What makes an Arsenal player a club legend?

[Trilly]

He wasn’t as good at passing, crossing or even as good at football in general than all of the best ranked over the last years or even now; they’ll be better than him at something, but something unrelated to keeping the ball out of your own net(fav of mine was the French international Lizarazu)

As soon as he had fully developed his defensive game under Mourinho, there isn’t a LB I’d swap him for that I’ve ever seen. At Arsenal he was more about supporting the attack and having unreal pace and stamina to recover, but at Chelsea he was unreal 1v1 and had everything you want from a primarily defensive LB which is of course what made Mourinho moist as ****.

The best LBs over the years had a special move if you like—a dead ball hit, they could dribble or they just had great left foot— but Cole’s defensive awareness (his goal line clearances are famous), his 1v1 doggedness, pace to support the attack and, most importantly his recovery pace and tackle, means if there’s a team you’re picking to play for your life, you’d have to pick Cole. I couldn’t trust any other player more, week in week out. He could have played for any team ever and been a legend in that side imo.

Damn son. Must have hurt when he left for Chelsea.

 

[GDeep™]

Cole won more titles at Arsenal than Chelsea, weird when you think about it. Best fullback ever seen in England.

 

[Macho]

Damn son. Must have hurt when he left for Chelsea.

Nah we slagged him off

Like I said the media did a job on him even neutrals referred to him as a c*nt tbh. Ca$hley C*nt we used to call him here.

We also thought Gallas coming the other way was a good deal

 

[GDeep™]

Played a CL final with us too, won 3 FA Cups. Done the right thing leaving though, he could see what was around the corner, Chelsea taking over London with their money and Arsenal tightening their purse strings due to the new stadium.

 

[Jury]

Damn son. Must have hurt when he left for Chelsea.

It didn’t hurt that much at all because I rated Gallas so highly and couldn’t believe they were willing to let him go the other way. As I say, Cole was great at Arsenal, but he went on to be phenomenal at Chelsea... while Gallas never looked quite the same player at Arsenal. Yeah, we lost out there for sure! Cole started putting phones up his arse as well though, so that helped.

 

[GDeep™]

Nah we slagged him off

We also thought Gallas coming the other way was a good deal

Gallas was a top player though. Better than anyone in the PL now, Van Dijk and Laporte aside.

 

[Marjorie]

Cole won more titles at Arsenal than Chelsea, weird when you think about it. Best fullback ever seen in England.

Wow! Just checked that and you're right - just the one league title there. Would've been classed as massive underachievement if they didn't win those euro trophies during his time there. 8 years was it?

 

[Macho]

Played a CL final with us too, won 3 FA Cups. Done the right thing leaving though, he could see what was around the corner, Chelsea taking over London with their money and Arsenal tightening their purse strings due to the new stadium.

In hindsight yeah he definitely did the right thing. I didn’t think so at the time.

 

[Macho]

Gallas was a top player though. Better than anyone in the PL now, Van Dijk and Laporte aside.

This is true. Like Jury said I also rated Gallas, was a shame he wasn’t quite the player he was at Chelsea. Maybe he had more to do here I dunno.

 

[GDeep™]

This is true. Like Jury said I also rated Gallas, was a shame he wasn’t quite the player he was at Chelsea. Maybe he had more to do here I dunno.

He joined us in the “banter years”, think guys like him dropped a level simply by joining us at that time. At Chelsea next to Terry he was class.

 

[Marjorie]

In hindsight yeah he definitely did the right thing. I didn’t think so at the time.

I think he came out and said he could see a gradual change in mentality behind the scenes which isn't surprising when you factor in summer 2006 pretty much being the end for the invincible squad. Lauren pretty much finished, Campbell and Pires going, Vieira already gone and Bergkamp retiring. The writing was on the wall.

 

[Marjorie]

He joined us in the “banter years”, think guys like him dropped a level simply by joining us at that time. At Chelsea next to Terry he was class.

Thought he played more at full back during the mourinho years?

 

[Godwin1]

Played a CL final with us too, won 3 FA Cups. Done the right thing leaving though, he could see what was around the corner, Chelsea taking over London with their money and Arsenal tightening their purse strings due to the new stadium.

I remember reading at the time he left because we wouldn't budge over an extra 5 grand on his contract or something like that. I don't know how much truth is in there though.

 

[Marjorie]

I remember reading at the time he left because we wouldn't budge over an extra 5 grand on his contract or something like that. I don't know how much truth is in there though.

I think like Fabregas he landed right where he wanted to

 

[Godwin1]

I think like Fabregas he landed right where he wanted to

Highly likely.

 

[Trilly]

I remember reading at the time he left because we wouldn't budge over an extra 5 grand on his contract or something like that. I don't know how much truth is in there though.

Yeah it was 55k a week vs 60k a week.

 

[GDeep™]

Thought he played more at full back during the mourinho years?

He covered there during injuries, I mainly remember him playing CB with Desailly and Terry.

I do remember though, he was top quality anywhere he played, rumours Juventus even wanted him before he came here.

Was a massive signing for me, but now when I look back he was a player who came here and got dragged down by us I think.

 

[GDeep™]

Cole wanted the Chelsea move. Met Mourinho, was tapped up by the English players on international duty etc. That 5K thing was just a bad excuse, which actually backfired as he received a lot of stick for saying he nearly crashed his car.

He even said he wanted to join a dressing room with English players, felt he was left out at Arsenal with all the French speakers. Ultimately he was proven right to leave, had he stayed here he wouldn’t have been involved in all the big games he played at Chelsea.

 

[Notorious Big]

I think like Fabregas he landed right where he wanted to

Barcelona had obligation to contact Arsenal first,if Cesc ever leaves them.

He could talk to Mourinho all day,but if we wanted him back,he would join Arsenal.

 

[squallman]

Barcelona had obligation to contact Arsenal first,if Cesc ever leaves them.

He could talk to Mourinho all day,but if we wanted him back,he would join Arsenal.

Reading the comments from Mourinho and Wenger at the time, I get the impression that Fabregas had already agreed to the move to Chelsea before Barcelona made it known to us that he was available.

Cesc is also an absolute snake. He was never going to come back to us to fight for 4th again and compete with Özil for a shirt. Chelsea had a better team at the time and that's why he went there.

There's no sentiment with these guys, its all business. I'm 100% sure that Cesc would have played for Real Madrid if the opportunity arose.

Cole wanted the Chelsea move. Met Mourinho, was tapped up by the English players on international duty etc. That 5K thing was just a bad excuse, which actually backfired as he received a lot of stick for saying he nearly crashed his car.

He even said he wanted to join a dressing room with English players, felt he was left out at Arsenal with all the French speakers. Ultimately he was proven right to leave, had he stayed here he wouldn’t have been involved in all the big games he played at Chelsea.

We should have kept him regardless, doubled his salary if we had to. Chelsea were never going to find a better LB and imagine if we had him for the 2008 season. Hell, imagine if we had him instead of Clichy or Gibbs for all those years.

Selling him was the worst player move of the Emirates era. It was like if we sold Vieira to United in 2001.

Its ironic how we might have had Terry and Cole playing for us if Roman never bought Chelsea.