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An (obligatory?) thought on Francesc Fàbregas i Soler

So about that video:

It is probably pointless to speculate on what is going through the mind of Arsenal's captain right now.  Clearly he was uncomfortable with what Pique and Puyol did.  Clearly, in celebrations, things can get weird and extremely stupid.  Clearly, Pepe Reina proclaiming a player to be the future of any club not called Liverpool is pointless.  The whole thing is just so silly.

And yet, it would be equally silly to ignore the outrage that it has provoked.  The blog reactions have ranged from that statement of anger by Arseblog, to resignation and boredom, to measured ill-humor and still more anger.  This little episode is just one more facet of the whole larger issue, involving FIFA regulations ignored, good business practice, the question of loyalty versus ambition (if those can even be considered a workable binary; LeBron James probably has thoughts on that).  But saying all that, supporters and players do have feelings, and that's at the heart of the reaction out there today.

All of the focus has been on Barcelona the club, Puyol, Pique, and Xavi, and their behavior.  The one man who has tried as hard as possible to not talk about it is Fàbregas.  Time and again his wishes have been ignored, and that is the biggest problem with what has been happening.  Any transfer possibility will involve emotion, but the emotions for the most part do not come from the subject (object?) of that possibility.  That is both understandable and kind of odd.

At the end of everything, hopefully Fàbregas just has a good vacation from football for a bit and comes back ready to do the things that he likes to do.  And, whatever silliness and condescension rain down from outside, Arsenal remain one of the best-run clubs on Earth and are fully prepared to deal with whatever happens even external to just moving a round ball around a flat plane.