"Don't worry son, we can still skype each other"
“Erm, no,” seems the fairly logical and obvious answer to the question, both Fabregas and Nasri are world class players in an Arsenal side that has struggled to truly challenge for the title in recent years.
Yet despite the seemingly rhetorical nature of the question, when you scratch below the surface there’s a case to be made that Arsenal could be better off by letting both midfielders move on.
Before you click off the site or bombard me with comments telling me why I’m off my little Mancunian head, allow me to elucidate.
Cesc Fabregas has been linked with a move to Barcelona, for two years now and seemingly has his heart set on joining his ‘boyhood club.’ The whole sorry saga reminds me of what happened with Ronaldo at United, in the fact that since his head’s been turned Fabregas hasn’t quite seemed the same player- this may sound incedulous given what Ronnie acheived in his final United season, but his attitude wasn’t quite as before. Don’t get me wrong Fabregas is still a hugely talented individual but from what I’ve seen in the big games he can often go missing.
Whenever United play Arsenal Fabregas is totally dominated by Darren Fletcher, in fact the only Gooner victory over us of late came when the Spaniard wasn’t in the side. I’m aware Fabregas played well against Chelsea at the Emirates last season, but let’s not forget this was one of the poorest Chelsea sides in the last 8 years, enduring their worst spell in the same period.
I rate Fabregas highly and in the past have even advocated United making a cheeky bid for him but the fact is since the Barcelona rumours have started he doesn’t seem the player he was for Arsenal. The Gunners seem to rely on him too much and when he doesn’t perform there’s a lack of people willing to take some responsibility. You could argue surely that make’s him indispensable but I’d put forward the opposite view, that if Fabregas was no longer in the equation then other players would rise to the occasion and be forced to do more than simply look for the skipper.
Arsenal had a brief period of rejuvenation when their talisman Thierry Henry left, with players such as Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor proving their worth. Although it ultimately resulted in yet another trophyless season, the first seven months of 2007/08 it looked as though Arsenal were on course for the title.
In the case of Samir Nasri, again he’s a talented player that I’d be more than happy to see at Old Trafford, but if he doesn’t want to play for Arsenal anymore then it may be a good idea to simply get rid and move on.
Like Fabregas Nasri can also go missing and the back end of last season he was nowhere near as influential as he had been at the start. If he really doesn’t want to be at the club then Arsene Wenger should do what he’s done in the past with the likes of Adebayor and Kolo Toure and simply sell him and move forward.
With the departure of Gael Clichy many would argue that for Arsenal to lose two more experienced players would be nothing short of disastrous however it may not be the catastrophe some predict.
If the likes of Nasri and Fabregas left for around £50 million then surely even someone as miserly and stubborn as Arsene Wenger would realise that money could bring in two quality midfielders to replace them.
Admittedly you may not get someone of the same calibre as Fabregas but by maybe investing in a bit of steel and grit rather than another playmaker, you could actually add an edge to the Gooners that’s been missing for some time.
The smart money seems to be on Arsenal not really being a problem for United this season when it comes to retaining our title. Even Liverpool have been getting more kudos from the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney when it comes to being title challengers next season.
Should Arsenal lose their two main midfielders then you can’t imagine anyone backing them for the title.
Call me a mentalist but I simply cannot imagine Wenger not being able to see it’s now or never for his Arsenal career and if he did lose the pair and invested in players that could perform now, rather than in a few years time, then he may give his side a fighting chance.
Arsenal still have the likes of Robin Van Persie, Jack Wilshere plus players like Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey who on their day can win matches. As United proved in 1995, losing some of your most influential players doesn’t always signal the end of your title winning chances, everyone may be counting Arsenal out- even if the titular duo stay- but I feel there may be one more good season left in Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal and while I obviously hope I’m wrong, I won’t be discarding their chances just yet.
Have I gone in off the deep end? Is it City and Chelsea united should be worried about? Is it all over for Wenger should he lost his midfield pair? Feel free to comment, suggest and abuse below:
Yes i agree with a lot of that, to be honest i am just fed up keep reading the same things over and over again week in and week out.
Yes we would miss them very much but not the end of Arsenal if they go, if they don’t want to stay then let then go, simple really.
Go back to surrey manc fan. Ah ah
Surrey where is that????
manc fan Who are they????
I do not see why coaches are forcing players to stay who really want to go. No problem in trying to convince them stay, obviously you had a plan when you brought them to the club, but if a players whole heart aint it what do you really expect to get from them? I’d just be flop for the whole season, and the inflated prices are rubbish everybody is suddenly worth 50 – 100 mil? please these coaches are making it bad for themselves and the market. It’s just another way of saying you aint going nowhere and what the hell are scouts for they’re some wonderfully talented youngsters who i’m sure would devote there life to any club who gave them a chance in the big time
I agree with this. I’m always loathe to keep players that obviously want to be elsewhere. And also for the money we’d get for them we could surely find replacements. Ramsey is a good fit already for the Cesc role. I think if Nasri goes to city he’ll regret it. Unless you have a stellar season, come the January window they’ll be after the new kid on the block much like they did with Barry, Adebayor, Milner. As much as I’d not like it, he’d have a lot more success at United that’s for sure.
Good piece by the way fella.
I agree with most of this to be fair, as if we lost two players and reinvested in what we were missing, (i.e. grit), we may be better off if the purchases were shrewd enough. What I don’t agree with, is calling Nasri world class- and this is the entire problem I think. He thinks he is, but simply put, when the business end of the season came around, he faded badly. If he does stay I’d love for him to prove me wrong, but if he wants silverware so badly he’ll need to stand up and be counted.
MANC MINGERS AND GITS
I am an Arsenal supporter (found this on NewsNow) and I totally agree. As good a player as Cesc is, he has a tendency to slow the pace of a game down. When our attack starts with Wilshere, we are more positive as Jack’s first thought is always to go forward. Much the same can be said of Ramsey, too.
Clearly any team would miss the passing ability of Fabregas but our team has been built around him and his style of play. The oh so obvious side effect of a slow build up game, is the opposition dropping deep, cutting off any space, which ends up with us passing side to side.
Like Jack, Nasri likes to move the ball quicker and we will miss him, should he leave. However, it wouldn’t be the end of the world, as long as we replace him with another quality player. Juan Mata is such a player, who is comfortable wide or centrally, has great pace, can see a pass and can score a goal.
If we were to lose Nasri and buy Mata, the biggest irony would be the excess of wide players at our disposal. Until now, we have had too many naturally central players, that Wenger has played wide. Mata, Gervinho and hopefully Myachi in our team would mean more opportunities for Walcott and Arshavin to go central and that can only be a positive.
Clearly City and Chelsea are big threats to United but Arsenal have a very good team base even without Cesc and Nasri, that if added to with quality, will be challenging for the PL title. Add Liverpool and Spurs to the mix, plus the others that are hard to beat (big spending Sunderland especially), it is going to be a fantastic season. I think this is going to be the most competitive PL season of all.
to me the Ramsey-Wilshere partership looks extremely deadly, and if they buy someone like De Jong to cover for them, added by an attacking three of Walcott/Miyaichi, Van Persie, and Gervinho, they could possibly wipe us for the prem league trophy. Liverpool with Suarez, Dalglish and co look like serious contenders too.
Cesc is gone… He’s been gone for a while its just that they are working the deal out behind the scenes to not cause a fuss. Cesc is NOT injured. I am not in denial of whats going on.
If Wenger isn’t too stubborn, he’d see that we could benefit from Cesc leaving. Its time for him to go. His injuries will only pile up, and we need to sell him while we can still make some money off him so we can rebuild for the future.
good article …well written not to write off Arsenal in the early stages 🙂 .. gervinho looks like a good signing though