It's 2013 again..

[Malky]

Was absolutely desperate for us to sign Suarez when we were first linked with him! Özil signing softened the blow slightly but Suarez in front of Cazorla wins us the league, plain and simple.

 

[Notorious Big]

This is correct, as good as Cesc was for us and as good as he was for Chelsea in 14/15, his legs were completely gone by 2016, very similar to Rooney in that they were two players who were starters in an incredibly physical league as teens and paid for as by 30 both were done really.

A combination of Özil, Cazorla and Ramsey made Cesc completely unneeded in 2014, having Fab wouldn't have really improved us...plus, there is absolutely no way he picks us over Chelsea in that summer regardless.

Think that most fans wanted Cesc back because he was better player than Özil and he was more important to our game.Ramsey always had ups and downs after his great 2013/14 season and Santi was in decline since 2015.Just because we had many players in midfield can't say anything about their quality.

 

[Riou]

Think that most fans wanted Cesc back because he was better player than Özil and he was more important to our game.Ramsey always had ups and downs after his great 2013/14 season and Santi was in decline since 2015.Just because we had many players in midfield can't say anything about their quality.

The nostalgia factor will always be there for Cesc, he was the heart for our team for a period...and at his best, he is better than Özil, Caz or Ramsey imo...but he only had one real top season at Chelsea in 2014/2015, after that he was never the same really...while in 2014/2015, especially in the second half of that season, all of Mes, Santi and Aaron had very good campaigns...I don't think having Cesc would have made much difference, especially not at the expense of Sanchez who was fantastic for us from 2014-2017, as I doubt we would have been able to sign both.

The 2015 FA Cup final team, we had found a team that worked...

Szczesny
Bellerin-Kos-Per-Monreal
Caz-Coq
Ramsey-Mes-Sanchez
Walcott
​

...this was a pretty good team, that had been built up over the previous two windows, all we needed that summer was a better striker really...I also don't think mentally we were ready to win the league in 13/14 or 14/15, I think the cup wins gave our players belief that they could do it, so I wouldn't want to change those two windows...by 2015/2016, I think our squad believed they could win the league...but of course the lack of transfers messed that up.

 

[Notorious Big]

...this was a pretty good team, that had been built up over the previous two windows, all we needed that summer was a better striker really...I also don't think mentally we were ready to win the league in 13/14 or 14/15, I think the cup wins gave our players belief that they could do it, so I wouldn't want to change those two windows...by 2015/2016, I think our squad believed they could win the league...but of course the lack of transfers messed that up.

It was better than this one,no doubt about that.Still think that Fabregas could be good addition to our team and just beacuse he had tough times in Chelsea,can't say anything how he will do under Wenger.Remember that Chelsea changed 3 managers when Cecs was there.Mourinho wanted him and he was sacked in 2015.

It was big blow how we didn't win title that season.With poor competition,we had bad results and gave Leicester title.Like you said,very bad mentality at the end.

 

[Rex Stone]

It was better than this one,no doubt about that.Still think that Fabregas could be good addition to our team and just beacuse he had tough times in Chelsea,can't say anything how he will do under Wenger.Remember that Chelsea changed 3 managers when Cecs was there.Mourinho wanted him and he was sacked in 2015.

It was big blow how we didn't win title that season.With poor competition,we had bad results and gave Leicester title.Like you said,very bad mentality at the end.

If his legs were going after six months at Chelsea I think it’d have been the same here.

As a player after 2014 there’s no comparison between Özil and Cesc.

 

[Notorious Big]

If his legs were going after six months at Chelsea I think it’d have been the same here.

As a player after 2014 there’s no comparison between Özil and Cesc.

Didn't he play a lot under Conte ? Appearances in about 30 matches.That's not bad at all.

 

[Heskey]

Trying to picture Higuain wearing this post-pre season.

Would probably have looked a bit like this.

 

[Rex Stone]

Didn't he play a lot under Conte ? Appearances in about 30 matches.That's not bad at all.

Appearances yes but minutes are a different story.

12 Chelsea players had more minutes than him in the league that year, and he was almost a 1,000 behind the top 10.

He was anything but a key player by that point.

 

[Oxeki]

.
While Cesc gives you 42 assists and Özil gives you 48 you’ve got to look at the deeper context. Özil had arguably the best year of his career in 2015/16 and was still very good for the next year and a half before declining rapidly..

Özil had 19 assists in 2019 and every arsenal were wanking about it.

18 of ozils 19 assist in 2015/2016 was in the first half of the season.

A finished Fabregas had 18 assist with 16 of them coming in the first half of the season.

Özil has only had one decent season after that 2015/2016 and that was even towards the 2016/2017 season when he was angling for a new contract.

Cesc also had a decent season in their 2016/2017 title Season.

Yeah, I do agree that Cesc's decline has been worse

 

[Oxeki]

Appearances yes but minutes are a different story.

12 Chelsea players had more minutes than him in the league that year, and he was almost a 1,000 behind the top 10.

He was anything but a key player by that point.

But he had 10 assist in about 15 starts compared to about 9 assist for Özil who had about 30 starts

 

[Rex Stone]

Özil had 19 assists in 2019 and every arsenal were wanking about it.

18 of ozils 19 assist in 2015/2016 was in the first half of the season.

A finished Fabregas had 18 assist with 16 of them coming in the first half of the season.

Özil has only had one decent season after that 2015/2016 and that was even towards the 2016/2017 season when he was angling for a new contract.

Cesc also had a decent season in their 2016/2017 title Season.

Yeah, I do agree that Cesc's decline has been worse

Is this a joke statement?

If you’re seriously suggesting that you roll with Cesc who put the team on his back and helped take them to the mighty high of eighth in 15/16 his last year as a starter and then was a glorified bench player the rest of his career then I don’t know what to say.

Compare that to Özil who was on the PFA shortlist in 15/16 and was still at the very least able to start 90 minutes every week a year after that then I’m sorry but it’s case closed.

Sure Cesc’s assists numbers were still there but he was a liability out of possession, was like he was running in quicksand by that point.

Look at the big games he was available for that year:

Liverpool - 6 minutes off the bench
Arsenal - 55 minutes in a 3-0 hammering
Sp**s - Bench
Man City - 90 minutes
Sp**s - 11 off the bench
Leicester - 11 off the bench
Liverpool - 7 off the bench
Arsenal - 6 off the bench
Man City - 81 minutes
Man Utd - 36 minutes off the bench
Everton - 6 minutes off the bench

Yikes.

 

[Oxeki]

Is this a joke statement?

If you’re seriously suggesting that you roll with Cesc who put the team on his back and helped take them to the mighty high of eighth in 15/16 his last year as a starter and then was a glorified bench player the rest of his career then I don’t know what to say.

Compare that to Özil who was on the PFA shortlist in 15/16 and was still at the very least able to start 90 minutes every week a year after that then I’m sorry but it’s case closed.

Sure Cesc’s assists numbers were still there but he was a liability out of possession, was like he was running in quicksand by that point.

Look at the big games he was available for that year:

Liverpool - 6 minutes off the bench
Arsenal - 55 minutes in a 3-0 hammering
Sp**s - Bench
Man City - 90 minutes
Sp**s - 11 off the bench
Leicester - 11 off the bench
Liverpool - 7 off the bench
Arsenal - 6 off the bench
Man City - 81 minutes
Man Utd - 36 minutes off the bench
Everton - 6 minutes off the bench

Yikes.

I'm saying even after the decline. Cesc was still putting up numbers equal to or better than Özil.

Sure Cesc lost his physical attribute after the 2014/2015, but he still very productive

 

[Rex Stone]

I'm saying even after the decline. Cesc was still putting up numbers equal to or better than Özil

Ok firstly that’s wrong because again, for the time Cesc was a Chelsea player, Özil has 48 assists and Cesc has 42 so that’s not better.

Even then, numbers without context gives you one side of the story. Cesc was done at the top level from about 2015 onwards.

The Cesc before Barcelona was one of the greatest players I’ve seen. That Chelsea Cesc wasn’t the same guy.

 

[Notorious Big]

Ok firstly that’s wrong because again, for the time Cesc was a Chelsea player, Özil has 48 assists and Cesc has 42 so that’s not better.

Even then, numbers without context gives you one side of the story. Cesc was done at the top level from about 2015 onwards.

The Cesc before Barcelona was one of the greatest players I’ve seen. That Chelsea Cesc wasn’t the same guy.

And Cesc was way better play than Özil at Arsenal.

Think that's the part of the reason why most fans wanted him back in 2014.And apart from Özil,other midfield players weren't at same level like Fabregas.

 

[MutableEarth]

I didn't see the point of bringing Cesc back then, and I stand by that.

 

[GDeep™]

Why are we talking about one or the other? Why didn’t our billionaire owner put his hands in his pocket and finance a Higuain and Özil? Now this **** wants the players to pay up.

 

[GDeep™]

One of the most damaging transfer window. The most damaging being the 2016/2017 window where we signed mustafi, Xhaka and Perez for £100m and we haven't recovered since then

Why haven’t we recovered? It was only 100m? And since then we’ve continued to spend, last summer for example was record breaking spending.

3 managers and record breaking spending later you’re telling me we still ain’t recovered.

What’s really damaged is what continued to happen after those purchases.

 

[Oxeki]

Why haven’t we recovered? It was only 100m? And since then we’ve continued to spend, last summer for example was record breaking spending.

3 managers and record breaking spending later you’re telling me we still ain’t recovered.

What’s really damaged is what continued to happen after those purchases.

I meant that we spent 100m on 3 players that were midtable at best. 4 years on we're still struggling to shift two of them

 

[Toby]

Have to praise Reus's loyality to stay in Borussia for so long.They looked at Bayern's back since he came to Dortmund and he didn't want to go to main rival in Germany.He also rejected some big clubs that wanted him.

Think that he could be good fit for EPL.Rate him even more than Hazard.

Reus would've been one of the top 5 players in footie if not for his constant injuries. Definitely on par with e.g. Bale and Hazard.

 

[GDeep™]

I meant that we spent 100m on 3 players that were midtable at best. 4 years on we're still struggling to shift two of them

I don’t know why? Raul is meant to be some transfer guru. Him and Vinny also said they won’t let players enter their final 2 years, which Mustafi has done.