By Walter Broeckx
On this site and on many occasions we have showed you how careful you have to be when you read something about Arsenal.
Only a few hours ago I saw this with my own eyes. On Goonernews there was a link to an article on Skysport. And it said: Cesc stands by Barca wish. And the article had as a headline: “Cesc Fabregas is refusing to discuss his future, but claims he stands by comments he has made in the past.” And then they go further and make it look that Cesc is hinting at leaving Arsenal and wanting to go to Barcelona as soon as possible.
Then the article went further on and on about the same old things we have seen the whole summer long.
So if you are an Arsenal fan and read this, and believe this, you will feel once again: “He will go, it’s clear now, it’s definite, he is gone, verschwunden, partie, weg.” You can go on blogs and vent your frustration about how ungrateful Cesc is, how disrespectful he has behaved.
But if you don’t believe anything the press and the media is telling you it might be worth looking at what, for example, the Dutch media are telling about Cesc almost at the same time that Sky has its daily load of crap released at us.
This is an article that appeared yesterday in the Dutch media and I will give it you completely in Dutch and then translate it in English. The reason why I also give the text in Dutch is that you cannot be careful enough. I want to show you the difference between the way the media in two different countries report on this story and in fact I expose one of them as liars. But by giving you the original Dutch words you can try to translate it yourself, there are applications on the internet but don’t be surprised as they show an English you cannot understand as those translation things are not very reliable.
But I like to think I am reliable enough and I will translate it for you in what should be understandable English, I hope.
So in Dutch:
Fabregas blijft kalm en denkt alleen aan Arsenal
Cesc Fabregas geniet momenteel nog van zijn welverdiende vakantie. Een paar dagen na de huldiging van het nationale elftal verblijft hij nog steeds op Spaans grondgebied, waar journalisten hem het hemd van het lijf blijven vragen over een mogelijke transfer naar FC Barcelona.
Ook na afloop van een door Cesc gegeven training aan de jeugd van een amateurclub was het raak. De wereldkampioen bleef uiterst koelbloedig onder de geruchten en gaf aan dat hij puur en alleen met Arsenal bezig is. “‘Hoe minder er over FC Barcelona wordt gesproken, hoe beter”, aldus de nieuwe aanvoerder van The Gunners tegen de Spaanse pers.
Tijdens de huldiging van Spanje kreeg Fàbregas een shirtje van Barça over zijn hoofd getrokken, maar dat was een misverstand volgens de verfijnde middenvelder. “Ik schaamde me heel erg, maar ik ga ervan uit dat Arsenal begrip heeft voor de situatie.”
And in English it goes like this:
Fabregas remains calm and is only thinking about Arsenal
Cesc Fabregas is enjoying a well deserved holiday for the moment. A few days after the celebrating with the national team he still is staying in Spain, and journalists are hunting him down and keep asking about an possible transfer to FC Barcelona.
So once again after a training session given by Cesc to a youth team from an amateur club they were at him again. The world champion stayed very cool when the rumours surfaced and he indicated that he purely and only is thinking about Arsenal. “The less we speak about Barcelona the better” said the captain of the Gunners to the Spanish press.
During the celebrations some players pulled a Barca shirt over his head but that was a misunderstanding according to the fine midfielder. ”I was deeply ashamed by this, but I hope that Arsenal has understanding for the situation I was finding myself in”.
Now you can compare this with what was written on Sky Sport and don’t they(Sky Sport) look reliable at first sight? But what about the Dutch media who follow all that is Barcelona as the Dutch have a bit of a special link with this club since Cruijff played there long time ago and all the Dutch players and managers who have worked there.
The Dutch media will not sell more newspapers if they write that Cesc will be going to Barcelona, or if they have to say Cesc will stay at Arsenal. For them it is the same. If Cesc would go and come to play in the Dutch league you could imagine that they could have an interest in this news. But now? The only interest they have is to tell the news the way they have heard it.
But the British media do have an interest. It is a player from the EPL and a player from Arsenal. A player that if he leaves Arsenal would certainly make Arsenal weaker. And maybe they would like it that Arsenal gets weaker? Maybe they would rather like it that another team wins things instead of that foreign looking team called Arsenal and that French manager Wenger.
I don’t trust much of British media when it comes to Arsenal. I have seen on many occasions that they will do anything to put Arsenal, Wenger and the players in a bad light. If I have the choice on who to believe between the English media with their anti-Arsenal agenda at times, and media from countries who have no involvement and interest in where he will play, I know who I will believe.
This was just an example of what I found today and in fact I just went from the one article to the other. And I found it so bizarre that I wrote a comment on the Sky Sports site under the article. But it didn’t appear yet on their site. Maybe because I asked them why there was such a difference between what the Dutch media is telling and what they are telling. Maybe they didn’t like it that I told them it looked that they were telling lies?
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Good article Walter. I just wish we always had a original sources such as what you posted.
HAHA nice article :] but… they all are really… this site is a breath of fresh air compared to all the others
Even on Google Translate it looks similar to your well said translation. How can Sky Sports get away with this? I’m an American and I’m used to being blatantly lied to by the media but since I’ve moved to Europe (albeit to an egalitarian country such as Denmark) I’ve forgotten that “free press” often means “free to report whatever we want”. Sky will most likely not approve your comment
Nice to see this article walter!
I just came over from Arsenal Truth and was horrified that fans are talking about booing cesc next season.
I just left a link to this page for all those “2012 prophets” there to read. I think every gooner should read this interview and hope more arsenal blogs pick this up.
And just a small request, could you kindly post more Cesc interviews from other medium cos unfortunately the only european language i understand is english and most fans over here in asia are facing this same problem. English media happen to be the least reliable and that only adds to the problem. Thanks!
Your mention of the English media frequently putting Arsenal in a bad light interests me. I must say that I have never noticed this. In any event, WHY should this be? The Club doesn’t court adverse publicity,it is properly run and isn’t owned by folk from overseas. Will someone kindly tell me if we are really hated by the media……or is this just a paranoid rant from a so-called supporter.
great article mate, i only wish the british media would stop their vendetta against arsenal, we really havent done anything to deserve their drama. and to address the sky sports comment you made, keep waitin mate, mine from a few months still hasnt shown up when i told them that they needed actual sources to back up their article and then proceeded to put links underneath to actual sources saying actual things about this cesc drama garbage
@nicky
our manager’s french, many players our non-british, we put the rest of england to shame during the invincibles.
wenger constantly making the media eat their words.
many pundits and in fact almost everyone hates arsenal
just to state a few in the last season,
1. eduardo “diving incident”, it was a witch hunt with everyone accusing arsenal of robbing celtic. when rooney dive when we played at OT, no one mentions anything?
2. Henry’s hand of god incident – the media kept on mentioning henry and arsenal together although he left the club already. Trying to potray arsenal as cheats.
3. Home game against everton when denilson went down injured and everton took advantage. wenger said denilson should touch the ball with his hand to concede a freekick, the media went on blasting wenger for unsporting behaviour.
4. Wenger against mark hughes refusal for a hand shake incident. story went on for a week or so!!!
5. Shawcross breaks Ramsey’s leg. Wenger was blasted for criticising shawcross, and days later the media talked up an england cap for shawcross, perhaps to spite us.
6. although a much smaller incident: o’neil going hysterical when wenger called villa a long ball team rightfully, and the o’neil’s outburst was put across as right and wenger the villian once again
im sure there are many many more incidents that slipped my mind.
No surprise Walter. You’ve done a great job highlighting this. However let me bring something else to your notice about this same story. Sky Sports invented words that Cesc is supposed to have uttered. They claim Cesc said “”I make no apologies for the comments I have made in the past. I have expressed my interest in returning and I stand by that, as that is my personal wish”.
But that is a complete fabrication. My Spanish is rusty, but I listened to the Cesc interview as it was available on youtube and all over the web, he never uttered those comments.
The Spanish media, including the Catalan media did not report that he uttered those words. They most certainly would have reported it had he uttered them.
I am not surprised that even the Dutch media do not report the fabrication either.
QUESTION THAT I NEED A SERIOUS ANSWER TO: What can one do if the media fabricate quotes? Are we supposed to just accept such?
walter u becoming as good as tony
Two factors are involved here. The british media are in the business of making money, either by selling paper or selling advertising space on websites. Judging by the number of times they have undermined the English national team to sell a few papers, its fair to say they have no loyalty or sense of honor and would sell their own grannies, souls or first born for a few extra sales. With this in mind football fans are the easiest meat going, as all you need to do is provide regular stories to each fan for their particular team of choice and no matter how farcical it is they will lap it up day after day buying the same papers or clicking on the same website. Given the fact that getting factual information about transfers out of AFC is like getting blood out of a stone, they make up or twist any bit of shit they can to satisfy their editors prerequisite number of stories for that particular club… As for all those Barca cocks continuously spotting shit, A: it’s because those press cocks continuously keep asking and also more maliciously if they can alienate the Arsenal fans from cesc then that is the biggest factor in forcing Wengers hand into selling him. They now he is tide up in a long term contract and Wenger wont sell and cesc wont take the piss too much due to his respect for and wenger first and foremost and then a bit to the club itself, but if the boys can turn cesc into an adebayor figure with the arsenal fans then it makes it impossible for Wenger to keep him. My only hope is that the arsenal fans see through this shit and don’t turn against him. As soon as we do, they win and they play us for monkeys any time they want one of our players.
unfortunately nicky.. I think it is very much the case that the majority of the British media is anti Arsenal. As Phillipe Auclair(a French journalist i think) put it in the aftermath of the ramsey leg break, the punditry and journalism is the last bastion of the British players and they defend it with all their might rather than acknowledging deficiencies in the game.
Apart from the xenophobia, its also easier to criticise Arsenal because we stand apart from the rest. ie dont bankrupt the club to try and keep up with the Joneses. As a football pundit (who HAVE to give an opinion;after all they are paid for it) it’s less risky to just repeat the same old cliches about Arsenal lacking…. strength/ambition/english spine etc…..rather than go against the flow and actually analyse the overall situation.
However, why should we listen to these so called pundits. Yes they’ve been in football but if they really knew what they were talking about they would be managers themselves. I think in other countries the football journalists are just journalists.. not ex footballers who might carry their prejudices etc into the analysis. That is a bit like saying a good race horse would make a good jockey 🙂 (again quoting Phillipe Auclair there)
The thing I don’t get is why do arsenal players insist on giving so many interviews they are not obligated? during the world cup Cesc said he is leaving his future in Arsene’s hands
there has been speculation about gerrard and cashley but yet they have still giving less interviews and surely they are more relevant from an english perspective.
Also with arshvin far too many interviews. The press cant edit and twist your words if you have nothing to say actions speak louder than words so just let the football do they talking.
I may be misinformed but wayne rooney was rarely allowed to give an interview until he had been at united for about 2 and a half years he was protected from the press.
I give high praise to RVP rarely does he have is words misunderstood he keeps his interviews short and brief and doest do too many of them
As another untold article mentioned the only reason I would use the press would be as an instrument for misinformation, Mourhinho was the master at it
This is why this blog and a few (very few) others are so important in countering the propaganda and exposing the British media and majority of Arsenal blogs as either liars or purveyors of untruths. Untold has led the way in exposing the corruption of bankruptcy of English football when most of the media and fickle fans were turning against the club and Wenger for being prudent. Wenger was almost transformed into a hated cartoon-like Scrooge. Now when the chickens are coming home to roost at Man IOU and Liverpool Insolvent, when even Barca has to be borrowing to pay wages due to their irresponsible and profligate spending, these same critics are praising Wenger for his stewardship. A similar cycle is now unfolding with Project Youth, the favorite whipping boy of those idiots at Le Groan and elsewhere. Now the early fruits are beginning to appear, those same irresponsible fools are hopping on the bandwaggon.
The Cesc story is part of the same package. Rumor-Lies-Damn Lies. 24 hours ago the boss said Cesc is not for sale, no matter the price and they are in regular contact. That did not prevent the blogs and the British media from running stories 12 hours later to suggest Cesc’s future in doubt, twisting and using some statement by PooHole to suggest otherwise.
Come on Gooners – do what the boss has advised, draw a line under this story and move on. Let the media and the bloggers to continue to make complete fools of themselves.
Walter
A sparkling article – verbatim translation from any language is impossible, and therefore the onus is on the translator to give not just as literal a translation as possible, but also the dynamic equivalent – in short to convey the sense of the original writer. Clearly the British media have an anti-Arsenal bias – sad as we happen to be a British club! We need to read critically, but also we need to have those who will inform us with accuracy. I deeply appreciate what you have done.
And I deeply appreciate the dignified manner in which Arsene has conducted matters – he is a gem of a manager – we should be thankful for his integrity.
Paul
Paul: I don’t think the media have any particular anti-Arsenal bias – look at any club’s fans, they all claim the media hate their club – it is just a matter of them trying to make a story. They did the same with Ronaldo, and if Ashley Cole wasn’t English they’d do the same mistranslations to Chelsea.
It’s part of the game, but it’s total bllocks and really annoys me. Fans have to have the sense to know what to believe, as it seems even quotes are fabricated now.
Mr Broeckx
The inaccuracies in the english media are NOT limited to Arsene Wenger and Arsenal. If you think they are then you are paranoid and inaccurate.
Perhaps you only care enough about Arsenal to be bothered to look more deeply into stories about Man Utd, LFC, Spurs et al et al.
Look at all the Torres and Gerrard stories this summer. To date, nothing has happened. Gerrard has been like our ex-captain in terms of dealing with media lies each summer.
Look at the stories about Man Utd players. To date, none of them left.
Ashley Cole is going to Real Madrid. Yes or no?
Just realise that most football journalists support one club and they will happily write stories to undermine other clubs.
It’s not just Arsenal.
What i would like to say is that since all the media is anti arsenal, why cant arsenal fc take some action against it and start using journalist to counter these stories on their own website, arsenal.com. Their own translators, editor, columnists, etc etc.
That way we can have someone to fight against the anti arsenal media.
I know i don’t see all of the interviews but it does seem like the media has a penchant to inflating the truth. i remember after the game that ramsey felt a miss timed challenge (that to all – well some – accounts was fair and maybe shouldn’t have necessitated a sending off) the boss seemed to keep his usual control over his words (despite the seething anger in his eyes). the tv people somehow managed to communicate to the oposition that he had verbally attacked the players character! i have to admit i missed that. Same with the cesc shanigans i have not heard a word, directly i.e. first hand written or video, from him or anyone else that matters in this case (i of course mean boss and official statements of the club) anything that makes me think he’ll not be in the middle wareing red and white next sesson(i personally believe two years). Yes he wants to return to his home club and win stuff. Fair nuff but the times i heard him stating this its always in the future tense. lets enjoy the sesson as at this point all things are possible.
by the way i should declare i am biased in arsenal and the bosses favour so my memory could distort all of the above into an untruth. As for anti-arsenal i can’t believe that, i think others suffer the same but that is again my perception.
p.s. did anyone else think we had the two best players on the pitch in the world cup final
I came to this site via a link on Goonerholic, I’m glad I did because this is an excellent article. As my monniker suggests I was born in the red half of London but now reside in the Lowlands. I speak fluent Dutch and can confirm that your translation of the article is spot on.
Having lived abroad for over 20 years and looking from the outside in, so to speak, my distain for the British media has grown immensly. Many (not all of course) of the red top rag reporters are the lowest form of pond scum known to man, “never let the facts get in the way of a good story” must be their mantle. Sensationalism and idle gossip with no varification is their forte.
As mentioned in a comment above, Arsenal, although we do get more then our fair share, are not the only target for these hacks, their unprofessionalism infests every team in the PL and the National set up too. For those asking the question; “what can we do to stop them spreading these lies”, well, the answer is simple, don’t buy their diabolical publications.
Rhys Jaggar
Exactly. There is NO specific bias against Arsenal. Newspapers spout news, whether true or false, to sell their wares. Newsmen all have their favourites and praise or decry accordingly.If you think differently, paranoia lurks nearby.
Yes Rhys – lies and half-truths are not exclusively targeted at Arsenal, transfer rumors are the staple of the English media. But you may want to rip that monocle from the right eye of your gravatar as it is blocking you from the blindingly obvious. Arsenal, its French manager and its legion of foreign players (thankfully the Academy is throwing up more English talent) is a favorite target for negative press. Those like me, from overseas, who 1st trolled the web to find anything positive about a football club that almost always played the beautiful game, were struck by the negativity by the mainstream media. I for one made it my duty to understand the dynamics at play.
Too bad you are obsessed with proving how different you are from Tony and his Untold posters, that you are incapable of truly denouncing those who heap lies on the club.
Rhys, you are rigth about the fact that I dont care about the stories being told about other clubs.
But when I go on the internet and go to Sky following a link from Goonernews (who are only mentioning all the (English) arsenal news stories and are a great site imo, and read something and when I go to another window in my explorer and go on the Dutch news sites and find the complete opposite there I can only wonder: what is happening?
I think the English/British media inventing stories is a natural thing (and maybe it also happens when let us say Dutch media talk about players in their own league or country?).
But the difference was so big this time that I just had to let those know who are interested.
But if the media are lying and I get confronted with this, I think it is our, and my, duty to expose them for what they do.
As a fan based in American (the place where football goes to die…and then becomes soccer)…I can tell you that after sifting through the volumes of media publications from England, Spain, Netherlands, and Germany (Italian press cares more about their own personal disdain for the Special One) the english press is by far more critical. Here are some numbers i put together myself…in the past week Arsenal was mentioned in the mainstream english press 1118 times in a publication….72 % painted Arsenal in a less than flattering light…20 % were ambiguously neutral, and 8 percent were positive. In Catalonia for example Arsenal is often praised for nuturing and developing Cesc and how they admire the Arsenal approach to the game…they are just petulant about getting Cesc. I speak fluent Spanish and can tell you when have more friends in the Spansih press, than in England.
1118 times in publications’
Also, excellent article.
I think we need to stick it up the press arse by giving “el capito” a rousing reception when he turn-up for our 2010/2011 home game just like the ManIOU do when CR7 turn-up for his first match during Ronaldogate. Pls spread the message!
Dunno what all this dumb media guys will report on when they succeed by driving the stars of the EPL away after coniving with Real Mad and the Cuntalonian!
Gunner for Life!!!
What I can’t for the life of me understand is this. We’ve spent the best part of 2 months now reading articles about Cesc wanting to go to Barcelona. No doubt 99.9% of the words written have been complete and utter fabricated rubbish, created by: (1)any idiot with a keyboard who fancies spouting his fantasies,(2) anybody with access to the media who fancies making easy money by inventing a scoop, (3)agents of all parties with vested interest in the transactrion happening or not happening (Barca, Arsenal, Player,agent etc..).
The thing is, this entire nonsense could have been blown out of the water at any time by Cesc simply going on a major TV station and announcing clearly and unambigously that he intends to honour his contract and stay at Arsenal as he promised to do last year. Not by telling a source close to a friend of a journalist’s cleaning lady, but saying it directly to camera himself. Easy peezy!!! It need not have interrupted any World cup preparations, it would have taken 5 minutes. All over!
The real problem is however that our wonderful captain (and I hope he stays forever, I really do) wants to keep all options open and is quite happy for all this to run and run. An honourable man who signs a contract sees it through, honour appears to be non existant in the business of football, it was killed by greed a long time ago and only a rare few like Arsene Wenger can be depended on to stand by their commitments and honour contracts. Let’s admire Fabregas for his football skills, but he’s shown he’s just a mercenary when it comes down to the bare bones of it. He’s come down a lot in my estimation. It’s only because standards are so low across the industry that he has any credibility at all.
I can’t understand how you all managed to miss the worst of the lot, that gutter radio station laughingly called “talk Sport”
It’s the worst of the worst made all the more crapy by that Adrian Durham, this guy hates Arsenal with a passion that is scary and everyday he’s on the radio waves a nasty comment on either Arsenal, Arsen Wenger or the Arsenal players will be made.
But we are Arsenal and we can take anything these people throw at us.
Spot on, Tony. Even after following the club for over a decade, the lack of integrity on the part of the English football media never fails to mystify and astound me. I have done numerous pieces on my blog pointing out instances of the media willfully misrepresenting facts and/or quotes or just flat-out lying regarding the Arsenal. For some reason, the media finds Arsenal to be an easy target. But I can’t help believe that, at some level, there is a strain of xenophobia running underneath the surface. Many say that we, as Gooners, are paranoid when it comes to media treatment of the club, but I have no doubt that the media, as a whole, treats Arsenal in a much different way than other Premier League clubs, especially the other big clubs and even mid-table sides with large English contingents like Stoke, etc…. Keep up the good work!!
Always I did not believe british media anymore, they always tell lies.
And good article!
凸 BARCA
F*CK U
All of us,wish you to stay here,and I believe
you will,you will say forever
id just like to say thanx.. i dont belive he has and will disrespect arsenal the way newspapers say.. we all hope he stays.. and from what i no.. he will stay now.. but i hope fellow arsenal fans dont take a punt at him.. he never said anything bad about arsenal.. ill i ever see is good intverviews.. he had no idea about the shirt… bottom line.. i only full belive intverviews what are on film
but dont 4get dat fabregas to wenger face to face dat he wants to live,so all dat he was only thinking abt rsenal i dont totally blive.cristiano ronaldo said d same thing b4 he joined madrid.to me if he wants to leave arsenal shuld allow him,he is no God and not bigger dan d club.
Kintil,
were you sitting on Cesc right hand side when he said it or on Wenger’s left hand side? If Wenger and Cesc sit together in one room and only the 2 are there how can anyone be sure what is said?
Oh, you mean the media told he said it. Yep, let us all believe the media. Those institutes of trust and truth. Those whorenalists, who sell themselves at any price, and who come to work each day and start their daily job with swearing on the bible (or whatever holy book they wish) and promise to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.
Sky sports never publish my comments, yet they pay people with no credibility or proper sources to mould opinion!
That is the 3rd person on here who’s comments are not published. Maybe they also write the comments themselves???
The Sky is the limit, maybe we could add “The Sky is the limit of lying”.
Sky Sports like the English sports media in general- are made up of former players, managers , coaches and their media handlers. Yes they are predominantly anti Arsenal- but they are more pro Manchester United and Liverpool than anti Arsenal- though they don’t see football as AW does. There is a clash of cultures in the English game and Arsenal are central to it. Ironically the spuds are closer to us than them and cop similar criticism. The Northern English sides don’t set out to win by skill, technique, clever passing- to them and their fans football is more about a collective physical expression of aggression to achieve domination- like rugby without hands. When they are out passed and out thought- they always resort to violence- and this is always supported by the media. The problem is the Chelsea’s and the Man Cities are so desperate for short-term success at all costs that they buy into that bankrupt model of the English game in order to achieve success.
Dank je wel, Walter.
Anyone who watches Sky Sports News can’t fail to notice the way they raise their voices to shout MANCHESTER UNITED, SIR ALEX FERGUSON or WAYNE ROONEY at least a couple of times an hour! They had Russell Osman on at a golf day earlier and even asked him about Man Utd! Why? Not forgetting the amount of goals against Arsenal they manage to squeeze into each advert for the new season!
The same way they justified Theo Walcott non inclusion in the England team to the world cup, his sin was that he played for Arsenal.
I too have never had my comments published on the sky sports web-site. I’d put it down to the fact that I was not a sky sports subscriber, and didn’t want their marketing emails, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they blocked comments that went against the grain of their own agendas. Excellent article by the way – I am just hoping that when Cesc returns to Arsenal from his post WC hols, then at last all this will stop.
Very Good article Walter, yet another gem on this great blog ( kudos to Tony on that too obviously!). I leave and breathe Arsenal, the first and last thing i think about at night ( yes, even after the wife and kids lol).
I’ve often thought that there is bias against Arsenal in the press and whilst i appreciate certain peoples comments about it happening to other clubs as well, but surely only an ostrich wouldn’t realize that arsenal imparticular are the main target of such ‘attacks’. maybe its our manager, maybe its our ‘invincibles’ or that the fact are accounts ( thanks Swiss Rambler!) show we are in rude health and on the verge of competing SIGNIFICANTLY in the transfer market in the coming seasons ( tho not at the determent of the young lads, thats where most of our gems will come from, believe me), who knows. Keep up the good work Tony and Messrs.
P.S ‘Fans’ booing Cesc? Or any other Arsenal player? Their part of the problem.
Anyone read daily mail’s article on wenger and the homegrown rule? There some lies right there I tells ya!
Dave, were you swearing at Walter or did you tell him that the lad done great?
It was the latter Tony.
Wish you could write for skysports Walter!
I don’t follow the party line enough I think, maltamark.;-)