He's still ranking 6th in the all time assist table in Premier League and he wasn't even 24 when he left us. Fair enough the bloke had some flaws, but he was a one in a million player. He was better than Ronaldo for at least a couple of the seasons he played in England.

I'd say Cesc was better than Ronaldo before 2006/2007 and was probably just as good in the 1st few months of the 2007/2008 season.

Did we overrate Cesc?

Probably; he was never consistent throughout a single season, and you can see at Barca that his touch and close control are not at the level of the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi.

He's got outstanding vision though - one of the best I have ever seen!

His through ball is the best in world football. The 2 years RVP had some semblance of continuos football he was injured- Mainly in the 08/09 season when he missed 4 months after the Alonso tackle and the 10/11 when RVP came back in Jan 2011 and stayed injury free- Cesc played about 5 games till the end of the season. He was feeding Bendtner, Adebayor, Aliadiere, Baptista, for the majority of his last 5 years.

qs! wrote:
speedy wrote:

Depends on the year but there certainly both had there spells of dominance.

Cesc was never the best player in the league.

Somewhat agree, because when the going gets tough he more often than not disappears. Was never top class throughout the entire season.

you guys out here talking like blokes who like to go on about girls they used to date. "she was nice"

Clrnc wrote:
qs! wrote:

Cesc was never the best player in the league.

Somewhat agree, because when the going gets tough he more often than not disappears. Was never top class throughout the entire season.

He often contributed in important matches. The ones I remember best are the assist to Adebayor against United, goal against Milan, goal against Liverpool, goals and assists against Tottenham.. One time we were under against Aston Villa, we just subbed him on for the last half our or so, and he scored two goals that turned it into a victory. Also, that pass against Barca. Fabregas > Nasri > Arshaaaaviiiiiiiin.

Wilshere wrote:
Clrnc wrote:

Somewhat agree, because when the going gets tough he more often than not disappears. Was never top class throughout the entire season.

He often contributed in important matches. The ones I remember best are the assist to Adebayor against United, goal against Milan, goal against Liverpool, goals and assists against Tottenham.. One time we were under against Aston Villa, we just subbed him on for the last half our or so, and he scored two goals that turned it into a victory. Also, that pass against Barca. Fabregas > Nasri > Arshaaaaviiiiiiiin.

Goal and Assist against Vieira's Juventus in 2006 too! Epic performance.

For all his top class performance, there is every downside to it. Take for instance Barca tie, remember his backheel in the 2nd leg?

Yeah, that was truly terrible. But I don't think he was a player to hide against the big teams. Also remember the EC semifinal for Spain vs. Russia. He only played the second half, and still the newspapers' player rankings (at least here in Norway) showed 9/10. Of course you can mention bad things he's done too, but if he were a player that disappeared in the big matches, he would have been anonymous instead of us mentioning good and bad things he did.

Clrnc wrote:

For all his top class performance, there is every downside to it. Take for instance Barca tie, remember his backheel in the 2nd leg?

One instance. I can find multiple examples of him dismantling teams on his own while others were poor. Arsenal fans are good a rewriting history. In 2010 you wouldn't swap him for any midfielder in the world and now it's like he wasn't an imprint any player for us. Ludicrous.

Clrnc wrote:

For all his top class performance, there is every downside to it. Take for instance Barca tie, remember his backheel in the 2nd leg?

And his handball against Spurs.

evoh wrote:
Clrnc wrote:

For all his top class performance, there is every downside to it. Take for instance Barca tie, remember his backheel in the 2nd leg?

One instance. I can find multiple examples of him dismantling teams on his own while others were poor. Arsenal fans are good a rewriting history. In 2010 you wouldn't swap him for any midfielder in the world and now it's like he wasn't an imprint any player for us. Ludicrous.

Oh please, nobody is saying he isn't top class, just that the claim of him being the best player in PL is not quite true.

After his injury problems started after 07/08 he was well below his best.

I still maintain that his performances suffered once we moved him further up the field. When he played deeper in midfield he dominated nearly every game.

Wilshere wrote:

Fabregas > Nasri > Arshaaaaviiiiiiiin.

Y u no mention Bendtner?!

Irish gunner wrote:

Cesc was much better deeper.

Ooh er matron!

General Mirth wrote:

I still maintain that his performances suffered once we moved him further up the field. When he played deeper in midfield he dominated nearly every game.

That is not up for debate. He was fantastic in deep positions, a bit like what happened to Ramsey when we push him further up and he struggled, but move him back deep and he excels.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:
Irish gunner wrote:

Cesc was much better deeper.

Oh I say.

Jed wrote:
Irish gunner wrote:

Cesc was much better deeper.

Ooh er matron!