Xavi: Arsenal’s Least Favorite Player

By: chris | July 21st, 2010

123253800624620090121-1857203dn I’ve always found it somewhat impossible to dislike Xavi. He looks like he should be bagging your groceries, and yet he’s the finest midfielder of his generation and a genuine aesthete, which is something of a rarity in football today.

However, it appears his second job, that of Barca mouthpiece, is becoming slightly less amusing by the day, as the Catalan wagons continue to circle around Arsenal. His latest? Cesc is merely “on loan”.

This should go down well.

Horse’s mouth:

“We know where Cesc wants to be this coming season, but perhaps there is not enough time for Barcelona and Arsenal to agree a deal,” Xavi told The Daily Express.

“Arsenal need to understand they are only delaying the inevitable. If we don’t manage to get his signature this season then Arsenal only really have him on loan for a year – because there is nothing they can do to stop him joining next summer.”

“His (Fàbregas’s) people will have a whole season to sort out the deal between the two clubs and it will happen at the very latest next summer,” he added.

“I haven’t given up on him joining us this season but, if he doesn’t, it won’t be more than a year before he is back home.

“We were all with him for five weeks in South Africa and we know he wants to be at Barcelona, he made it very clear.

“But he will under no circumstances do anything that will upset the Arsenal fans. And that’s probably why we are going to have to wait for him for another year.”

Of course he’s probably right, but that doesn’t mean he should be saying it. That’s the job of the men in suits upstairs, whose public image is entirely irrelevant and can say whatever they want without too many repercussions reaching their cushy baby seal skin desk chairs. Xavi should just stick to being football’s foremost geometrist.

But is their any doubt Arsenal will draw Barcelona at some point in the Champions League once again, regardless of Cesc’s address? Absolutely none.

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Category: World Football

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S Richards

Is this what we expect of a player internationally renowned for his footballing ability. During the World Cup, praise was lavished upon him, by people who will now be disappointed by his actions. Leave the gobbiness to the pros and get on with what you're paid for: playing football, not bringing the game into disripute. Xavi you are a disgrace to professional football.
Kxevin

@pete: That "offer" would be looked at with a giggle, because we would understand that Xavi isn't going anywhere. Why would he? It's a confidence, the same confidence that would greet talk of Messi, Iniesta or any of our other farm-raised products leaving. Why would they, and if they want to, who are we to stop them?

Look at the Toure Yaya situation. Guardiola wanted to keep him, but understood that there was ultimately nothing that we could do. So he left, and we move on, rather than keeping a player that doesn't want to be kept.

Ryan McManus is right. Xavi is outspoken. Always has been, always will be, whether the comments are advisable or not.
pete

this will continue for the rest of the season, until cesc finally signs for his original club, let him go i say. If his heart isnt with arsenal anymore, then i dont want him playing for us, yes i know he's class, but to be honest he's not worth the headlines anymore, im bored of all of it, let him go home, what have we won since he's been our star.......nothing.....so good riddance cesc, hope your happy on the subs bench, maybe we should launch a bid for xavi......tell them we want a straight swap see how that goes down.
MrNeezy

What's disgraceful isn't the barca players comments, it's the english press's campaign against barcelona FC.
Yes the players shouldn't be saying and be quoted saying the things they say, but until i see a single question that leads to the statements made i won't pass judgement.

This is from an interview in the Express, an english publication. They have 6 seperate quotes from xavi and not a single question posed to him........ i wonder why....... surely not because the english journo asked loaded questions then waits for the answer only to publish the quotes out of context........ Or surely not because the kinds of questions asked prompted exactly that kind of response.....
Get a clue, and see all this out of context barca bashing as what it is..... OR find me 3 examples of the questions asked to the barca players. There must be like 50 quotes floating around out there and not 1 of the questions have been published. Must be a coincidence
arwa

ugh xavi just makes me sick im really sick of him and the catalan gang always be comming out and saying to the press cesc has the barca DNA i ve sent arsenal a text message that they need to give up on cesc is he retarted or what what kind person sends text messages to a club to give up on a player plus xavi is handicapped him and cesc play in the same position and if cesc leaves cesc will be compeating with xavi to earn the position if i was xavi i would want cesc to be away frome as possible
Diane

The problem is not reading the Spanish football press. Spanish players talk at greater length and in greater depth to the media. I was surprised to hear Torres' first interviews when he got to Liverpool because they were so frank -- still often are -- then remembered the cultural difference.

I love the scene in Bull Durham where the kid's writing down the lines he's allowed to repeat to the press, they're basically what we hear from the majority of players in the US and certainly in Britain -- except for Jimmy Bullard and David James, of course, but they're kind of refreshing.
Josh

Xavi and his f*#%*%#@ mouth!Just because he is a fine footballer makes him think he is above the game to insult another premier club? The owner of Fab is Arsenal, not Barcelona. How then is Fabregas on 'loan' to Arsenal from Barca? He may be good at the feet, but he is moronic in his head.
Ryan McManus

You guys really haven't been following Spanish soccer if you think this is unlike Xavi. He's been like this as long as I can remember... I respect him as a player, but I've never really liked the guy.
Ricarden

What a disgrace,if there was a way to define "Bringing the game into disrepute then this is surely it!What are Arsenal Going to do about this, what are FIfa going to do about it? My guess is nothing!if Arsenal where to carry on the same way we would surely be villified by all and sundry, there only has to be a hint of us being unsportsman like and the hanging party are out for us remember Eduardo's supposed dive last season? every man and his dog had a go about that! where are these pundits when we are being publicly harrassed and goaded? where they always are when Arsenal are being wronged, on the side of the perpertrator! This has been going on not for a month or 2, but for 3 years!!!We had it with Theirry Henry when Samuel Eto was forever on his case about coming to Barcelona,Hleb, after joining Barcelo, spoke on a few occasions saying that Cesc should leave Arsenal, and now we get it from not just the Barca players but the Liverpool Keeper.
Such actions played out in front of the media makes me believe that this is an orchestrated aproach by Barcelona, they tried buying Hleb first in the hope that Cesc would follow, when that didn;t work they get the whole spanish football team to hunt in a pack towards manipulating Cesc to move to Barcelona.
If he really want's to go then we should sell him, then use part of that money towards suing Barcelona and the players who have been goading Cescc to move. This game is hard enough with agents dirty tricks.Barcelona have brought a whole new meaning to player power, it's about time that we silenced their Barka,if we do not do it no they will forever be on our case.
Brenton

I am a really, really big fan of Xavi, and always thought he was a classy individual. Now, however, my respect for him is really dropping fast. Can someone tell him to shut the hell up?
Diane Lancaster

Yes l glad to see there is a barca fan who is a shamed of the way his team are going about trying to up set Arsenal football club.Xavi is a disgrace the way he and other players keep opening their mouths,Your club is worse them real madrid...
swapnil

first of all i'm a barca fan,but i just seem to have lost all the love for them.barca's pursuit of fabregas is just same as real's with ronaldo.barca keep on moaning about how they are a club with great values and class but i just don't like the way they've gone about this and xavi was probably the last person i expected to be involved in this.my sympathy with arsenal fans....
Mike

Is there any way that FIFA can step in when a player says something like this? As an Arsenal fan, I'm used to agents mouthing off all the time, but these players are out of control. The has to be some guideline either by FIFA or the players club that needs to be put in place. I know Cese will give his all, but what a way to mess with someone's mind for a whole season.