I DIDN’T see yesterday’s game in Poland so can’t comment. That said, the scoreline tells the story really, doesn’t it?

On Cesc, the quotes that I think really matter are buried at the bottom of his roughly £10,000 a pop interview with yesterday’s Sun. The vast majority of it is the same stuff from the statement, but right at the end we get:

“The boss is convinced we can mount a strong title challenge this season and I will do everything I can to help make
that happen.

“I had lots of heart-to heart talks with Arsene Wenger throughout all of this. Some of them on the phone, some of
them face-to-face.

“They will always remain private but it is fair to say that he really believes Arsenal will make a strong challenge for
the title this year. I really hope he’s right.

“I’m an ambitious person and I have only won one trophy in my seven years at Arsenal — and that was the FA Cup.
That’s not a good enough return and we need to address that and urgently.”

Put bluntly he’s saying: I don’t honestly think we have any chance of winning the title.

It is a theme I havbe touched on a few times this summer: for all the talk of returning to the club and city he loves, the major distinction between us and Barca is that they win things and we don’t.

Cesc Fabregas is far too respectful of Arsene Wenger to explicitly question his direction. But those quotes above are thinly veiled. They say: “I didn’t believe we could win this title at the end of last season and having seen the signings thus far, I don’t believe we can do it now.” You can well understand the sentiment.

For me this really is the big issue: not whether he will be thinking about Barcelona but whether he will be believing Arsenal can do it.

“Firstly I would like to apologise to all the Arsenal fans for not speaking sooner about my future but I have not known what I was going to do until this moment.”

(An apology – pointedly not for wanting to leave but instead for the uncertainty. A good, clear start though.)

“I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was not an attractive move for me.”

(Leave aside the fact that the above sentence gets so tangled in negatives that it appears to suggest he had no interest in Barcelona. It is an honest admission, admittedly one that could hardly be denied, but honest nonetheless.)

“This was the club where I learnt my football, it is my home town where my friends and family are and a club where I have always dreamed of playing. There are not many players in this world who would not want to play for Barcelona.”

(This is the explanation that suits both Cesc and Arsenal. Put crudely, he doesn’t have to say we were crap at the end of last season and we don’t have to acknowledge that same point.

My major question is: does Cesc believe in Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal project? Nothing in Cesc’s statement indicates that he shares the optimism of teammates such as RVP and Thomas Vermaelen. This is no criticism of Cesc: after the monumental effort he put in last season it must have been heartbreaking to watch from Barcelona as we simply gave up.)

“I have had many conversations with Arsène Wenger both in person and over the phone over the last few months and although the content of those conversations will remain private, the conclusion is that Barcelona have had two formal offers rejected by Arsenal.”

(Interesting to note how for all the chatter and the supposed leaks, nobody appeared aware of a second bid being turned down. We now know through Barca’s web site that the second bid was £33 million. Simply not enough in my book and the player would do well to reflect how Barcelona were happy to see him express his desire to leave but seemoingly in no position to make a bid that stood any chance of success.)

“I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal’s prerogative not to sell me.”

(This, for me, is a crucial point. While my instinct is that freedom of labour is very important, Cesc signed a long term contract with us not very long ago and as he himself appears to admit, his desire to leave is borne purely out of preference rather than any great change in personal circumstances that might make a desire to leave more understandable.)

“I owe a lot to the Club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal.”

(This is a really crucial point. Keeping Cesc will count for little or nothing unless he is able to concentrate fully and recapture the desire that so drove him last season. I do worry that it could be easier said than done.)

“I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100 percent focused on playing for Arsenal.”

(For how long? He should rule out the possibility of a January transfer and guarantee he will be at the club until next summer.)

“I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about.

“I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me.”

(While this hasn’t been much fun for us as fans, I suspect it’s been no bundle of fun for Cesc either. I can’t imagine he would have expressed his desire to leave unless he really believed a transfer was going to happen. That it hasn’t has left him in an awkward place.)

Conclusion:

Can a guy, who everyone knows doesn’t want to be at a club, captain a club? Can a captain impress on the youngsters at a club what an honour it is to wear the shirt when they know he wishes he didn’t have to?

Those are hard questions to answer I think.

Arsene faces a big challenge to get Cesc’s head right. Cesc faces an equally big challenge to get his head right.

In one sense, it will be the biggest football challenge he has ever faced. But he will be conscious too that Barca’s interest this summer was on the back of an excellent 2009-10 season and that any future interest is unlikely to be unconditional.

ARSENAL 3 CELTIC 2
FROM GOODPLAYA AT THE EMIRATES

THIS was my first glimpse of Arsenal since Fulham were beaten at the Emirates in May. It offered a welcome reminder of the buffet of attacking talent we are lucky enough to witness as Gooners.

Nasri, Vela, Eboue, Walcott, Arshavin, Rosicky, Chamakh, Bendtner, RVP and Wilshere is some offering.

And yet in a way those riches make it all the more dispiriting that we are where we are.

With a fortnight until the season begins we have just three central defenders, two fewer than in May.

We have no number 1 goalkeeper, only a trio who are in limbo and none of whom are currently worthy of the position.

For all that attacking talent we are also arguably one short of players who can perform the lone striker role. On that front Chamakh for Eduardo appears a wise move. Last season, there were moments when all three strikers were unavailable and poor Arshavin toiled up front on his own. Even with two unavailable (such at Liverpool in two weeks), you have no substitute replacement for the one who can play.

And perhaps most crucially the situation with the club captain is very troubling. Yes, we should applaud the club for apparently keeping hold of Cesc. But it will only count for something if we see the Cesc of last year. A disgruntled, angry Cesc would arguably be worse than no Cesc. This one needs resolving. And soon. And emphatically.

As ever, transfer business has been allowed to drift and we’ve let go more players than we’ve brought in and no doubt trimmed the wage bill. But have we improved our chances of silverware? Looking at the issues outlined above, we’re asking for too many minor miracles coming off right now.

On a more micro level, the Celtic game posed an interesting midfield conundrum. Nasri and Wilshere both look best suited to a central role. But can you play one of them, Cesc and Song together? Is it not a little lightweight and a little too attacking?

Talking of Wilshere, he simply has to be given a very good chance to show what he can do. The volley from a corner that hit the bar was simply extraordinary to watch. There is something distinctly Rooneyesque about him.

Random thoughts on a few players:

Almunia – depressing to see him wearing the armband.

Djourou – comfortable.

Sagna – as a keeper you know it’s a bad day when Bacary Sagna, on his left foot, from 25 yards, beats you at your near post.

Frimpong – neat.

Theo – Very dangerous but astonishing how some very simple passes can fail.

Nasri – sharp.

Koscielny – obviously better than the nightmare he endured after coming on. That number 6 shirt still has a certain aura to it.

Chamakh – more suited to the lone role than Eduardo.

Arshavin – didn’t overly exert himself.

APOLOGIES for about the zillionth time for the lack of updates of late.

The reasons are two fold. The first has been a lack of greatly meaningful Arsenal matches to reflect on and a sense that until the transfer window closes it is hard to pass judgement. The other is that I have been happily busy of late and actually thankful for the off season. With England enjoying the brightest summer for some time, never has Arsenal felt more of a winter pursuit.

And if I am entirely blunt it felt as if something changed with that defeat at Wigan. The attitude that day stunk so badly that I think it jolted my mindset in a way nothing else had previously in 20 years of watching Arsenal.

I hope the passion that once consumed me to write here at such length will return with a new season and proof from those who I cheer on that they care a damn site more than they did at Wigan.

But enough of me, what of our business this summer?

I am more convinced than ever that we simply have to sign a keeper, almost to the point that it matters little whether the stats suggest they are better than what we have. The defenders patently do not trust the current options and so a replacepment is imperative.

Sol for another year makes a lot of sense but really he more than anyone should be getting his body in shape as soon as possible and not farting around on honeymoon.

Given that if we were to go into the wider market for another defender it would almost certainly be for an unproven Vermaelen or Koscielny type I really think Sol makes sense.

Joe Cole should be no great loss. I am astonished he did not end up at Spurs. His old boss, CL footie and London. Exactly the kind of tranfer Redknapp specialises in.

Finally, Eduardo. Evidence that we need to move away from the idea of a career ending tackle to one of the career changing tackle. A real shame. Best of luck to the guy.