Cesc Fàbregas

[serghei]

I still remember well everyone getting mad at Tata, before the games, because Cesc was starting again. Everyone knew what would happen, and it always did.

I didn't. Not the first time I'm up against the popular current. I guess we'll see in the future. Btw, was Cesc the problem against PSG too? Because we were shit in the midfield in the first real test this season.

 

[Flavia]

I didn't. Not the first time I'm up against the popular current. I guess we'll see in the future. Btw, was Cesc the problem against PSG too? Because we were shit in the midfield in the first real test this season.

So you remember those games, and think the team didn't improve after Cesc was subbed? Alright. That's not going against the popular current, it's just bias or blindness.

Against psg, apart from bad finishing, Alba and Alves were really bad. Ter Stegen failed in the second goal, and blanc schooled lucho. Can't concede from set pieces like it happen. Cesc wouldn't had made much difference.

 

[serghei]

So you remember those games, and think the team didn't improve after Cesc was subbed? Alright. That's not going against the popular current, it's just bias or blindness.

So, let me guess, if Tata Martino would had benched Cesc at the right time, we would've won the triple last season. I think you oversimplify the Cesc issue and undervalue him as a player. He is a world class midfielder that wasn't used properly. Sure, there were games in which we needed more speed and Cesc is pretty slow, but that doesn't prove anything. All players have fortes and minuses.

 

[Flavia]

So, let me guess, if Tata Martino would had benched Cesc at the right time, we would've won the triple last season. I think you oversimplify the Cesc issue and undervalue him as a player. He is a world class midfielder that wasn't used properly. Sure, there were games in which we needed more speed and Cesc is pretty slow, but that doesn't prove anything. All players have fortes and minuses.

I don't know if we would have won the triple, but we could had won something. It was a different team without him. Cesc was starting at the cost of having Neymar and Iniesta out of position, and Cesc was playing really badly. And I don't undervalue Cesc. I know and acknowledge he is a very good player, but not for Barcelona.

And you overrate him. Saying he "wasn't used properly" is a very, very bad excuse. Three different coaches played him a lot, and he still didn't manage to fit in the team. Pep lost his patience with Cesc, to the point he grabbed him by the neck and pushed him, clearly frustrated. And he got worse as seasons went by. For Cesc to fit in, the way Barça play would need to change. And that was never going to happen.

 

[Hamzah]

Oh no. That shitty Twitter story everyone takes as the truth.

Also we were always going to win nothing under Tata. The fact is we won a 100 point Liga with Cesc and this was without Neymar. Cesc is not the common factor for having a bad season.

We play badly in big CL games because our play is slow and predictable and we are wide open on counter attacks.

 

[Flavia]

Which twitter story? The 100 point league was won because Messi had his crazy 91 goals year in 2012. And Cesc contributed a lot for the play being slow.

 

[Hamzah]

The thing on Twitter where some guy blamed our whole decline on Cesc basically. It contained that thing where Pep pushed him and it's pure nonsense (it was a fatherly push).

I remember early on he won us a few games while Madrid were dropping points which accelerated Madrids implosion. If he wasn't there we'd have drawn those games and we might not have witnessed that comedy. That along with his goal in the Bernabeu is what I will remember from his time here.

Anyway he's gone now. I think it was good to sell because he didn't have a position in this team.

 

[KingMessi]

The one game I specifically remember where Cesc earned us points was the game against Sevilla where he scored two goals and got Gary Medel sent off, before Villa scored the winner.

 

[Hamzah]

The one game I specifically remember where Cesc earned us points was the game against Sevilla where he scored two goals and got Gary Medel sent off, before Villa scored the winner.

Yeah that's the major one, there was others too.

 

[Flavia]

That game vs sevilla is one I don't like to remember. Cesc cheated to get medel sent off.

But fatherly push, Hamzah? Pep was pissed.

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

Funny thing is in the current formation Cesc would be a beast. He could play in Leo's position and Leo would play upfront.
It would be no false 9 then but a real no. 10 and 2 strikers instead of wingers.

 

[instinct]

Funny thing is in the current formation Cesc would be a beast. He could play in Leo's position and Leo would play upfront.
It would be no false 9 then but a real no. 10 and 2 strikers instead of wingers.

Delete this post ASAP.

Ursegor has hired various lawyers and you'll get post in the coming days, if you don't .

 

[DonAK]

Messi would not be as involved with the game as he should be and a such formation would have no place for either Luis Suarez or Neymar Jr.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

Considering Iniesta's poor form right now, our more "direct" playstyle and Rakitic's presence helping our defense, Cesc would absolutely have a place in our team right now. He wouldn't be stuck at false nine or left wing facepalm, he'd be feeding extremely in-form Messi and Neymar and soon-enough Suarez, and thanks to our more compact formation and Rakitic in the team he wouldn't have to carry the burden of defending. And his presence would probably motivate Iniesta to play better, since there would be someone in the team who could challenge his spot in the starting XI.

 

[Ursegor]

For four years, Pep demanded unstinting effort from his players. Nothing but their best would do and at times his exacting standards caused friction within the group. Many of the players were unfazed by the relentless work rate, but some felt they had earned the right to relax a bit. They were the elite of world football, after all, and they had the trophies to prove it. More than one of Pep’s men were now interested in contesting only the important games and they began to make excuses to avoid the kind of grim, uninspiring winter matches which were played on cold, inhospitable pitches. To add to Pep’s woes, one new signing in particular was failing to live up to expectations.

:cesc: