Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does » 2010 » July » 14

By Walter Broeckx

Cesc has just had the “privilege” of spending some two months in the Spanish team during the world cup and its preparation. And in this period he has kept his mouth shut about his future and if he said something it was in fact saying nothing.

But we must keep in mind that he was sitting in the Spanish team, surrounded by Barcelona players, every day the Spanish press in his face. So he stayed very vague over his future. Saying openly that he would not go to Barcelona after the world cup could have harmed him in his world cup and would even put more pressure on him.

Before he went he said he left his future in the hands of Wenger who said he wouldn’t sell Cesc. And the club made a firm statement when Barcelona made their offers by just telling: fuck off, although possibly in nicer but also still very firm words. But the players from Barcelona and the club and the journalists kept on talking about Cesc wanting to go to Barcelona over and over again. They just couldn’t stop.

So yesterday, Carlos Puyol and Pique have done us a very big favour. Of course if you live on another planet you may wonder what I am talking about. So to help out, I will just talk you through the incident that happened when the Spanish team celebrated the world cup victory.

Pepe Reina called Cesc over and he held him in his arm. Meanwhile Puyol and Pique came behind the back of Cesc and pulled a Barcelona jersey over his head. They forced him in to it.

But Cesc refused to put his arms in the sleeves and stood there with no hands and with a face full of embarrassment. In Dutch we have an expression that goes in translation: “he was smiling like a farmer with toothache”.  [That’s one phrase I can’t get into English – Editor]. And for those who have toothache in their lives they know that you don’t smile with whole your heart. And when Reina let Cesc go, he immediately pulled out the Barceloanus shirt and went back in the group and stayed out of the picture.

So that’s  what happened. You can see it on many you tube video’s on the internet and you can see that what I described is like it happened.

Many fans, (can they really be called fans?) thought that this was the end. Cesc should be sold, should be stripped of the captaincy at least if not drowned in the Thames and hung in the Tower at noon. They think Cesc should have kicked Puyol in his b*lls, give an elbow on Pique and should have tackled Reina. And then he should have removed the Barcelona shirt, spat on it and walked away from the celebrations of becoming world champion.

He should have done this in front of a crowd of a few hundred thousand and in front of the eyes of the camera.  Do you really think that someone who seems so well educated and behaves himself with dignity most of the time would do something like that? No, he wouldn’t and no one would want to disturb the party of being world champion.

When I saw the pictures I knew for sure Cesc would stay with us and would be an Arsenal player. If Cesc would have known this before he could have done this to make a statement. He could have let Puyol and Pique pull him on the Barceloanus shirt and put his arms in the sleeves. Then he would have really  put it on, but Cesc refused to do this. Cesc could have put the shirt on and he could have kept it one for the rest of the party. Now THAT would have been a statement for the whole world and for Arsenal and Wenger. It could have been the same as saying to Arsenal and Wenger: I want to go.  It would have been like putting in a transfer request.

BUT Cesc DID NOT PUT HIS ARMS in the sleeves and he pulled the shirt back over his head and got rid of it  the moment he could do it. And in fact this was the statement that we have been waiting for all these weeks. Cesc didn’t have to speak, he acted. Just like he does on the pitch. Not words, but acts. His refusal to put on the Barcelona shirt properly was the statement for me and for those  who want to see, that he is a Gunner and will be a Gunner.

I think Puyol and Pique, with Reina in the complot, had planned this long ago and their aim was to disturb us Arsenal fans. They wanted to create this outburst and some fans stepped in to the trap set up by Barcelona. Imagine that Cesc comes to Arsenal and some stupid fans boo him? He would feel hurt deep in his heart. He turned away from the Barcelona shirt, and believe me this is nothing you do lightly if you are from Barcelona, and let us know that he will not leave.

So if we want to help Barcelona and drive Cesc out of Arsenal we just should go on with blaming our captain for this incident. And then we will get what Barcelona wants to happen: Cesc leaving on the cheap.

I think it is time to use our heads on this. We all know that Cesc will be leaving for Barcelona one day. But the only way we can keep him here is by giving him all the love we can give. We shouldn’t condemn him for wanting to go home one day in his career. No this is just a normal thing in live. We should be happy for every game that he plays in our shirt from now on. We should cherish every game he leads out the team AS A CAPTAIN, and cheer him like we never have done before.

His name should be sung out loud whenever he is giving his all for The Arsenal. We have chased away the child that is Adebayor.  We express our feelings quite rightly to the idiot Cole.  But Cesc will not go for  money to Barcelona, he will be going to be at home. Because he loves Barcelona because he is born there. Like people from London love London, like I love my place of birth and like most of us love their place of birth or where we grew up.

So let us get behind Cesc, give him all the love he can get from the fans. After all we are the ones that maybe cannot keep him at Arsenal for the rest of his career, but we could chase him away and this would be the worst move ever made by “fans” of this club. And don’t let us step in the trap set up by Barceloanus. We Gooners should be smarter than that.

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Over on Woolwich Arsenal: the Arsenal captain with over 300 games as a full back to his credit, who took over the management of the club when our most famous manager died and who devoted almost all his working life to Arsenal.

Back on Untold Arsenal: Who will go down next season?  Billy the Dog fights his way past the guards to reveal everything.  Well almost.

And there’s a new book on the way: Woolwich Arsenal – the Complete History.  Can’t tell you everything because it is still being written, but the first Woolwich book, “Making the Arsenal” (once described as ‘historical fiction on acid’) is now in its second edition.

Or you can always go home