There is an absolutely amazing interview with Cesc Fabregas Spanish magazine Don Balon in which the Gunners captain blast Arsene Wenger.
Here are some of his comments:
“It [Wenger’s position] is now easier to understand because I’ve been here for many years,” said Fabregas. “Obviously, if you come from Spain and you say to [Unai] Emery, and [Pep] Guardiola and [Jose] Mourinho that they would spend three years [at one club] without winning anything, it’s understood that they’re not going to continue in their position.”
Fabregas then goes on to talk about how Arsenal have not won anything since the FA Cup in 2005:
“We have to make a decision whether we want to develop young players or whether we want to win trophies. It’s true that Arsenal have got a reputation of a team who play beautiful football, but don’t win anything. We won the FA Cup when I got here and we reached the Champions League final. However, we haven’t been successful since 2007, despite playing good football. That’s when you realise that it doesn’t work. We were in four competitions at one stage of the season, but we’re still empty handed.”
If Fabregas has been quoted correctly in this interview these are incredibly strong comments for the Gunners captain to make. These are the sort of things you say on the way out the door, they are not the kind of things that you say if you are intending to be around for many more seasons to come.
But, can any Arsenal fan take exception to what Fabregas actually said? How many managers at a top club in Europe can go six years without winning anything and still have a job? Carlo Ancelotti will get fired by Chelsea at the end of the season for not winning anything, and last year he won the double! If Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho went three years at Barca or Madrid without winning anything, would they still have their jobs?
As for his comment about playing beautiful football but not winning anything, what Arsenal fan has not made that comment? The team that Arsenal are most compared too is Barcelona. But what makes Barca different than Arsenal is that Pepe Guardiola’s team wins trophies. Arsene Wenger’s team doesn’t.
I am sure a lot of Arsenal fans will take exception to Fabregas’s comments, but can you actually disagree with what he said?