we are clearly a worse team than we were, and imo Cesc leaving is part of the reason.

[northbank123]

SteveO said'"The Great Abou is never allowed a consistent run of games in his rightful position".
I hope your tongue is firmly in your cheek, because Lord Wenger would undoubtedly give the ineffective prat a run of games if he didn't spend the majority of his life in a nice warm treatment room playing FIFA.

On the Cesc subject, we are clearly a worse team than we were, and imo Cesc leaving is part of the reason.

He would have to remove it from Abou's arsehole first

[SteveO 35]

When the Great Abou did get an injury free mini run there at the start of the season we produced some of our best displays including the 2-0 at Anfield where he was man of the match, and the 1-1 at City where he ran the show for 70 mins.

As soon as he went off against Chelsea, our form dipped alarmingly.

Only the Great Abou in this current squad could replace and even surpass Cesc if fit and playing every week in an advanced central midfield role

[Supagoon]

No, we're not.

We play with better defending that in previous seasons, because Wenger had to, we now have a more impotent attack and thus we needed to tighten up our defence. Its is damning that he made excuses that because we attacked we had to concede defensive stability. Had we been defending like we did in 2008/2009 right now, we would not be near the top 4.

As for Cesc, I can't blame him. He gave everything. I look at our CBs, Kolo and Gallas, but also Djourou and Senderos. I look at our GK, Almunia a man who never should have been our no1 for so long. I look at Cesc playing with Denilson, Song and Diaby, and no DM after Flamini. I look at our lack in depth, compared to very strong, Chelsea, utd and Liverpool sides.

If a manager has a Cesc Fabregas in his team and cannot find a way to utilise him to win enough matches to win trophies, the finger gets pointed at the manager.

How can we be better when we have Arteta, Ramsey, and Wilshere in midfield? and can we be better off when Giroud is our no1 striker. Its f*ked up son!!!

We can be as indirect or direct as we want, but when the opposition only needed to get to your penalty box and score after a few attempts, we were never going to win anything.

[spendsum4uckingmoney]

I think I need to clarify. Yes this side is downright appauling but it knows it. They aren't pretending to be Barca anymore.