Living the Dream: Cesc Fabregas

The football season is upon us. The annual British religious experience is here. We Arsenal fans know what this means for us:  frantic last minute endeavours by Barcelona to wrest away our captain Cesc Fabregas for their very mixed motives;  to have Cesc become part of them;  to rescue Barcelona FC from its nightmare of bankruptcy and  fading glory. For those of you who are not on this planet and do not know, Barcelona discarded Fabregas when he was sixteen years of age in 2003 and Wenger, and Arsenal,  had the sense to take him on and help him become the most gifted young midfielder in the world. Cesc is happy with us and we are happy with him. We believe that with Cesc we will move on from being a highly talented team to a great one, from a nearly side to the trophy winning phenomenon of modern football; and that one day we shall look back on the unbelievable shenanigans of Barcelona’s attempt to tap up our captain as their last throw of the dice.

Today our team assemble for the group team photograph. Our captain will be there, smiling we hope, and still sharing our dream. We want to tell him that we love him, that he is one of us; we need him to tell us that we are still part of his dream. Wenger, who does no more that speak for us, wants Cesc tell the world that he is committed to us for the next four years of his contract, that he wants to play for us – and good riddance to Barcelona.

If he does this other dreams will be shattered. Not only Barcelona football club and its fanatical devoted fans but Cesc’s family, friends and millions of adoring Spanish football fans, and not least the Spanish media who feed on Cesc. Choosing us, Arsenal, will dent the dreams of his  father and agent, Franscesc, senior. His family aspirations will be bitterly disappointed. His mother and father are divorced. Franscesc, snr has a small property company and his mother Nuria Soler is the owner of a pastry shop. They have their own dreams: they need their  son back where he belongs to fulfill them; they need him where they think he belongs, Barcelona.

At Arsenal we know we have done nothing wrong. We have been good to Cesc and he is good for us. Our club is impressively run and managed. Our house is built on solid foundations and not on sand. We can name many players who have grown impatient with us and who sought new and greener pastures only  to find that they were mistaken by the siren sounds of new clubs and then to be quickly discarded on the whim and the politics of the moment.  Not us Cesc, not us.

We cannot bear these constant rumours each and every season. Speak up Cesc, do it today. We know that if you do this, you will not let us down and we shall stand loyally beside you because we can believe in you without fear and believe in ourselves. Do it now Cesc, do it loudly and firmly, and let’s get on with the beautiful game.

Arsenal Fever

It’s that time of the year: the new season. I have been an Arsenal fanatic for as long as I can remember and the condition has grown worse with the years. And in case you thought Nick Hornby had the last word with his away trips to see the reserves play Doncaster in the rain,  I have confessions of my own. Don’t press me. There used to be a time when the pressure of it was bearable: years and years when Arsenal  finished 5-13th in the League. They won some and lost some. No grief and no expectation. In this relative calm along came Arsene Wenger and everything changed: horror of horrors, Arsenal began to win things and expectations rose and anxieties with them. Injury time and Arsenal still behind. Match after match. Sometimes they pulled  the  iron from the fire – but alas not every time. Last season there came a time when Arsenal lost and mathematically it looked impossible to win the Premier League. To my surprise a sense of relief swept over me. Nothing more to grieve about, No last minute tuning into the radio, no windswept terraces, nothing, nothing, nothing. And now it is starting up again. We Gooners still don’t know the starting squad. Wenger specialises in last minute transfers. He loves a bargain. Arsenal will be stonger this season but so will  Man City and Spurs. You can take nothing for granted. They might but then they might not. What will I do for this team this year? Will I do anything. What about my blood pressure? You can take tablets now for high blood pressure. Would I do it, take the tablets. What is wrong with you Charlie, why this worsening condition? I don’t know Doctor, the reply. How can I say, give me the certainty of finishing 5-13 and all will be well. Remove my hope and give me indifference and the tablets. Smash my tv set and tear up my season ticket. Do it now Doctor, please me. There, there, have a tissue, old chap. It won’t come to that. Trust me, I support Wigan.