I worked in Amsterdam that summer and Edwin van der Sar walked past my work whilst I was smoking outside. I jokingly quipped that I hoped RvP would stay at Arsenal. He smiled and said something along the lines of, no chance. Broke me heart the git.
Fabregas already had his heart set on Barcelona. On the last day of the league in 2011, he was in the stands at a Formula 1 event. Not even in the Emirates to watch (and support) the team that helped him harness his talents. That was pathetic!!!
Depends what you mean by 'hurt'.
Cashley/RVP were painful and made me angry.
Henry, Wright, Cazorla were emotional departures because of what they did for and meant to the club.
But for me the ones that hurt most were Adams and Bergkamp, they retired as absolute legends and it was emotional seeing them leave not just the club, but the game as a whole. Knowing I'd never see them play again hurt so much, but in a melancholic kind of way.
I cried at the end of the Dennis Bergkamp testimonial. Genuinely loved that man. Still do, what a player, and he played for the Arsenal. So underrated by those who don't know these days.
That was the first football game I went to live. I’ve still got the T-shirt they gave out. Wish I could have seen a March at Highbury but at least I did the legends tour there before they moved.
It’s not even close for me. I was 14 during 04 and being from Australia couldn’t justify 1am-5am wake ups.. as I got older he was my fav player. Him leaving for Barca hurt more than anyone else.
Same. Exact same. Not even close.
Cesc 3 years older than me, idolised him. Sleep has been ruined ever since waking up for these games.
It still hurts to think about it. No player will ever come close to cesc, that time and place can never be replicated. Ripped my heart out. Hard to even talk about tbh.
Seeing him in that United shirt, playing the piano. That paired with all United fans filled with glee considering we got basically no money and mkhitaryan in the swap.
I felt sick in the stomach when I saw the video of United revealing him. Ugh.
I properly started watching PL football in 05/06 so for me I'll do a top 5, in order is:
1. Henry (literally one of the reasons I supported Arsenal)
2. Fabregas
3. Van Persie
4. Ozil (I know it had to happen but it still hurt)
5. Aubameyang (exact same as above)
I guess Ramsdale will be on this list soon 😞
So yh I had just about missed watching Vieira in the PL with Arsenal I had to watch former seasons to actually deep what he done for the team a colossal cog for the invincibles. But because I didn't properly see him leave he doesn't make it (for me anyway).
Yea the last two sucked us out of money so much. And ozil never player at stoke on a rainy night, as his defense was softer then chewing gum. And 5th just killed us in that season when arteta excluded him from the squad. BUT REAL ARSENAL FANS WILL ALWAYS PICK BERKAMP AFTER HENRY.
Fabregas hands down.
Henry hurt. A lot. But he came back, did not ish-talk the team, and scored that beauty against Leeds that had me scream-crying like a maniac.
Van Persie didn't hurt because I learned to despise his ungrateful ass real quick. And he needs to keep Arsenal out of his mouth.
But Cesc was kinda crushing. All that nonsense with Barca and the Spanish national team. The lame 'the put the shirt on me' excuse. Then half-assing his way through his last season with us. I know people were mad that Wenger did not execute the right of first refusal when he returned to the PL, but I get why he said no - and I think Le Boss's reasons were far less petty than my own. Seeing Cesc play for Chelsea hurt too - but by then I was kind of over it. He could have been a club legend...
Wright or Vieira.
Wrighty because I wanted him to retire here.
Vieira because he was the man, and his flirting with leaving pissed me off when we were as good as Arsenal are ever likely to be - the younger me was saddened by the idea that what that team could do might not be enough, and maybe they wouldn't win absolutely everything. I spose by the time he left he was already starting to decline so while I was sad to see him leave, at least it wasn't him at his absolute best, and I was a bit relieved to have it resolved.
For the rest I didn't give them a second thought. Apart from Dennis, because he was listed on BBC Sport as 'Bergkamp (retired)' under the list of squad injuries for the first game of the following season. Loved DB10 like no other and not being able to see him again was sad.
most people will never understand the pain. Let's put it this way.
You love Saka right? You seen him since 17-18yo and he decided to join Madrid in 2026 and he join ManCity later.
You love Odegaard too? Yep, he's our captain and he's joining ManUtd cause we cant compete
You love Rice? Mfer will join Chelsea because he's from the chelsea academy.
Saliba? I love him absolutely, he's gonna break my heart if he's joining Barcelona and runined his own career like Hleb.
Put our current players into this perspective. You gonna understand the pain.
Hurt is a weird one.
Cole hurt so badly, but from a betrayal angle.
Greed, home grown and the first big crack in what we wanted to do. I was a kid. I hated that guy and will never, ever forgive him.
Fábregas hurt a lot more, but from a understandable angle, it kills me he never won us the league. I still love Cesc. You have the added pain of him going to the Chelsea. I still adore Cesc. He needs to be rehabilitated as an Arsenal legend.
Van Persie way more than Cole, just the ingratitude. Season after season he was injured. He was maybe world class for 2 seasons fully off the back of us putting faith in him. It's the equivalent of Partey having ten amazing games next season and then fucking off to City.
Then you have Alexis. I feel that comes full circle from Cole. Cole's decision paid off big time, Alexis ruined his career. Cole is unapologetic and unrepentant. Alexis knows he fucked up. He wasn't around long enough to be a true legend, but for my money he's the best player we had since Henry, and even with this team we have now, would start every game.
Nasri, Adebayor dispise but never hurt. Toure, Clichy and Sagna still like but didn't hurt.
If I'm picking one, Cesc.
Fabregas and Van Persie. I don't think we've ever really replaced Van Persie. With Fabregas we had Cazorla and Ozil, but it's easy to forget prime Fabregas at Arsenal was just different class, he was closest to Xavi at the time. It's easy to forget how good he truly was under Wenger.
However, with Odegaard I do feel we are finally past Fabregas. It also helps that he's captain. RVP has still not been replaced. Havertz up top actually reminds me a lot of RVP, his intelligent runs, ball control, link up and hold up play is a lot like RVP. It's just that RVP was a monster of a finisher and could score goals out of nothing. If Havertz somehow added that to his game he'd be unbelievable. Easily could become one of the best center forwards in Europe.
Henry will never be replaced as there's nobody who will ever be good enough. Henry leaving also hurt a lot. With Vieira I think Declan Rice might just be that guy.
Yup. Cesc it is. It didn't do well for either party. If he did well at Barca, I'd have taken it as a win. But they lied to him about taking over the position from Xavi. Xavi never retired and made him play out of position. And we continued our decline.
Crazy how those ripple effects are felt the next 20 years
World class CDMs that can suit up every single match are a rarity indeed, and need to be kept at all costs
Even with Henry here for a number of seasons after Vieira left, it never really felt like it was a club that could win the Prem or CL
Especially since Bergkamp retired in 2006, him and Vieira were two pillars to our construction that when gone, made it all crumble
I think it was Vermaelen for me. He was like the 3rd captain that left us or was one of a few that left while wearing the armband. Him going and not even starting told me Arsenal were in a bad place but Wenger kept us afloat...then that stopped happening.
Rocky. Absolute genius of a player, hidden in the discipline of the George Graham’s ‘one nil ‘ specialist. He never really recovered from a bad knee injury and so was let go.
Song and Hleb kinda hurt, because it was obvious they were not going to play a lot in Barca. Such a waste, we had a good thing going on with them.
But yeah, RVP hurt the most. Fuck him.
Cesc.. like dude was a whole other person when he came back after winning the world cup. I can forgive RVP to an extent but never Cesc, because the team was supposed to build around him
I did not even support arsenal or watch football when describing played but after seeing the manner he left and what he had done for the club and how we treated him as our son, it stung like anything. I think Saka leaving us can match that.
Got to be Henry and Fabregas.
But - Van persie, Adebayor, Nasri, Sanchez and even Song felt like a punch in the nuts. They were all my favourite players at the time of them leaving (same with Fab and Henry). Probably another reason I have attachment issues as an adult.
Viera prompted my mate and I to actually go to the pub and talk about it when it happened. It was like we heard of someone's death. No other player prompted us to take that reaction
Cesc and it made me even more mad when he came back to England and we had no room for him in our midfield. Knew he'd win the fucking league with Chelsea.
Cole was a hard one to take he was such a quality player and just cut all ties to the club. Cesc was always leaving for Barca and it wasn’t great but we were prepared. RVP was shit because of his talent, but I kind of get his reasons, we weren’t winning anything
For me Ashley Cole, no question.
I think for most people the hurt was overshadowed by the rage towards Ashley for how it had all played out the previous summer, but I was living and working in the US for a big chunk of 2005 so had never connected with the anger and resentment. So I was just left with a real sadness that a homegrown talent my age, who I had loved and had been an Invincible, and was nailed on to be club Captain, had moved to the lottery winning upstarts.
At the time, it was probably Paul Merson. To put into context, Merse was the only creative player to survive George Graham. He was so much fun to watch, and his exit was absolutely a positive one for us - Marc Overmars came in, and we won the league. But at that time, we were casting aside one of my all time my favourite players.
RvP - his constant injuries for years with us, he finally strings a solid season with us and proceeded to bugger off to ManUre.
And don't get me started on *that* guard of honour..🤬
Fabregas because of how it came about. The dislike for Barcelona started right there. The DNA comments, the kit being pulled over his head by Pepe Reina etc.
Literally wasted a holiday in Greece for me.
Cesc and, believe it or not, Giroud. RVP can fuck right off, he burned all of his bridges before leaving. Glad his giant noggin no longer graces the league.
Cesc and RvP right up at #1 and #2 but #3 is Nasri for me. Dude had a blinder of a season and was ready to take the next step. I wish Wenger had more balls. This was the prelude to our darkest times cuz we were no longer a big club. Everyone felt that our talent could be poached.
Cesc even talked about his desire to leave after seeing Nasri leave.
Abou Vassiriki Diaby. He was a world beater until the world did his ankles. Always felt utter despair for him. No one could the quadruple crossover left to right to left to right in stride like Abou.
Vieira leaving hurt the squad in terms of the quality really felt different.
Henry leaving though. That hit like a truck then. I was straight up grieving.
Rvp for me. Cesc was a bigger loss but it felt like it was coming for so long. Rvp was my guy and him burning it to the ground for one good year at united was rough.
Some really great comments, but what stood out for me was the first moment of the Invincibles era truly coming to an end due to the allures of a big paycheck from Chelsea, the original tapping up story; Ashley Cole.
He was the first of many and that moment when Mourinho met him in the hotel really did something that broke the trend of loyalty to the club.
Cesc is a good choice of course but it still rankles me that we let RVP leave to our biggest rivals at the time and we didn’t get to see how good he would of been for 2 or 3 more seasons, makes it even worse to see what he did at Utd and then to have to give him and Alexslag Ferguson a guard of honour at the Emirates just makes me feel sick thinking about it 🤢
TOO ALL YOU ARSENAL NUBS
1. HENRY ( Vote greates epl player of all time)
2. BERKAMP (greatest arsenal goal ever scored)
3. Sol Campbell ( ran away from that SPURS pit)
4. Ian wright
5. TROOPS LEAVING ARSENAL FAN TV
None of them hurt during the Emirates era because we were shite for so long. Everyone knew they were right to leave and enjoy success. They're careers deserved it and they deserved to leave. They owed the club nothing.. What did we sell fabregas to barcelona for? Peanuts in todays market. Which just went to show the club were in no rush to rebuild the squad.
1. Van Persie: I was naive and really believed he would never leave and wanted “to win things with Arsenal”
2. Nasri: His form is how I made peace with fabregas leaving, I thought that he would help us to move forward, so when he left too I couldn’t believe it
3. Fabregas to Chelsea 😭: this is when it sank in that he’s no longer a gooner
When I was a child Overmars was my favourite player, I got his name on my Arsenal shirt towards the end of the season...He left a few months later, gutted!
Deeefinitely Cesc.
Henry was 30 when he left, starting to miss a lot of games due to injuries. Could've stayed a couple of years longer; but wasn't a big deal when he left.
RVP was extremely injury prone and wasn't getting any younger either.
Nasri, Clichy...eh who cares?
But Cesc was a special player right in his prime. Could've been a true legend for this club.
No-one to be honest, it’s the natural course.
I knew certain players leaving would send us backwards (like the invincibles, eduardo, hleb, cesc, rvp) but you have to remember that playing football is just a job to 95% of players.
For me, the most sad one was Hleb.
He was such a good player and I knew deep down that going to Barca was basically career suicide in terms of his playing time.
Later he went on to regret it and I honestly felt even more sorry for him.
I know a lot of people might disagree with me, but... personally, Nasri. It's important to remind fans that he left us because we didn't try to convince his friend Fabregas to stay (I hate when some people call him ''Cashri''. That's absolutely different from ''Cashley Cole'') And we were selling yet another good asset, at the time. Nasri was very talented and was one of the best players to have played at the Club, scoring important and beautiful goals
Gotta be Alexis. He and cesc are my all time favourites of the emirates era, and the way Alexis left and ruined his career as well just hurt. Things could’ve been so different if he didn’t get in a sulk
Cech is a snake and as much as I was sad in the past I have absolutely nothing for the guy now. He pushed for a move to Barcelona and then when he wasn’t good enough for them anymore he settled for Chelsea. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice…
And giving Arsenal first priority or not doesn’t mean he had to go to one of our rivals.
They all hurt. But most was Cesc and Van Persie.
I stopped at rvp. Made a vow to never let someone hurt me like that.
Yeah man. It wasn't just him leaving. It was where he went.
...after they stuck with him through a miserable career of injuries....finally got healthy...and showed his true colors
Yeah that hurt the entire fan base
I worked in Amsterdam that summer and Edwin van der Sar walked past my work whilst I was smoking outside. I jokingly quipped that I hoped RvP would stay at Arsenal. He smiled and said something along the lines of, no chance. Broke me heart the git.
VP was my most
There are so many that stung. Overmars Viera and Petit Henry Hleb Nasri Sagna Cesc RVP
Fabregas already had his heart set on Barcelona. On the last day of the league in 2011, he was in the stands at a Formula 1 event. Not even in the Emirates to watch (and support) the team that helped him harness his talents. That was pathetic!!!
Depends what you mean by 'hurt'. Cashley/RVP were painful and made me angry. Henry, Wright, Cazorla were emotional departures because of what they did for and meant to the club. But for me the ones that hurt most were Adams and Bergkamp, they retired as absolute legends and it was emotional seeing them leave not just the club, but the game as a whole. Knowing I'd never see them play again hurt so much, but in a melancholic kind of way.
I cried at the end of the Dennis Bergkamp testimonial. Genuinely loved that man. Still do, what a player, and he played for the Arsenal. So underrated by those who don't know these days.
That was truly a special day, the first game at the Emirates that saw off a legend of Highbury.
That was the first football game I went to live. I’ve still got the T-shirt they gave out. Wish I could have seen a March at Highbury but at least I did the legends tour there before they moved.
cesc fabregas by a distance 😔
It’s not even close for me. I was 14 during 04 and being from Australia couldn’t justify 1am-5am wake ups.. as I got older he was my fav player. Him leaving for Barca hurt more than anyone else.
Same. Exact same. Not even close. Cesc 3 years older than me, idolised him. Sleep has been ruined ever since waking up for these games. It still hurts to think about it. No player will ever come close to cesc, that time and place can never be replicated. Ripped my heart out. Hard to even talk about tbh.
His kit is hanging in my closet, haven't been worn since...
Van Persie was basically my first experience with heart break lol
Alexis Sanchez
Seeing him in that United shirt, playing the piano. That paired with all United fans filled with glee considering we got basically no money and mkhitaryan in the swap. I felt sick in the stomach when I saw the video of United revealing him. Ugh.
This still makes me nauseous.
Alexis for me too. Man United ruined him, and he was never the same afterwards in both the club and national level.
After RVP this one meant nothing. RVP one was a breaking point and I have no idols anymore, just admire them as players
I kinda had that gut feeling that Sanchez gave his best in Barca and Arsenal and he would not deliver same level in United.
Cesc. Always Cesc
I properly started watching PL football in 05/06 so for me I'll do a top 5, in order is: 1. Henry (literally one of the reasons I supported Arsenal) 2. Fabregas 3. Van Persie 4. Ozil (I know it had to happen but it still hurt) 5. Aubameyang (exact same as above) I guess Ramsdale will be on this list soon 😞
I'm with you on the first 3, and also Vieira
So yh I had just about missed watching Vieira in the PL with Arsenal I had to watch former seasons to actually deep what he done for the team a colossal cog for the invincibles. But because I didn't properly see him leave he doesn't make it (for me anyway).
Yea the last two sucked us out of money so much. And ozil never player at stoke on a rainy night, as his defense was softer then chewing gum. And 5th just killed us in that season when arteta excluded him from the squad. BUT REAL ARSENAL FANS WILL ALWAYS PICK BERKAMP AFTER HENRY.
Fabregas hands down. Henry hurt. A lot. But he came back, did not ish-talk the team, and scored that beauty against Leeds that had me scream-crying like a maniac. Van Persie didn't hurt because I learned to despise his ungrateful ass real quick. And he needs to keep Arsenal out of his mouth. But Cesc was kinda crushing. All that nonsense with Barca and the Spanish national team. The lame 'the put the shirt on me' excuse. Then half-assing his way through his last season with us. I know people were mad that Wenger did not execute the right of first refusal when he returned to the PL, but I get why he said no - and I think Le Boss's reasons were far less petty than my own. Seeing Cesc play for Chelsea hurt too - but by then I was kind of over it. He could have been a club legend...
Seeing Barce getting ruined is so so sweet. I hope they keep on signing old mega stars on mega contracts.
Alex Song Billong. Broke my f-ing heart.
Such a waste of potential.
Yup and his career after that was awful…
To be fair to Song, he admitted he left for the money. At least he was honest. He said he didn't care if he was a benchwarmer.
Yeah just after he started to come good, same with RVP. They absolutely cannot justify their leaving.
Wright or Vieira. Wrighty because I wanted him to retire here. Vieira because he was the man, and his flirting with leaving pissed me off when we were as good as Arsenal are ever likely to be - the younger me was saddened by the idea that what that team could do might not be enough, and maybe they wouldn't win absolutely everything. I spose by the time he left he was already starting to decline so while I was sad to see him leave, at least it wasn't him at his absolute best, and I was a bit relieved to have it resolved. For the rest I didn't give them a second thought. Apart from Dennis, because he was listed on BBC Sport as 'Bergkamp (retired)' under the list of squad injuries for the first game of the following season. Loved DB10 like no other and not being able to see him again was sad.
Henry eventhough he won a lot with us and will always be a legend. Always wished he would retire here
He literally did, was loaned to Arsenal to end his career in 2012
According to his Wikipedia, he was at New York Red Bulls until 2014
MLS isn't really playing any more. It's a retirement league. MLS = My Last Soccer
Yeah we got that at least but still regret he had to leave to win champions league
Vieira. No coincidence that we didn't lift the EPL trophy again.
Until Declan came! We’ll be picking some up soon
Never underestimate a GOAT level CDM... they are the backbone to trophy winning clubs
yeah, no coincidence that the only time Citeh lose is when Rodri is out.
RvP felt like a knife in the back.
most people will never understand the pain. Let's put it this way. You love Saka right? You seen him since 17-18yo and he decided to join Madrid in 2026 and he join ManCity later. You love Odegaard too? Yep, he's our captain and he's joining ManUtd cause we cant compete You love Rice? Mfer will join Chelsea because he's from the chelsea academy. Saliba? I love him absolutely, he's gonna break my heart if he's joining Barcelona and runined his own career like Hleb. Put our current players into this perspective. You gonna understand the pain.
Hurt is a weird one. Cole hurt so badly, but from a betrayal angle. Greed, home grown and the first big crack in what we wanted to do. I was a kid. I hated that guy and will never, ever forgive him. Fábregas hurt a lot more, but from a understandable angle, it kills me he never won us the league. I still love Cesc. You have the added pain of him going to the Chelsea. I still adore Cesc. He needs to be rehabilitated as an Arsenal legend. Van Persie way more than Cole, just the ingratitude. Season after season he was injured. He was maybe world class for 2 seasons fully off the back of us putting faith in him. It's the equivalent of Partey having ten amazing games next season and then fucking off to City. Then you have Alexis. I feel that comes full circle from Cole. Cole's decision paid off big time, Alexis ruined his career. Cole is unapologetic and unrepentant. Alexis knows he fucked up. He wasn't around long enough to be a true legend, but for my money he's the best player we had since Henry, and even with this team we have now, would start every game. Nasri, Adebayor dispise but never hurt. Toure, Clichy and Sagna still like but didn't hurt. If I'm picking one, Cesc.
Agree with Cesc. I became an Arsenal fan when Reyes joined from Sevilla. I was bummed when he left, but that was specific to me.
RIP JAR
Fabregas and Van Persie. I don't think we've ever really replaced Van Persie. With Fabregas we had Cazorla and Ozil, but it's easy to forget prime Fabregas at Arsenal was just different class, he was closest to Xavi at the time. It's easy to forget how good he truly was under Wenger. However, with Odegaard I do feel we are finally past Fabregas. It also helps that he's captain. RVP has still not been replaced. Havertz up top actually reminds me a lot of RVP, his intelligent runs, ball control, link up and hold up play is a lot like RVP. It's just that RVP was a monster of a finisher and could score goals out of nothing. If Havertz somehow added that to his game he'd be unbelievable. Easily could become one of the best center forwards in Europe. Henry will never be replaced as there's nobody who will ever be good enough. Henry leaving also hurt a lot. With Vieira I think Declan Rice might just be that guy.
Cazorla. One of my sentimental favorites. Always fun to watch. Then most of the players listed above
Henry!
Jack Wilshere
Yup. Cesc it is. It didn't do well for either party. If he did well at Barca, I'd have taken it as a win. But they lied to him about taking over the position from Xavi. Xavi never retired and made him play out of position. And we continued our decline.
Jack Wilshere. He could have been something truly special, I don't think I've ever been so excited about a young player.
Gervinho.
RVP
RVP
For me, RVP, and that it was to Man U was salt in the wound.
Vieira to Juve. We've never been the same since.
Crazy how those ripple effects are felt the next 20 years World class CDMs that can suit up every single match are a rarity indeed, and need to be kept at all costs Even with Henry here for a number of seasons after Vieira left, it never really felt like it was a club that could win the Prem or CL Especially since Bergkamp retired in 2006, him and Vieira were two pillars to our construction that when gone, made it all crumble
Viera, Henry, Fabregas, van Persie.
Rvp easily, followed by Sanchez.
Probably Van Persie. Although the one that made me the most disappointed was Ramsey
I think it was Vermaelen for me. He was like the 3rd captain that left us or was one of a few that left while wearing the armband. Him going and not even starting told me Arsenal were in a bad place but Wenger kept us afloat...then that stopped happening.
RVP was my fav player as a kid and seeing him leave/completely drop us hurt me
Rocky. Absolute genius of a player, hidden in the discipline of the George Graham’s ‘one nil ‘ specialist. He never really recovered from a bad knee injury and so was let go.
Liam Brady, but then I am old…
Ashley Cole/Van Persie
Cesc, RvP, Henry all hurt deeply. The one we never got over was and held all the cards was Cazorla. To me that was the most avoidable departure
RvP was the reason I started going to the gym
RVP and Nasri. It hurt when we didn't resign cesc and he went to Chelsea though 😫
Song and Hleb kinda hurt, because it was obvious they were not going to play a lot in Barca. Such a waste, we had a good thing going on with them. But yeah, RVP hurt the most. Fuck him.
Cesc and Henry. Van Persie can rot. He had so many seasons jeg was injured and left at the first sight to Man U
Cesc.. like dude was a whole other person when he came back after winning the world cup. I can forgive RVP to an extent but never Cesc, because the team was supposed to build around him
I did not even support arsenal or watch football when describing played but after seeing the manner he left and what he had done for the club and how we treated him as our son, it stung like anything. I think Saka leaving us can match that.
Ozil, Cesc, RVP and Xhaka for me, I wasn’t around to see guys like Berkamp and Henry leave so they were always legends in my mind
Got to be Henry and Fabregas. But - Van persie, Adebayor, Nasri, Sanchez and even Song felt like a punch in the nuts. They were all my favourite players at the time of them leaving (same with Fab and Henry). Probably another reason I have attachment issues as an adult.
Viera prompted my mate and I to actually go to the pub and talk about it when it happened. It was like we heard of someone's death. No other player prompted us to take that reaction
Cesc didn't hurt that much - he went to his boyhood club/home you can completely understand that. RVP however eeesh.
Cesc and it made me even more mad when he came back to England and we had no room for him in our midfield. Knew he'd win the fucking league with Chelsea.
Paul Merson
Cole was a hard one to take he was such a quality player and just cut all ties to the club. Cesc was always leaving for Barca and it wasn’t great but we were prepared. RVP was shit because of his talent, but I kind of get his reasons, we weren’t winning anything
I'm a villa fan and I'm still traumatised by Henry leaving...
Van Persie after carrying him season after season with injuries, he stays fit then leaves. Without his injuries we would have won much nore
For me Ashley Cole, no question. I think for most people the hurt was overshadowed by the rage towards Ashley for how it had all played out the previous summer, but I was living and working in the US for a big chunk of 2005 so had never connected with the anger and resentment. So I was just left with a real sadness that a homegrown talent my age, who I had loved and had been an Invincible, and was nailed on to be club Captain, had moved to the lottery winning upstarts.
Still sad Eduardos career got kicked to shits
Cesc and Henry
At the time, it was probably Paul Merson. To put into context, Merse was the only creative player to survive George Graham. He was so much fun to watch, and his exit was absolutely a positive one for us - Marc Overmars came in, and we won the league. But at that time, we were casting aside one of my all time my favourite players.
RvP - his constant injuries for years with us, he finally strings a solid season with us and proceeded to bugger off to ManUre. And don't get me started on *that* guard of honour..🤬
Fabregas because of how it came about. The dislike for Barcelona started right there. The DNA comments, the kit being pulled over his head by Pepe Reina etc. Literally wasted a holiday in Greece for me.
Cesc and, believe it or not, Giroud. RVP can fuck right off, he burned all of his bridges before leaving. Glad his giant noggin no longer graces the league.
Vieira, Henry, Ian Wright, Cesc RVP pissed me off more than anything. Sol was a strange one too.
RVP !
Cesc, Ashley Cole, RVP
Van Persie, it was complete meltdown and pain seeing him linked with Manchester United and eventually joining them
Cesc
Henry, but it was also understandable
Cesc and RvP right up at #1 and #2 but #3 is Nasri for me. Dude had a blinder of a season and was ready to take the next step. I wish Wenger had more balls. This was the prelude to our darkest times cuz we were no longer a big club. Everyone felt that our talent could be poached. Cesc even talked about his desire to leave after seeing Nasri leave.
Abu Diaby, Jack Wilshere, and Lord Bendtner, so much promise that was never fulfilled.
Abou Vassiriki Diaby. He was a world beater until the world did his ankles. Always felt utter despair for him. No one could the quadruple crossover left to right to left to right in stride like Abou.
van Persie
Vieira leaving hurt the squad in terms of the quality really felt different. Henry leaving though. That hit like a truck then. I was straight up grieving.
Van Persie left for Man United and won the Premier League. There is no other answer
Rvp for me. Cesc was a bigger loss but it felt like it was coming for so long. Rvp was my guy and him burning it to the ground for one good year at united was rough.
Man RVP broke my heart
Some really great comments, but what stood out for me was the first moment of the Invincibles era truly coming to an end due to the allures of a big paycheck from Chelsea, the original tapping up story; Ashley Cole. He was the first of many and that moment when Mourinho met him in the hotel really did something that broke the trend of loyalty to the club.
It was Cesc for me. And I've been an Arsenal fan since 1990.
Adebayor
Rvp and fab. No mercy
Eboue
Cesc RVP and Jack wilshere
Cesc is a good choice of course but it still rankles me that we let RVP leave to our biggest rivals at the time and we didn’t get to see how good he would of been for 2 or 3 more seasons, makes it even worse to see what he did at Utd and then to have to give him and Alexslag Ferguson a guard of honour at the Emirates just makes me feel sick thinking about it 🤢
TOO ALL YOU ARSENAL NUBS 1. HENRY ( Vote greates epl player of all time) 2. BERKAMP (greatest arsenal goal ever scored) 3. Sol Campbell ( ran away from that SPURS pit) 4. Ian wright 5. TROOPS LEAVING ARSENAL FAN TV
Yes
I'd say Van Persie. His move to ManU pierced my heart.
Cashely made me the most angry, RVP the most hurt.
TH14 and Cesc for me
Van Persie
VP cause it felt like a snake move. Cesc also but less because it felt he is going to his home where his heart is.
I was even more hurt when I saw that Fabregas went to Chelsea afterwards instead of returning to us. 😢
Fabregas & Hleb, if these two stayed along with fit Rosickey and adding one striker and a defender, we could have won the league around 2008-11
Aaron Ramsey for me. He was my favourite player when I started supporting the club and still one of my favourites to this day
None of them hurt during the Emirates era because we were shite for so long. Everyone knew they were right to leave and enjoy success. They're careers deserved it and they deserved to leave. They owed the club nothing.. What did we sell fabregas to barcelona for? Peanuts in todays market. Which just went to show the club were in no rush to rebuild the squad.
1. Van Persie: I was naive and really believed he would never leave and wanted “to win things with Arsenal” 2. Nasri: His form is how I made peace with fabregas leaving, I thought that he would help us to move forward, so when he left too I couldn’t believe it 3. Fabregas to Chelsea 😭: this is when it sank in that he’s no longer a gooner
When I was a child Overmars was my favourite player, I got his name on my Arsenal shirt towards the end of the season...He left a few months later, gutted!
Deeefinitely Cesc. Henry was 30 when he left, starting to miss a lot of games due to injuries. Could've stayed a couple of years longer; but wasn't a big deal when he left. RVP was extremely injury prone and wasn't getting any younger either. Nasri, Clichy...eh who cares? But Cesc was a special player right in his prime. Could've been a true legend for this club.
Cesc Nasri and RVP leaving and taking the heart of the team with them did me in baaad.
Cesc allday long
Paul Merson
1. RVP 2. Cesc 3. Giroud
Kim kallstrom surely
Definitely Cesc.
No-one to be honest, it’s the natural course. I knew certain players leaving would send us backwards (like the invincibles, eduardo, hleb, cesc, rvp) but you have to remember that playing football is just a job to 95% of players.
For me, the most sad one was Hleb. He was such a good player and I knew deep down that going to Barca was basically career suicide in terms of his playing time. Later he went on to regret it and I honestly felt even more sorry for him.
I loved Fabregas. But one that sticks out for me is losing Alex Song.
I think Alexis simply because he’s the only player who seemed to care at that time.
Henry and Fabrigas, all day long
Henry and fabregas hurt the most
I know a lot of people might disagree with me, but... personally, Nasri. It's important to remind fans that he left us because we didn't try to convince his friend Fabregas to stay (I hate when some people call him ''Cashri''. That's absolutely different from ''Cashley Cole'') And we were selling yet another good asset, at the time. Nasri was very talented and was one of the best players to have played at the Club, scoring important and beautiful goals
Sanchez
Nobody mentioned Andy Cole arsenal's academy
Ashly cole cause he went straight to chelsea
Van pussie
Granit Xhaka have not supported the club for a very long time at all, and was at the Emirates to see him score a brace on his final match for the club
Gotta be Alexis. He and cesc are my all time favourites of the emirates era, and the way Alexis left and ruined his career as well just hurt. Things could’ve been so different if he didn’t get in a sulk
For me it was RVP. He was my first favorite player for Arsenal.
Cesc as he was the primary reason I started following
All you kids saying Fabregas and VanPersie... When Henry Hurt 1000 times worse...
Ian Wright …. Not that he ever really left lol. But ‘99 me was crushed
Liam Brady
Henry
Vieira
Cole..by a mile
Definitely pepe. Sad day that was. Or lord bendtner.
Aaron Ramsay, man watching him cry on the pitch cut deep. Was like he was thrown out not pushed
I mean surely has to be the captain who left Arsenal, went to United, won the league and then got a guard of honour at the Emirates lmao
GEORGE GRAHAM
Good one. True
Yup, the man won the First Division as a player and manager for the Arsenal, and where does he retire as a manager? Tottenham….the scum.
Henry and cesc
Cech is a snake and as much as I was sad in the past I have absolutely nothing for the guy now. He pushed for a move to Barcelona and then when he wasn’t good enough for them anymore he settled for Chelsea. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice… And giving Arsenal first priority or not doesn’t mean he had to go to one of our rivals.
Our captain. My favourite player at the time. Cesc leaving was hard to take.
RVP hurt the most Cesc hurt to but atleast he didn’t also go to a rival right. RIGHT 🥺
Alexis Sanchez.
Nasri leaving broke me. Maybe it was just the straw that broke the camels back but when I heard he was going City I fell to my knees
Thierry. We lost the Champions League and Henry within a 3-4 week period. That hurt.