http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2475398/CESC-FABREGAS-Why-Arsenal-way.html

Maybe some don't like hearing what he has to say but given his history and association with us I'm interested in reading his views on where we are as opposed to where we were when he left.

‘Ozil is the man who makes the difference in the final third,’
‘He will find so much space in th Premier League and he’s a player who with space kills you. His final pass is brilliant. And he will score more goals in England than he did in Spain. He is a spectacular signing.’

‘Ozil will bring the best out in Ramsey and Wilshere. They understand football the same way,’

‘It’s difficult. So many things happened. I don’t remember the year but I think it was 2008 when we were going very well and then came the injury to Eduardo and that impacted on everyone and from there we started to drop.

‘In the end, it was a mental thing — when you lose the final of the Carling Cup against Birmingham who then were relegated... you can imagine how that feels. The manager gave a lot of freedom to the young players and that is why they are so good today, because he did not overload them with pressure but when things like that happen with the age of the side it’s tough.
‘When everyone is so young it is difficult for someone to stand up and say, “Come on!”
We often had meetings to solve the problem and they helped and we made sense of things but that experience was missing. Now they have found a very good balance. They have  people there who have a lot of experience like Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta and Lukas Podolski.
‘What the team has now is the strength of character that was maybe lacking in the past and was only ever going to come with age.

What a rat this kid is. No thanks mate, you're not needed anymore.

In some bizarro Dagunners world was that a come and get me plea then? Cos he pretty much said there's no chance he'll ever be back as a player.

the stuff he said is pretty much the consensus here and anywhere else with reasonable people. we suffered from injuries (squad too thin because wenger didn't buy) and lack of character/experience (squad too young because wenger didnt buy).

no biggie.

A lot of that reads like a post on here.

kinda disappointing to see he dumped his longtime gf to marry some golddigging MILF with implants. maybe she's a lovely woman, but somehow i doubt it.

It's hardly unusual to break up with your "childhood sweetheart" though ... any worry about it just shows fans romanticise players excessively.

it's not the first part that "disappoints", it's getting played by the more experienced golddigger MILF. he didnt strike me as the type to have such poor judgment.

I don't really understand what motivates people who ascend to that level of wealth, but it does sort of make sense that they're happy to have a kid here, kid there etc.

They've got no real financial incentive for monogamy I guess. It'd be unsurprising if his relationship with this new woman went by the wayside fairly quickly.

Just look at Bendtner - knocks up a baroness considerably his senior, they have the kid, they split up, nanny looks after the child, he talks sagely about the "new responsibility" of being a father. It's weird. She's worth £400m apparently so that's a level up again in wealth.

Best is Ronaldo, who clearly had a kid so that his own mum had something to do and stopped bothering him.

Loved his comment about Van Persie too. Can't wait for part II when he talks about Man U's chase of him this summer. He wants to give the impression he will never go anywhere in England but Arsenal. I'd like to believe him but you can't really trust these guys.

I suspect that move was never on the cards (maybe I'm naive?) though Fabregas's agent might've staged a bit to try for leverage with Barcelona.

United's incompetence on all fronts in the transfer market was a wonderful sight to behold.

Captain wrote:

Best is Ronaldo, who clearly had a kid so that his own mum had something to do and stopped bothering him.

Right - I mean with few financial impediments, concerns about childcare, or any other issues to hand you might as well just father a kid or two whenever it's convenient for some ulterior reason.

lagos wrote:

a poor person with money is still a poor person only with money

The point is well taken, but given the importance of money to opportunity it's also kind of an empty one.

Footballers do often have the distinction of being from hard scrabble backgrounds before they ascend to relatively great wealth - and also to have very involved parents. Shapes them in odd ways.

lagos wrote:

ahem "The only player who's maybe different is [Theo]Walcott" 😆

😆 What, you didn't see fit to include "someone who will get behind the opposition, who gives depth, stretches the attacks, and seeks out the space. You need a Walcott"

😆 We just can't live without his pace, power and desire.

we've been winning nicely without him. it's comforting to know that Walcott is no longer a vital element on this team. Ramsey, Giroud, Ozil and Cazorla are all more important than him going forward.

The difference between the English and Spanish leagues is intriguing.

Every player who plays both leagues says the same. Really interesting how different in can be.