Hleb and Fabregas epitomised to me how much Arsenal fans overrated our players in that era. Excellent players on their day but not among the world's best and were lacking in physicality.

Looking back the devotion and cultism surrounding Fabregas in particular was ultra cringe. Van Persie's sale hurt me far more because he was one of the world's best and Wenger sold him to Ferguson of all people. He should've been forced to see out his contract. If he went on strike, then fuck it. That never ends well for a player and they eventually have to get on with it.

    That is a lot of revisionism. Fabregas ran games for us for seasons when the talent around him was waning. Come on, we can hate him now but there is no need to say we overrated fabregas

    Dom Hleb and Fabregas epitomised to me how much Arsenal fans overrated our players in that era. Excellent players on their day but not among the world's best and were lacking in physicality.

    Cesc was kept out of the starting lineup by Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. And still he racked up minutes and stats in his time at Barca.

    • Dom replied to this.

        I don't think there's any revisionism. Together they tore a top Milan team, United team, Chelsea team apart etc. There were legit unplayable. When I watched back the matches in 2008 the quality of football is really insane.

        Dom agree in general on players being overrated around then, guys like Vermaelen, Hleb, Pololski, etc even someone like Rosicky was brilliant in moments but never really gave us enough. Fabregas though, come on. He was sensational for us. His issue were his bad career choices, he went to a Barca team that he couldn't get into the first XI of and then to Chelsea where he was just another big name they ran through. When he and Modric were both in the PL Fabregas was clear but Modric had a much better career because he kept getting better. Fabregas never improved after he left us. When he was here he was one of the best though.

          QuincyAbeyie

          This, I don't agree with. Was Fabregas our best player for a number of years and one of the PL's best midfielders? Yep, no doubt about that at all. But compared to the very best midfielders around the world at the time, I don't think he was at a level to be regarded as among the world's best.

          His midfield contemporaries at the time, from the top of my head, were Pirlo, Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso and Kaka as the best of the best and then, IMO, Lampard a level below them and then Fabregas, Sneijder and Gerrard behind Fat Frank. Modric levelled up and up after these lot had declined so I haven't included him.

          Cesc was a fantastic player at his best but he'd begun to miss a third of each season through injuries and I felt after 2008 he struggled against the physical beasts of Man Utd and Chelsea.

          With Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp, Cole and Van Persie they were inarguably the world's best in their positions and only a United plastic would disagree.

              Yeah that's a wild take if ever I've seen one on Fabregas. He was a freak. I'd go as far to say in some ways he was perhaps underrated, the way some talk about him although I think the way he left and the Chelsea connection is the reason mostly for that.

              07 to early 09 before he was moved forward he was unreal. The weight on his passes and his final ball were the best around. He had some weaknesses just as all players do but Fabregas was world class, there isn't any debate to be had about that.

              Claudius

              He mentioned he left Barcelona because he was benched for a 34 year old Xavi.

                  All the judgements about Fabregas and Van Persie at the time they deserted are pretty done to death, but my observation since is that both are somewhat stupid men. Despite their football talent, both have a below average understanding of how the world works and people work ...

                  Dom it's a funny one. I've always felt Barcelona signed him without really knowing what they wanted to do with him (although maybe that would have been different in the long run had Guardiola not bailed), but they just didn't want us to have him.

                  Anyway, I thought he was a brilliant footballer, maybe as Burns says, not quite as smart as he thought he was but I can only say I loved most every minute of watching him play for us. Just a shame Wenger failed to build around him.

                      ^ every goal scored by Van Persie in the Premier League.

                      Have to admit I was taken back rewatching all of these. Damn near every goal has a high level of quality in either great footwork (to open up a shooting angle) or in the shot (curl). RVP really was the definition of a technical striker.

                      Would be curious what goals impressed others but even "simple" looking goals had me impressed. Take this goal for example, made the angle and then used it for a simple placed shot in.

                      Dom His midfield contemporaries at the time, from the top of my head, were Pirlo, Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso and Kaka as the best of the best and then, IMO, Lampard a level below them and then Fabregas, Sneijder and Gerrard behind Fat Frank. Modric levelled up and up after these lot had declined so I haven't included him.

                      IMO those are a list of players who went on to have better careers and hit higher peaks but if we’re specifically looking at the period between 2006 and 2008 no one felt that Alonso, Xavi or Iniesta were clearly ahead of Fabregas.

                      • Dom replied to this.

                          Mirth

                          I do agree with that. In those three years I thought it was inevitable he'd the best midfielder in the world or at least a close second to Pirlo. Fabregas's all round game seemed to have plateaued in 2008 but Alonso, Iniesta and Lampard just got better, faster and stronger in their mid and late 20s.

                            RocktheCasbah

                            Wenger's central midfield scouting and recruitment after 2005 was catastrophic. He went from Vieira, Petit, Edu and Gilberto (all of similar stature) to Flamini, Denilson and Song. Players not only less technically able but less athletic and shorter. The one midfield gem he did find - Diarra - was let go. It's hard to understand why Wenger bumped athleticism as an important attribute. "Didn't build a team around the best player/s" was a mistake Wenger made season after season post-2008.

                                Dom agree with all of that. Truly maddening stuff from Le Prof'...

                                  Dom The one midfield gem he did find - Diarra - was let go. I

                                  Because he talented but little else. We didn't let him go, he forced a move after six months because he was mortified that he would have to win his place from Flamini who was in fine form in the winter of 2007.

                                    Diarra was excellent though. Could have been amazing here. When he was at Real he was the best midfielder there.

                                    I still maintain that putting Cesc in advanced positions and false 9 by Barca killed his career. He was always better as a DLP. When Mourinho played him back as DLP he was hands down the best CM that season when he came back. Far better than even Ozil first season for us