Back in the day Ashley Cole was given dogs’ abuse for going from Arsenal to Chelsea, but there just seems to be no proper animosity now from fans towards former players. Cech, David Luiz, Giroud and now Havertz have all gone to the other side, but no one really seems to care and all those listed seem to still be well respected by their former club (apart from Havertz, who no one seems to care about either way).
Why has this rivalry died off? Arsenal and Tottenham players would never transfer to each other, nor Man United players to city or liverpool etc.
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There’s a lot of animosity towards Petr Cech tbf, I’m disappointed to be responsible for most of it. Still bugs me that a genius like Arsène would be naive enough to end the summer transfer window with only one incoming player: a brain-damaged 33 year old near-post terrorist
He was by far the worst of the lot. Allergic to using his right foot. Wouldn’t last 5 minutes playing out from the back today. You thought de Gea was bad? Pass the ball to Cechs right foot and watch him melt
I just hated us buying players Chelsea no longer wanted.
Its been a while since both teams were in top 4. Probably that.
Coles problem was he went through the arsenal academy so was one of their own and the manner in which he left. His was purely for the money and if he hadn’t said he nearly crashed his car in disgust at only being offered £60k a week instead of the £65k he wanted people probably wouldn’t have reacted the way they did.
You cant compare these transfers.
Ashley Cole was an academy player, a youngster who grew into the team, he was an Arsenal fan growing up. Him leaving is like if Bukayo Saka left now to Chelsea. You would see “proper animosity” then, trust me.
Cech and David Luiz moved after their primes. They’d already had success at Chelsea and weren’t good after they left. Arsenal thought they could do better than Giroud and were happy when he left. But he obviously was an important player for us and aged well.
Whereas Ashley Cole came from Arsenal’s academy, I’m pretty sure supported them as a kid and was one of the best players in his his position in the world. And was slap bang in the middle of his prime. From Arsenal fan’s perspective he left for money although it was probably more the principle and feeling valued by the club.
Chelsea fans feel exactly the same way about Mason Mount. Him going to a rival isn’t what made fans angry. It’s the fact he’d been at the club since he was a kid, had already had success with the club and was meant to be a key player for them moving forwards. And the fans feel he chose money over loyalty (again probably more to do with feeling valued).
I don’t think Chelsea or Arsenal fans would care unless a player is basically leaving for money or because they think they can win trophies at the other club. So Van Persie going to United is probably more insulting to Arsenal fans than any of the Chelsea ones you listed. Or Fabregas going to Chelsea after Barca. He was already an Arsenal legend and had left in a bad way. Then returned to London to play for Chelsea (although Wenger didn’t want him).
The rivalry means nothing if the player isn’t good enough. Havertz isn’t even in his prime yet but he wasn’t living up to Chelsea fan’s expectations and you could tell he needed a change to reignite his career.
And yeah they hate Spurs a lot more than each other. But the lack of transfers between them and Spurs comes from the Spurs end and Daniel Levy.
Ashley Cole got booed at every ground in the league. English football fans had a weird hated for him.
A big part of it is the level of the player when they leave, Ashley Cole was still amazing when he left. Havertz was hated, Luiz, Cech, Giroud, etc were all aging and didnt have much more to give to Chelsea
Tbh I think everyone hates Chelsea
Cole was arguably the best LB in the world when he left, and Arsenal and Chelsea were direct title rivals. None of those other names were as important or left at a time when the rivalry meant as much.
Have you not seen the Havertz hate? Chelsea fans celebrate a Havertz bad touch like it’s 3 points
Its quite simple. Ashley Cole was potentially the best LB in the world in 2006 and also somewhat forced his way out of Arsenal. All of those other players were either out of favour, or not bought as starters anyways.
They should swap squads on bi-quarterly basis. And combine both squads to beat Tottenham 7-0.
There’s a difference between transferring (close to) washed-up players like Giroud, Luiz, Cech and Jorginho, or unwanted players like Kai. None of these players were expected to start for the selling team so there was no outcry.
Ashley Cole was an academy project and an invincible, just entering his prime. He left THAT team over 5k in wages and silently started the selling off process. It’s completely different to the ones mentioned above.
It’s a case by case basis, depends on the player and the circumstances at the time but what tends to be mutual and consistent is that we wish whoever makes the switch nothing but the worst (at club level).