Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has given a very honest interview to Spanish magazine Don Balon. Fabregas discusses his frustration on the lack of silverware in recent years, the clubs worrying lack of winning mentality and confidence at the business end of the season as well as the impact the Carling Cup success could have had on the club:
From 2007 I had already started saying “we’re not winning, but we’re playing well”. And then you realise that’s no use.
“You enjoy yourself, during a phase of the championship – like this year, for example, when we were still in four different competitions.
“And you say to yourself ‘here I have everything!’ But then that final point is missing and it’s then when you have to make a decision: either go out and win or develop players.”
“It’s difficult. For me it’s more a lack of a winning mentality, also of maturity in key moments,” he said.
“We have plenty of quality but lack this bit of confidence. The problem is that the team needs to win something. That’s why it was so important to win the Carling Cup.
“We needed this cup to be able to believe in ourselves as a team. (Robin) Van Persie has won an FA Cup as I have, but there’s no more.
“Nobody in the team has won anything. We are missing that ability to say: ‘now I know what it is to win and I know what it takes to win’.
“That’s what made the Arsenal team of ‘The Invincibles’ so strong, they knew how to win games, when to dig in, when to attack, they had a special intelligence to read games. Now we are very young.”
“The coach is an intelligent person and the club value other things – that the team is always in the Champions League, that they fight until the end, bring through young players, economic stability.
“I guess that for the board that is important. Although I imagine there will be a moment when you have to take the plunge… either you win or you don’t win.”
Very revealing stuff from the young man and it’s difficult to argue with anything he’s said here. He’s pretty much saying what all Arsenal fans are feeling, but the big question is should the captain of our great club be giving off such negative vibes?
He continued to speak, once again, about a return to Barcelona but the good news is that he claims he would never join another English team if/when he leaves the Gunners:
“If some day I leave Arsenal it will never be to sign for another English team.”
“You have to have patience with things and wait for the right moment.
“The day that I leave Arsenal I will do it with my head, not just because.
“It seems that if I don’t make the move now I never will. But I’m 23 years and if I go this summer, I’ll be 24, if I go to the next, I’m 25; the next, 26; the next, 27! I have to be patient and bide my time.
“Besides, who says you’re going to play in the new team? Or maybe you stop developing. I’m lucky here. Despite not winning a lot, I’m getting very strong.
“Here I have the great fortune that at a personal level, despite not having won much, I’m doing very well,” he said.
“Patience and hard work are the most important things in life.”
Very interesting stuff from Cesc and to be honest, i don’t quite know what to make of it all just yet. He seems to be sending some signals that he will be staying around at Arsenal for the foreseeable future but it’s clear he is worried by the current state of the squad, especially the lack of winning mentality and low confidence. For the captain to come out and confirm what we all knew already, is very worrying.
I also feel there are a few not-so-subtle hints to Arsene and the board to get the cheque book out this summer or risk losing him. I can’t blame him for wanting some experienced heads in the dressing room as it’s what the majority of Arsenal fans have been crying out for. Only time will tell how all this unfolds….
