Daniel1980

Don't know who those people are. Personally, I never thought that. I considered Iniesta the best CM in the world until his dip in form. Sure, back when Cesc played for Arsenal, I couldn't stand him, but I still considered him the best creative midfielder in the PL and one of the best overall. Definitely not Modric. Tbh, I had some doubts about Fabregas: I didn't like his Barcelona form--he seemed completely unmotivated in the last couple of months--and I wasn't sure if he could recapture his PL form, but he did. And the PL!Cesc is definitely one of the best midfielders around. It's not like it's just Chelsea fans' biased opinion. Many United fans think the same and wish they got him. For example, a few comments at Redcafe after the game against Sporting: And so on.

Fabregas scored quite a few goals from range too. There are about 10 goals scored from outside the box for Arsenal in that video.

^^ Not sure what it proves. I can give you as many examples of Fabregas's goals--and there will be a lot more goals. Modric scored 18 goals in all competitions in 2009-2014. Cesc scored 59 in the same period, playing the majority of the time as a CM. He's a more prolific scorer. Enjoy, if you can bear watching Arsenal:

Yeah, don't think he'll win the official POTM. Can see it going to Lampard.

You do realize that creating big chances and racking up assists isn't just a matter of technical ability, right? If it was, Willian would have been (one of) our most creative players and assisters. It takes excellent vision, decision-making, the ability to provide the final ball(not the same thing as general passing ability), through balls, and the ability to read the game in attack. You also do realize that Cesc is playing in the pivot, in a deep midfield role that is as far from free as it can get, right? But then again, I remember how you once claimed Isco at 20 was more decisive and effective than Fabregas at the age of 20. Once again, your opinion is based on nothing but suppositions, not facts. P.S. The Zidane argument is just getting silly. It comes up every time to defend a player who shows no productivity. Willian has a great technical ability, great teamwork and little productivity. Let's give him a Ballon d'Or. And Zidane's end product was still much better than Modric's.

Every good player has a bad day... That said, Hazard should destroy the kid.

Hopefully Eden completely owns him. Chambers is young. He will likely be intimidated by Eden.

Yeah, I like him a lot. Talented kid. Though Hazard will be the toughest test for him.

True. Maybe I was impressed because I don't high expectations of Oscar when it comes to passing. Nonetheless, it was a good performance (if he weren't wasteful, it would have been an excellent performance). His form has been encouraging lately.

Productivity is overrated? Tell it to Barcelona fans and their board. Their main complaint about Cesc was that his productivity in the second half of the season wasn't as excellent as in the first. They relied on him to be productive because Xavi and Iniesta aren't productive and someone actually has to do the job of creating to let Messi score all the goals. Now that Cesc is gone, Iniesta's poor form is continuing and since Rakitic isn't particularly creative, Barcelona fans are starting to realize they miss the creativity. Rakitic is tactically very good, but it helps very little when they need to create and they can't rely only on Messi to do all the job. Because of the lack of creativity in midfield, Messi has been playing deeper and creating for others this season. And they didn't sell Cesc because he sucked as a midfielder; it was more complicated than that. He was their best midfielder in the first half of the season. He had a dip in form in the second half and was booed by the fans. He had probably had enough and got sick of being made the main scapegoat by the fans and the media and wanted to leave. Barcelona needed money for Suarez anyway. Barcelona's farewell letter, in which they badmouthed Cesc, actually speaks volumes. They didn't part on good terms. It is possible Cesc forced his way out or both parties mutually wanted to get rid of each other. Ramsey? The same Ramsey who has no discipline and goes forward all the time, determined to score? Not a good example I'm afraid. If productivity is unimportant, what does win matches? Playing well is great, but if it doesn't win matches, if there's no end product, there's less value in that if the team loses. Direct contributions--goals&assists--are very important, no matter which way you spin it. Messi and Ronaldo win Ballon d'or year after year for scoring 40+ goals for a reason. I'm sure if Cesc has 4-5 quiet games in which he just distributes the ball in the midfield without being creative, a lot of people here will start to complain. Actually, I remember someone likening him to Gareth Barry for safe passes in the game against Leicester. And it was 1 frigging game. Productivity isn't very important for some midfielders, but Cesc got the reputation of one of the most creative midfielders in the world when he was at Arsenal. No one expects Modric to be productive. No one expects Iniesta to be very productive(at least not the current Iniesta). But people expect Cesc to be productive. Different expectations. Going back to the point I disputed, Modric isn't better than Fabregas in "practically every thing." That statement was very erroneous. Modric is better tactically in defence. Cesc is better in everything else: attacking, creative passing, creating clear-cut chances, splitting defences with through balls, shooting, versatility, vision. So how is Modric better "in everything"? Are you seriously claiming that a midfielder who creates 28 scoring chances for his team is inferior to the midfielder who creates 10 chances? It's not even about productivity here. It's about creativity. Modric is not as creative as Fabregas. Though I don't think they should even be compared because they offer somewhat different things. Modric is an excellent midfielder, but he's never been among the most productive playmakers in Europe. If Cesc's productivity was as poor as Modric's, he would have been eaten alive. It's more correct to compare Modric to Pirlo rather than Fabregas. Players like Cesc are actually very rare. There aren't many creative and productive world class CMs around. Koke comes to mind.

That's the thing about passes. If they aren't converted, they don't "count," no matter how good the passes are. Eden could have had a few assists, but so could Oscar, and so could Cesc. But terrible finishing ruined it. We'd better sort it out before Arsenal game.

I was impressed with Oscar's passing too. He actually made a few great through balls.

Not sure what makes him a better midfielder in general. I agree that Modric is better tactically in defence, but Cesc is better tactically in attack: he reads the game better, sees other player's runs better and makes runs himself, knows when to pass, the weight of the final ball. Modric is nowhere as good in the final third. Unless you're a defensive midfielder, contributing to attack and being more productive is always more important than being just tactically solid. Because in football that's what counts and wins matches: goals.

Koscielny and Gibbs two of the best defenders in the league? Hmm.

Disagree. Modric is an excellent midfielder, one of the best out there, but the only thing he's better at than Cesc is defensive ability and probably positioning. Cesc is better at everything else: vision, creative passing, creating chances, through balls, final balls, shooting, versatility. Modric created 10 chances for his team this season. Cesc created 28 chances.

Out of curiosity just checked how many footballers that played at Arsenal while Cesc captained them are still there: Szczęsny, Koscielny, Flamini, Wilshere, Rosický, Diaby, Gibbs, Ramsey, Walcott, Coquelin. A few of them are injured, but this is still going to be a bit awkward. Wouldn't want to be in Cesc's boots.

I'm glad Arsenal are beating Galatasaray convincingly. It means we wouldn't underestimate them.

His finishing has been woeful lately, but he wasn't the only one guilty of that yesterday. I thought he pressed and defended very well. The problem is, he's become greedy and tries too hard to score and stand out. He's not a team player in the attacking third. It's not necessarily a bad thing -- if his finishing were better, we would have been praising him instead of criticizing him. That said, Andre should be less selfish and work on his finishing. If Matic hadn't scored from a set piece, those wasted clear-cut chances would have cost us.

Have you watched him much lately? He's been unimpressive and inconsistent for over a year, only with brief flashes of brilliance, and he's been poor this season. Many Barcelona fans think he should be dropped.

I like Andre a lot, but I see no reason why Salah can't get higher in the pecking order if he proves he's good enough. IF. At the moment, we don't have a nailed on starter for the RW position.

Not sure it's the best match to judge, considering who we're playing against. Expect him to be booed hard by the gooners. As for Barcelona, it's a bit of an exaggeration. I watched quite a few of their big matches, and I remember him creating good chances against Real and Atletico last season, but other players, including Messi, wasted those chances, so he was a bit unlucky there.

Ozil isn't a CM and his vision isn't as good as Cesc's, IMO, and his passing isn't as creative. Iniesta used to be a better player than Cesc, but not anymore--he's been very average for over a year and has been poor this season, and unless his form seriously improves, he might be past it already.

He's been good in the last few games. Though he needs to work on his finishing, but he's not the only one.

Can't see him scoring though, unless Jose gives him a more advanced role. Cesc has been playing very deep in the last few games.

Form plays a huge role, not only talent. Iniesta and Xavi used to be the best midfielders in the world at their peak, but they're very far from it now. Lately Busquets' form was far from great and Barcelona's CSs flattered him. I'm not sure what's wrong with him, but his form is definitely off. On the other hand, a few weeks ago, he played great when he was paired with Cesc in the NT. I don't know, maybe he's having trouble adjusting to the new tactics and a new partner (Rakitic).