Samir Nasri was recently interviewed and made some comments in regards to his Man City career and former Arsenal career. I didn’t think the comments were fair but I thought I’d write about whether I think he made the right move by transferring to City. My impression of football and a footballer’s career is to play as much as you can and help a team win games and be part of a success. The last few years for Arsenal haven’t been the greatest of successes and they have struggled to compete within the league let alone win trophies. Man city have been in the position to buy whomever they want but haven’t yet won any trophies although they are competing for the Premier league title. But Nasri is at the moment spending time warming the bench for a Man City team that is plentiful of talented players.
In his interview Nasri stated that he “feels Arsenal played him too much and that sitting on the bench has improved him as a player” I think that he is saying that because it is his only way of defending that he has gone from a team where he was first choice in his position every game to a team that has other choices for where he plays. It can be frustrating for a player to be one of the best in his team to go to a team where he is kind of average.
Nasri came to Arsenal in 2008 but he didn’t make a great impression until early 2010 and suddenly it was like he came alive. He was a valued player within the Arsenal team; his ability to read a game and to skilfully pass and move around players like they didn’t exist was a great part of Nasri’s talent. He also played well with Fabregas, Arsharvin and Flamini. In my opinion he made Arsharvin and Flamini better players too.
At Man City He has only played 9 full 90 minute games and has been subbed/or sub for the other 13 appearances. Statistically in those games he is playing well and managing to pass and score a few goals but he is not up to the standard he was at Arsenal and is not Man City’s first choice. They also rarely play Nasri on the left wing, they normally play him behind Dzeko/Aguero and also Silva is a versatile player who is better than Nasri and can play anywhere in the midfield. He is still a motivated and talented player though.
When Nasri left Arsenal last summer the fans were annoyed at his transfer. Nasri had repeatedly assured fans over the summer that he would not leave and then decided on a last minute deal for £25mil. He gave the reason that “Arsenal would not offer him anymore money, that they couldn’t compete in anything major” he said that “Arsenal fans didn’t have any passion and it was worse after leaving Highbury(somewhere he never played with Arsenal)” He also said, Wenger the man he once described as a ‘dad’ would not let him leave. If you leave a club that has somewhat contributed to your ability as a player you should be grateful and conduct yourself in a professional manner regardless of what you think. The fans are passionate at every football club; they would not attend if they weren’t.
I’d like to conclude by saying that if Nasri is the sort of player that is content to be on the sidelines in a huge team of talent and ego and only be a part time player in glory then maybe this has been the perfect move for him, especially if Man city do win the league. But had he stayed at Arsenal he would have had first team football every game guaranteed and he could have helped make a difference this season.
It seems such a shame to waste all that talent on 9 full games as opposed to full time football but football has changed a lot recently and more players are becoming understanding and accepting that sometimes when you play for a bigger club the ambition is to actually compete for your place in the team.
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I am not sure that he culd have made a difference since we would have not bought Arteta who has a big role in where we are today
Flamini? when did he even play with him?
lol @ nasri made flamini a better player.i dont remember nasri playn in the same team with flamini
Nasri is now first choice for City. This is evident in the fact he starts the ‘big games’ for them now. Milner started ahead of him earlier on in the season because Samir was still settling in and learning his new role, which by the way is not usually behind the front men, he usually starts left with Silva right and both players alternate throughout. The reason for his more frequent inclusion is a result of the good performances he has put in, this bodes well for him in terms of cementing his first team place in the future. I’ve no doubt that the money on offer to play for City was a big incentive for Nasri but I feel it is unfair to dismiss the reasons he gave. Man City are a club on the up and will be challenging for trophies whereas at the moment Arsenal are going through a transition, so that guarantee of challenging for trophies wasn’t there, surely Nasri is justified in moving to City because he wants to challenge for trophies now? By the way Man City won the FA Cup last season, the last time I looked that was a trophy.
Arsenal funs please stop your focus on a city player. He left us and thats it. I rather talk about the players who are currently 7 games unbeaten….
Well said Rolee…….this article is a load of crap. Nasri playing in the same team as flamini? Nasri plays on the left and switches constantly with silva….why can’t we allow players move on and have their careers. I was sad that he left in the first place but when a club like arsenal refuses to pay high as club of its status should, people like nasri will continue to live as football is where they get their daily bread….lets stop discovering how bad our former players are just because they ‘ve swaped teams…….tomorrow when van persie leaves, someone like the writer of this crappy article will now discover he is one-footed
I do get the gist of what u r saying but its time we move on and focus on our present players.
Also Flamini and Nasri NEVER played together at Arsenal and that kinda destroys this article because it makes you look like you dont know what you are talking about.
No disrespect meant of course.
Nasri can go to hell for all i care,he is notin bt shit at man city nd for u @rolee,i can see u’re a devoted man city fan tryin to stick ur nose in other peoples business.4 nasri “u cant bite da finger dat once fed u” we have lost playerz like henry,bt guess what! We are stil competing at the top,so nasri,dnt tink loosin u was goin to cause much trouble,for all ur 4 yrs at arsenal,u hav never tasted da europa league bt in under a season after movin to a richer club with loads of ambition,u have nd wil still play in da europa league.how ironical!! Hagahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Where to start with this poorly worded, badly thought out diatribe? First, Man City won the FA Cup last year, so it is nonsense to say they have not won any trophies. Second… no, I actually can’t be bothered.
Couldn’t.agree more.
I love the response of Man City supporters – WE WON THE FA CUP LAST YEAR!!!!
I sure hope you win something this year after spending so much money on players.
So you’re saying that anyone who corrects the author of this article is a Man City fan? Or??? Doesn’t matter if City win something or not. As an Arsenal fan, I couldn’t care less what goes on at City. If our club wants to hold on to the best players and challenge for trophies every season, we need to pay them what they are worth on the market. We have a great club and a global brand, there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to splash some of that cash on top players and match them up with quality young players. Stop being such a anti-Manchester City fan and start supporting OUR club.
It is rather funny how man city think that they have somehow earned the right to be where they are. They are entitled to enjoy and savour it, of course. But…it is funny
City have made a mockery of the premier league to a level that even abramovich won’t go. Good luck and I hope your sheikh discards you and chooses to ruin somebody else’s league….
Nasri will win nothing with city he is just a money grabbing bastard
In fairness a poorly articulated article – Nasri hasn’t done a great deal at city….he had a good 6mths with us from the beg of last season to maybe feb, when in actual fact he didn’t show up in big games like Wilshire, RVP for example did….FA Cup, Barca champions league etc his season then derailed like the teams. Quite frankly I’m pleased we bagged £25m for him – Arteta has done a good job, strong player who adds maturity to the squad. With the excess cash this summer I’d like to see a few additions.
I just want to say f**k tottenham hotspur, or should I say rotten-ham-hot-sperm. Thank you.
Man city is a joke of a club. Who else can waste mega millions of transfer fees on flops like Adebayor, Tevez, robinho, Wayne Bridge and Craig Bellamy and not go bankrupt? And don’t gimme crap about how talented they are becoz they are all very talented but not managed by man city managers
I thank God we didn’t waste our time on useless equipment. We grape €25m on nasri. Who miss his impact in the team ( arsenal). I believe he will blame himself 4 living arsenal to mcity. But yet not the time to talk about him, just a few weeks ahead. Lets focus on our current players. Up vp, woj, song, vaminator, arteta, sanga, ox, waltcot.etc. 4 their performance keep it up.
It’ll b a shame on man city if at d end of d season dey can’t win a trophy cos of d kind of investment dey’ve made 2 buy players with huge amt of money. For arsenal,dey’ve bin doing very good in d last few weeks, playing as if nasri does not exist….without smair i believe arsenal can win trophies.
Let’s get one thing straight here. Losing Nasri last season was probably best thing to happen to our club. The little shit had no heart and this just dragged others around him down especially after the league cup final loss. Money not honour is the only thing that drive this fucking little mercenary twat on and Shitty are the only arseholes willing to pay for services they couldn’t otherwise afford without their sugar daddy. Shit club no history. Shit player no class
Er…Nasri did play with Flamini, they played togther when Nasri first came in 2008, Also I unlike other gooners watched the reserve games also!
Players like Nasri have all the talent and none of the heart, that is why a team that is more limited(our current bunch) is on course to finish ahead of them Rosicky and Arteta fight for a win whereas Fabregas and Nasri relied on plane talent