The Ex-Arsenal Players Thread

[Arsenal Tone]

Watched Villarreal vs Barcelona earlier, a cracking game with some stunning goals that had Barca going 2 nil up to then being 4-2 down in the 87th minute and having to be rescued by top draw goals from Messi & Suarez in the last 5 minutes of a 4-4 thriller.

Best midfielder on the pitch? Santi Cazorla. Yes my opinion is open to bias, that's why I'm glad that in this instance I'm only concurring with the views of the commentator, presenter and pundits.

How Suarez approached Santi during the customary post match handshakes as if to say 'Unlucky mate, you deserve to have been on a winning team' all but supported the consensus.

That we have been able to see Ramsey return to something like his best form for us, is why many who were previously non-plused about him going are now up in arms about his departure beyond the loss of his monetary resale value.

Had we had the same opportunity to see even a half fit Santi prior to him being allowed to leave, I have no doubt that MI5 tactics in eradicating his passport would have been utilised along with a blockade around the emirates stadium that would have put French lorry drivers to shame.

Would you have kept him at the expense of signing one of guendouzi or torreira?

[Phil71]

La Liga is not the same as the PL. Not as competitive, not as fast, not as physical, not as physically demanding.

[Ach]

Santi and Villarreal has also been shit this season hence they are so low in the table.

[thebigbangtheo]

Watched Villarreal vs Barcelona earlier, a cracking game with some stunning goals that had Barca going 2 nil up to then being 4-2 down in the 87th minute and having to be rescued by top draw goals from Messi & Suarez in the last 5 minutes of a 4-4 thriller.

Best midfielder on the pitch? Santi Cazorla. Yes my opinion is open to bias, that's why I'm glad that in this instance I'm only concurring with the views of the commentator, presenter and pundits.

How Suarez approached Santi during the customary post match handshakes as if to say 'Unlucky mate, you deserve to have been on a winning team' all but supported the consensus.

That we have been able to see Ramsey return to something like his best form for us, is why many who were previously non-plused about him going are now up in arms about his departure beyond the loss of his monetary resale value.

Had we had the same opportunity to see even a half fit Santi prior to him being allowed to leave, I have no doubt that MI5 tactics in eradicating his passport would have been utilised along with a blockade around the emirates stadium that would have put French lorry drivers to shame.

Would you have kept him at the expense of signing one of guendouzi or torreira?

Whilst I do fully understand your question Big Tone, it is a bit of a 180 degree turn away from the point I was trying to make which was that we shouldn't have released him, in the same way we have recognised that allowing Ramsey to leave is dropping a bollock the size of an atlas stone.

Both those players are exactly the types that should have been pursued and purchased for years to play alongside the likes of Santi, but then again what gooner hasn't been saying that for ages like a stuck record (I just realised that I shouldn't presume that everyone is old enough to even know what a stuck record is).

Xhaka & Torreira vs Santi & Torreira.
Xhaka & Guendouzi vs Santi & Guendouzi.

Please do not take it that I am trying to dig out Xhaka as I am not, it's just that he was the player brought in to fill Santi's position after he got injured and upon his return to action would equally have benefited from a partnership with the Spaniard.

I don't consider myself to be stuck in the past or to be wearing rose tinted glasses and do appreciate that side show and the little bull are the future, it's just that Santi is still part of the present and in my opinion could have helped shape our future for the better.

[theHotHead]

The Santi situation was a difficult one, I think the club would have been damned if they did and damned if they didn't.

Arsenal have been burned a lot in the past 10 years with long term injuries and the club/Wenger criticised for not being more ruthless and letting these players go sooner. Nobody knew Santi would be able to get back to playing again so I think it is difficult for anyone to criticise the club for letting him go.

[thebigbangtheo]

Santi and Villarreal has also been shit this season hence they are so low in the table.

Crystal palace have been shit this season hence they are low down the table whilst Zaha has had moments of shittiness too. By that logic we shouldn't go anywhere near him or any palace player including Wan-Bissaka, as it must be easy to stand out and look good when surrounded by dross.

[Ach]

Santi is also 30+ and injury prone and already been here once and not set the world alight

[thebigbangtheo]

La Liga is not the same as the PL. Not as competitive, not as fast, not as physical, not as physically demanding.

Point taken sir. I can only conclude that that David Silva, Diego Costa, Juan Mata and Cesc Fabregas all winning the premier league playing significant roles and amongst player of the season considerations are simply anomalies.

[Phil71]

La Liga is not the same as the PL. Not as competitive, not as fast, not as physical, not as physically demanding.

Point taken sir. I can only conclude that that David Silva, Diego Costa, Juan Mata and Cesc Fabregas all winning the premier league playing significant roles and amongst player of the season considerations are simply anomalies.

Not at all. They came the other way.

My point is that the PL would in all likelihood have proved too demanding for Cazorla to return to with any great success. The Spanish league is less demanding for him.

[thebigbangtheo]

The Santi situation was a difficult one, I think the club would have been damned if they did and damned if they didn't.

Arsenal have been burned a lot in the past 10 years with long term injuries and the club/Wenger criticised for not being more ruthless and letting these players go sooner. Nobody knew Santi would be able to get back to playing again so I think it is difficult for anyone to criticise the club for letting him go.

The conclusion then must be that our medical expertise and organisation as a club overall is little more than amateurish at best. Villarreal and their medical staff didn't just know but had Santi playing again some 3 months after we effectively chucked him on the scrap heap.

[Phil71]

The Santi situation was a difficult one, I think the club would have been damned if they did and damned if they didn't.

Arsenal have been burned a lot in the past 10 years with long term injuries and the club/Wenger criticised for not being more ruthless and letting these players go sooner. Nobody knew Santi would be able to get back to playing again so I think it is difficult for anyone to criticise the club for letting him go.

The conclusion then must be that our medical expertise and organisation as a club overall is little more than amateurish at best. Villarreal and their medical staff didn't just know but had Santi playing again some 3 months after we effectively chucked him on the scrap heap.

Arsene Wenger said it was by far the worst injury that he had ever seen in any professional footballer he had worked with.

And our medical staff supervised his return to full fitness.

Kind of rubbishes your view.

[thebigbangtheo]

The Santi situation was a difficult one, I think the club would have been damned if they did and damned if they didn't.

Arsenal have been burned a lot in the past 10 years with long term injuries and the club/Wenger criticised for not being more ruthless and letting these players go sooner. Nobody knew Santi would be able to get back to playing again so I think it is difficult for anyone to criticise the club for letting him go.

The conclusion then must be that our medical expertise and organisation as a club overall is little more than amateurish at best. Villarreal and their medical staff didn't just know but had Santi playing again some 3 months after we effectively chucked him on the scrap heap.

Arsene Wenger said it was by far the worst injury that he had ever seen in any professional footballer he had worked with.

And our medical staff supervised his return to full fitness.

Kind of rubbishes your view.

Fair enough, but I think you might need to read the transcript of Santi's interview with Sid Lowe of the Guardian that Fran Solo posted back in September.

[Arsenal Tone]

Watched Villarreal vs Barcelona earlier, a cracking game with some stunning goals that had Barca going 2 nil up to then being 4-2 down in the 87th minute and having to be rescued by top draw goals from Messi & Suarez in the last 5 minutes of a 4-4 thriller.

Best midfielder on the pitch? Santi Cazorla. Yes my opinion is open to bias, that's why I'm glad that in this instance I'm only concurring with the views of the commentator, presenter and pundits.

How Suarez approached Santi during the customary post match handshakes as if to say 'Unlucky mate, you deserve to have been on a winning team' all but supported the consensus.

That we have been able to see Ramsey return to something like his best form for us, is why many who were previously non-plused about him going are now up in arms about his departure beyond the loss of his monetary resale value.

Had we had the same opportunity to see even a half fit Santi prior to him being allowed to leave, I have no doubt that MI5 tactics in eradicating his passport would have been utilised along with a blockade around the emirates stadium that would have put French lorry drivers to shame.

Would you have kept him at the expense of signing one of guendouzi or torreira?

Whilst I do fully understand your question Big Tone, it is a bit of a 180 degree turn away from the point I was trying to make which was that we shouldn't have released him, in the same way we have recognised that allowing Ramsey to leave is dropping a bollock the size of an atlas stone.

Both those players are exactly the types that should have been pursued and purchased for years to play alongside the likes of Santi, but then again what gooner hasn't been saying that for ages like a stuck record (I just realised that I shouldn't presume that everyone is old enough to even know what a stuck record is).

Xhaka & Torreira vs Santi & Torreira.
Xhaka & Guendouzi vs Santi & Guendouzi.

Please do not take it that I am trying to dig out Xhaka as I am not, it's just that he was the player brought in to fill Santi's position after he got injured and upon his return to action would equally have benefited from a partnership with the Spaniard.

I don't consider myself to be stuck in the past or to be wearing rose tinted glasses and do appreciate that side show and the little bull are the future, it's just that Santi is still part of the present and in my opinion could have helped shape our future for the better.

[emoji106] Good post, fair enough

[looper007]

As someone said you are damned if you and damned if you don't. For me Santi had to be moved on, like Jack. They both at that point were always going to be pick up injuries and they were going to hit that type of form that once made them so special. I'm happy for Santi that he's found a place that he can enjoy his football again, and for me he's one of the few players for Arsenal during the Wenger era at the Emirates that can hold his head high.

[Nuggets]

Cesc Fabregas showed there still might be a little bit of Arsenal left in him, after he brutally trolled the Gunners’ arch rivals Spurs and ex-player Graham Roberts on Twitter.

Fabregas hasn’t played for the north London side since leaving the club for Barcelona back in the summer of 2011, with the Spaniard since going on to play for Chelsea in that time as well.

Arsenal fans’ opinions of Fabregas will have depreciated a fair bit since his move to Stamford Bridge, however this might change given the midfielder’s recent words on Twitter.

Fabregas took to the social media site to troll the north London side, and their ex-star Graham Roberts, stating “I don’t know who you are and I don’t know if I’m getting enough game time or not but I do know you won’t win anything again this season.”

Well done Cesc