http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/dificil/jugar/facil/elpepidep/20110905elpepidep_1/Tes
That's just the eye-catcher - quite an interesting read, especially some of the insight regarding Barça.
Here are some loosely translated excerpts. Apols to all those Arsenal fans who've already had enough - but I trust quite a few others will find it interesting:
Q.: When did you know that your time at Arsenal was up?
A.: I knew it would be this year, no two ways about it. We were in 4 competitions (...) I knew it would be either Barça or Arsenal, I never considered leaving for money or any other reason other than going back home.
Q.: Did you feel held to ransom by Wenger?
A.: There's a mistaken image of him. If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be a Barça player now. I wouldn't have made my début at 16, played a CL final at 18, been team captain at 20...who knows where I'd be without him. I certainly wouldn't be a Barça player, because he helped with Arsenal's owners, who didn't want to sell me under any circumstances. He convinced them. He pressured them into lowering the price. [...] He's a 10/10 - with his faults and virtues, but what that man has given me is priceless.
Q.: Have you left a debt with the Gunners?
A.: I gave my all. There's nothing more I could have done. My stats over the past 7 years are there. My individual performance has been good. I do have a bitter taste left in terms of trophies. I didn't win the PL - I came close 3 times. I would have liked to leave something more, but I wasn't able to.
Q.: What was sadder at the time, leaving Arsenal or leaving Barça?
A.: I was less aware when I left Barça. I was a kid. I never thought I'd get into Barça's 1st team, because back then it wasn't like it is now. Look at the case of Andrés. He was 23 and didn't start the final in Paris - but they didn't get playing until he came on...I thought: "If Andrés isn't playing, where would I be?" I was a youth, so I'd be in the youth side. Now, I was much more aware of what was going on, aware of what I was leaving and what I was going to. A bit sadder, it's true.
Q.: Your gran told Barça TV that she'd never seen you so happy...
A.: Imagine! I'm so happy I sometimes try to pretend not to be. It's sort of embarrassing. I try to look serious.
Q.: [Guardiola's assistant] Tito Vilanova says that Barça haven't signed the 16-year-old Cesc, but Fabregas, the Arsenal captain.
A.: Tito was my last coach at Barça. I got on really well with him. It's great to be in the same changing room with him, with Leo [Messi], with Gerard [Pique]. He's right. Eight years have flown by. I'm clearly not the boy who left, who played for the U-16s.
Q.: What have 6 years in the PL left you?
A.: Lessons. The competitive spirit. Its football is crazier than La Liga's, which is more disciplined and tactical, about passing and playing. Over there they don't think about positions. You attack even when you don't need to. The fans push you so hard! People don't like you to hold back. Here, you need more positioning...over there, you insist and insist and in the end...[Also talks about more lenient refs in the PL]
Q.: Is your advantage is that you've learnt through your days at the Barça academy?
A.: No. I feel that I've still got so much to learn. This team is so mechanic, and there are things I've got to get hold of. Especially in terms of defence. I've never seen a team so concentrated in the attack-defence transition. Playing against Barça is really hard, but playing for Barça isn't easy either. That's the challenge. I honestly have the feeling that I still get in the way a bit, but that they're so good that they fix it and cover it up. I try to read their passes, I try to exploit that in attack. I've got to adapt. Defensively, I've got a lot to learn.
Q.: What's the first thing you've learnt at Barça?
A.: That the hardest part is to play so easily. You see Messi, Iniesta, Xavi. It's so hard to play so easy! And also, that to press how this team presses is really difficult.
Q.: Is it true that the best thing about this Barça team is the training sessions?
A.: Yes. It's the most beautiful thing I've seen in my life. All you hear is the ball. Tac, tac, tac... Four men pressing at once. I've never seen traiing at this level. The everyday training is much better than the games; I've never seen anything like it.
Q.: Is what they say about the sensational atmosphere exaggerated?
A.: All I know is that if people have to be there at ten, they arrive at half nine. Not just one of them, everyone.
Q.: Are you prepared to play the minutes you're due, to warm the bench?
A.: Clearly, only players like Xavi, Iniesta or Messi could complain about a lack of playing time. And if they don't complain...I owe them some respect, so I'll play whenever it's my turn to play.
Cesc: Wenger convinced the board to sell me
posted on 5/9/11
Can this idiot S.TFU about Arsenal already!!
posted on 5/9/11
It also annoys me that Wenger had to convince the board to sell for a bargain. He put Cesc's needs before those of the club which is just unacceptable!
posted on 5/9/11
Wumpatrol- Mental strength is one of the tools in my Arsenal. (U5046)
and Batmanu both spot on!!!!
Wenger is known as someone who puts the interest of Arsenal before anything else. So its obvious something changed in this case. So Wenger betrayed us in saying that he expected Cesc to stay.
posted on 5/9/11
It also annoys me that Wenger had to convince the board to sell for a bargain. He put Cesc's needs before those of the club which is just unacceptable!
-------------------------------------------------------
It annoys me too, but it annoys me even more that the Arsene/board didn't want to buy replacements straight away. We sold Cesc cheap and we didn't get any adequate replacements in time to gel with the team.
Arsene is too nice with these players, he seems to not get it that they have lost respect for him (since not winning anything)! Cesc and all!!!
posted on 5/9/11
What possible scenarios could he have faced?
Forcing Cesc to stay against his will could have had hugely negative consequences:
What impact would Cesc being demotivated and publicly resigning the captaincy have had?
Or how about freezing Cesc out of the team, losing out on transfer income and having no suitable replacement?
On the other hand, Wenger would have gone against Arsenal's interests if he'd publicly acknowledged that they'd agree the sale, as that would've given Barça an even better negotiating position. It's hardly as if he could phone up every Arsenal fan to tell them the truth and ask them to keep schtum about it.
He was definitely slow and lacked decision in the transfer market, but that aside, the Cesc affair was a hugely difficult situation to handle and any one decision would have drawn criticism from one quarter or another.
posted on 5/9/11
itsonly a game - surely another option would have been to say that Fabregas is worth at least £45 million, on the open market, so that is the price - you can easily make that up in shirt sales, we need that much to buy a replacement for our CAPTAIN and talisman.
Now Barca are crowing about the bargain that they have got, and have been playing Fabregas A LOT to show off their new acquisition and MONEY SPINNER.
posted on 5/9/11
stepanios - yes, which given Barça's apparent refusal to budge, would have inherently meant Arsenal's flat out refusal to sell and acceptance of the potential negative impacts I spoke of.
Just this once, I think the Barça board have out-thought and out-foxed Arsenal - and I'm hardly surprised at the chest-thumping going on after the youngsters Barça have lost to Arsenal and the millions they've poured into Arsenal's coffers down the years in exchange for Petit, Overmars, Hleb and a declining Henry ... Barça directors must feel chuffed that for once they've got one over you lot!
posted on 5/9/11
I'm not so sure Barcelona would have stuck to their price limit - it was, and is, such a coup for the president, such a loss if he had failed, that I believe they would have coughed up if we had stuck out for more.
I agree we have had good deals in the past, but gicen Fabregas' role in our team, I think we should have stuck out for more. I believe Fabregas when he said how torn he was, and how professional he is, and would have supported to move for a higher price, knowing full well how easily it would be recouped.
posted on 5/9/11
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 6/9/11
stepanos, I agree that Barça would have eventually coughed up more money and that they took Arsenal to the cleaners on the deal and that they would eventually have coughed up more. My point is that there were significant risks involved for Arsenal and that it wasn't an easy decision to make.
I reckon Barça had thought out the whole thing carefully - starting with those statements they made about their limited transfer budget, the later statements about Sánchez being their prime target...
It's widely know that the current Barça directors are out to cut costs, but the media reports of their financial trouble have been massively exaggerated and with their absolutely huge assets, they could easily have found financial backing to pay twice the amount they did for Cesc.
To give you an idea, earlier in Rosell's tenure, they froze a €400M project to redevelop the lands adjacent to the Camp Nou - that's how desperate they are for cash!