Anorak

cesc fabregas

Posts Tagged ‘cesc fabregas’

Chelsea Balls: Is Badge-Kissing Cesc Fabregas The Most Fickle Man In Football?

Screen shot 2014-09-18 at 06.53.30

 

GOOD old Cesc Fabregas. He’s the Spanish footballer with Barcelona “DNA”, Arsenal in his heart and Barcelona in his blood. He’s Cesc Fabregas, the the self-declared Arsenal fan (“I will always be an Arsenal fan”), who agitated for a move to Barcelona – who said “my whole family are Barcelona supporters”; who said in 2011, “If some day I leave Arsenal it will never be to sign for another English team. I’m very sure”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 18th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Sports | Comment


Transfer Balls: Arsenal Get Two-For-Cesc Deal In Munir El Haddadi and Sergi Samper

TRANSFER Balls: Arsenal are linked by Spanish newspaper SPORT to Barcelona’s Munir El Haddadi and Sergi Samper.

Both players sit on contracts with €12million release clauses. So. If Arsene Wenger acts now he can get them both for less than they could be worth when they are fully grown stars.

Arsenal fans may well wonder who these players are. Well, as ever, the lazier elements of the media bill both as versions of what has gone before.

The Indy hails the – yep – new Cesc Fabregas!

 

Screen shot 2014-09-13 at 08.28.14

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 13th, September 2014 | In: Reviews | Comment


Transfer Balls: Fabregas Goes Full House Hunting In Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool And Manchester

FOR some days Anorak has been bringing you the Daily Farbregas, an offshoot of our Transfer Balls (TB) round-ups. The aim in in TB is for all the mainstream Press to link the top players with each of the top English clubs. Facts matters not. If a source says Fabregas is off to Manchester City, the story gets written.

Guillem Balague has picked up the Balls that Fabregas is set to play for Chelsea, (for whom one paper says he’s already signed Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United and tweets:

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 11th, June 2014 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment


Transfer Balls: Fabregas Wants Arsenal Who Want Him To Play For Chelsea

TRANSFER Balls – more news from the Daily Fabreags. Following the Daily Star and TalkSports‘ “exclusive” news that Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas has passed a medical and signed for Chelsea, the Mirror today tells its readers that, er, he hasn’t:

 

Screen shot 2014-06-06 at 08.10.38

 

So. Jose Mourinho is “interested” in Fabregas. Well, so too as ManCity, Manchester United, Liverpool and Zenit St Petersburg , according to the Press.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 6th, June 2014 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Sports | Comment


Footballers Forever Associated With Certain Items Of Food

FOOTBALLERS Forever Associated With Certain Items Of Food

Food1

“Mark Bosnich was a terrible professional,” claims Sir Alex Ferguson in his autobiography, which was launched in a small room above a Salford pub last week, to mass indifference.

“We played down at Wimbledon and Bosnich was tucking into everything: sandwiches, soups, steaks. He was going through the menu. I told him, ‘For Christ’s sake, Mark, we’ve got the weight off you. Why are you tucking into all that stuff?’ We arrived back in Manchester, and Mark was on mobile phone to a Chinese restaurant to order a takeaway.”

Food2

And with these words, Mark ‘Sniffer’ Bosnich achieves membership of the exclusive Footballers Forever Associated With Certain Items Of Food Club.

Description=Front and back page of the early edition (all editions the same) of The Sun dated Tuesday 26th October 2004. Headline reads: WAR AND PIZZA - Slices hurled at Fergie : Wenger yelled abuse : Soup & sarnie barrage (relating to events after Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 at Old Trafford 24.10.2004). Pictured are: Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson, Zoe Salmon (the new presenter on Blue Peter), Jordan and Michael Carroll (Lottery lout and chav)

There could even have been another, had Fergie revealed the identity of the culprit to blame for ‘Pizzagate’, when a row between himself and Arsene Wenger in 2004 culminated in carb carnage. “The next thing I knew, I had pizza all over me,” recalls the red-faced recently-retired ruler of Old Trafford. He says he did not see who threw it, but that Cesc Fabregas has been suggested to him. And that’s good enough for us, so Cesc is hereby inducted, along with his missile of choice.

Food4
Food5

Arsene Wenger remained typically inscrutable this week: “I don’t know about food throwing. I did not see if something was thrown – you’ll have to ask someone else, because I don’t know.”

When Cesc arrives, he will find another Arsenal old boy awaiting him…

Chips

Food7

Food6

In 1986, ‘Champagne’ Charlie was arrested outside the Confusion Bar in Ibiza, for an unusual twist on the usual footballers’ fracas. Scottish holidaymaker Lori McElroy alleged that Nicholas stole a chip from her, and then broke her jaw in the ensuing argument. Nicholas was found guilty but continued to deny any wrongdoing.

Chips would haunt Charlie years later, when working as a pundit for Sky. Anchorman Jim White, presumably assuming his mic was switched off, referred to the Celtic fans’ chorus of The Fields of Athenrye with a reference to the Irish potato famine.

“Oh here we go again, the tottie famine,” said Jim.
“Aye, and they’re all eating chips while singing this,” replied Nicholas, to the displeasure of the Bhoys’ worldwide army of millions.

Roast dinner with all the trimmings

Traditional Sunday roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and vegetables

 

Jimmy Greaves, Chelsea

Terry Venables remembers breaking into the Chelsea team as a youngster and playing alongside the legendary Jimmy Greaves. Greavsie was only three years older than Terry, yet he was already a superstar, and would soon move to AC Milan. He lived near Venables, and would give him a lift to matches. The first time this happened, Jim explained that he usually stopped for lunch at a café, so they went in and Venables – already at the vanguard of modern practices – ordered steamed chicken. He was shocked to see Greaves polish off a massive plate of roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, veg, and roast AND mashed potatoes. This he followed up with a large bowl of stodge and custard. “I always have this,” he said. Venables says Greaves proceeded to score a hatful of goals that afternoon. But then, he usually did.

Speaking of dinners, an honoury mention must also go to erstwhile Orient manager John ‘bring yer fu*king dinner’ Sitton, for his legendary televised half-time rant…

Lasagna

Food10

Tottenham Hotspurs' Michael Carrick and Jermain  Defoe walk off dejected at the final whistle

Tottenham Hotspurs’ Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe walk off dejected at the final whistle

Martin Jol’s Tottenham side of 2005-06 will be remembered for their valiant but ultimately unsuccessful assault on the final Champions League spot. To make it worse, it was arch-rivals West Ham who ruined their party by beating them 2-1 on the final day. And to put the tin lid on it, it was Arsenal who pipped them to fourth.

The defeat was blamed squarely upon a lasagna which had been served to the players at the London Marriott in West India Quay, where the players aere staying before the game. Ten players went down with a mystery illness, assumed to be food poisoning, although the hotel was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Pies

Food12

David Beckham, as reported here recently, is a lifelong pie and mash fan, and even went to the lengths of taking the Spurs players and backroom staff to lunch at a local emporium during his brief stint training at the north London club.

But when it comes to meat-filled be-crusted comestibles, one man is synonymous: chunky Mick Quinn, whose candid autobiography is rhetorically entitled Who Ate All The Pies?

Food13

The scouse goal-machine once picked up a pie that was thrown at him from the crowd and ate it, to the amusement of all. He has been known to repeat the story from time to time in the course of his broadcasting duties.

Mars Bars

Food14
Food15 (1)

Paul Gascoigne’s love of the ‘iconic’ chocolate brick was well known, and when he turned out for Spurs against his former club Newcastle United the Toon fans bombarded him with said confectionary. Whereupon Gazza ‘did a Quinny’ and chomped enthusiastically.

Testicles

Mention ‘testicles and football’ and the connection is obvious: Wimbledon FC – although this is nothing to do with Gazza’s bollocks…

Food16

…and everything to do with the defunct club’s owner Sam Hammam, who introduced the novel forfeit of eating sheep’s gonads as part of the ‘Crazy Gang’ disciplinary code.

Food17

Crisps

No contest…

Food18

Sandwiches

It would be easy to just post a picture of Roy Keane, who indirectly coined the phrase “prawn sandwich brigade” during a mini-rant about Manchester United’s gentrified supporters.

Food19
Food20

Yet Keano’s comments are trumped by events at Grimsby, where Town’s Ivano Bonetti was supposedly injured when manager Brian Laws threw chicken wings at him. The sandwich-based truth is slightly different.

14-FEB-96 ... Grimsby v West Ham .... Grimsby's controversial Ivano Bonetti pictured before the game

Laws says that Bonetti hurled sandwiches – and a punch – at him, and that he merely retaliated in kind: “I’ve no idea where the chicken leg or wing part of the story came from! It almost put a bit of humour to it, but we felt it was best to leave things be and put things right later on. That incident gets brought up quite a lot and people laugh at it now – and I do as well – but at the time it wasn’t very funny or nice to be involved in. It was an incident which unfortunately spilled out into the press and all hell broke loose at the time.”

McDonald’s

Food23

The restaurant of choice for footballers seeking a pre-brawl snack, as patronised by Lee Bowyer (pictured here fighting with team-mate Kieran Dyer). Bowyer was convicted of affray at the Isle of Dogs branch…

Food24

And Joey Barton, back home in Liverpool…

Oranges

Food25

Charlton Athletic keeper Charlie Wright is fondly remembered for his tendency to wander behind his goal and chat with supporters. Legend has it that once, while accepting an orange from a fan, the opponents scored.

Salad cream

Food26

Food27

Step up, Dave Beasant. If you can, that is.

Beasant missed two months of the 1993-94 season after knocking over a jar of salad cream which fell onto his foot, causing serious injury. Some say it was mayonnaise, but unfashionable salad cream took the rap.

Bananas

Food28

Eternal spring chicken Gordon Strachan (pictured here with the world’s largest banana split) famously lives on a diet of the curvy peely fruit. “Gordon couldn’t spell banana when he was 20,” says former team-mate Alex McLeish “He ate pork pies then. But we had a teetotal right-back called Stuart Kennedy who brought in books about the diets of Ivan Lendl and Martina Navratilova. That’s when we started good eating habits.”

Unfortunately, the enduring image of footballers and bananas is less savoury. John Barnes was famously snapped back-heeling a banana thrown at him by the Goodison faithful in 1988.

barnes_kicks_banana

“I don’t remember doing that,” he said later. “I mean the picture is there but bananas back then were common. The reason it all came to the fore is because I was playing for a high-profile club like Liverpool. For six years before, that happened every week, but because it was a small club it wasn’t highlighted. In terms of me being angry and wanting to fight people in the stands though, it never happened, I consider those people to be ignorant, so how could they affect any part of life or any part of my demeanour.”

 

 

Posted: 30th, October 2013 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Sports | Comments (2)


Transfer Balls: Fabregas agrees his ‘absurd’ move to Manchester United

TRANSFER Balls: a look at the Daily Express‘ stella reporting on Manchester United’s moves for Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas. These are the headlines:

July 28

Cesc Fabregas says yes to Manchester United move

July 27

BARCELONA have put an end to Manchester United’s chances of signing Cesc Fabregas, with the new boss Gerardo Martino saying there is no chance he will be sold.

And:

Barcelona: Cesc Fabregas won’t be moving to Manchester United

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 28th, July 2013 | In: Sports | Comment


Transfer balls: Manchester United and Plymouth offer Fabregas first-team football away from Barcelona

TRANSFER Balls: Why would Cesc Fabregas leaves Barcelona?

Gerardo Martino, Barcelona’s coach, says:

“Considering the club has already rejected two offers [for the player], I would guess it will reject a third. In other words, Fabregas will remain here.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 26th, July 2013 | In: Sports | Comment


Transfer balls: Manchester United target Fabregas teams up with Higuain at Arsenal

cesc

TRANSFER Balls: Is Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas heading back to the Premier League with Manchester United or Arsenal? Lets’ see what the media experts are saying:

The Sun leads with “CESC BOOST FOR UNITED”. This “EXCLUSIVE” tells reader that Fabregas “is reportedly becoming worried as he is still waiting for assurances about his Nou Camp future”.

How can it be an exclusive if it’s been reported already? The Sun, of course, is the paper that told readers Gonzalo Higuain had signed for Arsenal. He didn’t. He now plays for Napoli.

Maybe Fabregas will team up with Higuain at Arsenal? Look out for that in the trusty Sun.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 26th, July 2013 | In: Sports | Comment


Transfer balls: Barcelona’s ‘non-transferable’ Fabregas snubs Manchester United for Arsenal

loser

TRANSFER Balls: Is Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas on his way to Manchester United, Arsenal or…well, anyone else? Let’s see what the media experts are saying:

On July 19, the Daily Mirror told its readers:

David Moyes is hopeful of a breakthrough in Manchester United’s bid for Cesc Fabregas within the next 48 hours.

United have bid £26million for the Barcelona midfielder, with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward having flown back from the club’s pre-season tour to accelerate the deal.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 21st, July 2013 | In: Sports | Comments (2)


Spurs: Gareth Bale becomes Real Madrid’s Eleventh Galactico (nine others missing)

Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale walks by dejected after Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with his team-mates (behind) after scoring their fourth goal

THE Daily Bale: Anorak’s daily look at the Tottenham Hotspur star in the news.

Former Brazil star Zico (formerly “The White Pele”) says Bale has “to compete in the Champions League”. Spurs fans nod as his sagacity.

The BBC reports:

The Tottenham midfielder’s agent told Spanish television in May that the PFA Player of Year and Young Player of the Year would be willing to listen to an offer from Real Madrid this summer, though Spurs have insisted he is not for sale.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 19th, June 2013 | In: Sports | Comment


Cesc Fabregas Goes. Arsene Loses Plot? The Unanswered Questions

LIKE most Arsenal fans I am a little sad, but not too surprised at Cesc Fabregas’ move to Barcelona. To be fair we did well to hang on to him last summer and he was always going to go this time round. I think too that the player has behaved impeccably and leaves Arsenal with a degree of dignity.

There are however a few questions that need answering asap

1 Is Arsene losing the plot? It is not 24 hours since he said that no players were leaving Arsenal. He must have known that the deal was imminent when he said this. Is it a case of wishful thinking or is he genuinely losing it?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 12th, August 2011 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comment (1)


Amnesiac Cesc Fabregas Stays As Arsenal Laugh Off Desperate Barcelona: Photos

CESC Fabreagas, the Arsenal skipper with no chant to call his own, says he is happy to stay at Arsenal and it no sure what all the fuss was about him going to Barcelona.

Says he:

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

No. Cesc has spoken about his future. He has said over the summer – and you have to listen hard to hear him over the sin of Barcelona company men speaking for their paymasters and the fact that his mouth is being covered as a Barcelona shirt is pulled over his torso:

“When you see that things are going so well for [players at Barcelona], I think I would like to go to Barcelona. Then if they want me or not is another thing. It’s what I want and what I would like.”

And:

“It is not up to me any more. It’s just now about Arsenal and whoever else has to be [involved] and that’s it. I don’t want to say anything else.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 6th, August 2010 | In: Sports | Comments (4)


Photos: Arsenal 2 Stoke City 0, Premier League

AFTER three successive defeats without a goal, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal finally managed to miss a penalty and then scored two goals. Andrey Arshavin was fouled for a penalty, whish Cesc Fabregas missed while doing an impression of David Cameron standing on a pebble. Arshavin then took matters into his own feeet and scored a terrific goal, added to by Aaron Ramsay. Arsenal, Andrey and Aaron keep Arsenal in third. At least the Gunners are top alphabetically. Incredibly, no Arsenal outfield player touched 6ft tall. Is this the smallest team in Premier League history?

8099573

Image 19 of 21

Stoke City's Salif Diao (left) and Arsenal's Carlos Alberto Vela battle for the ball

Posted: 5th, December 2009 | In: Sports | Comment


Top five football spitters

ARSENAL star Cesc Fabregas has today been accused of spitting at Hull City’s assistant manager, Brian Horton, after the Gooners’ 2-1 FA Cup win on Monday. Fabregas has denied the allegation, but this nonetheless gives Anorak the chance to pay tribute to five great football gobbers…

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 18th, March 2009 | In: Sports | Comments (4)