Former Arsenal defender, Bacary Sagna, has hit back at a former teammate, Cesc Fabregas, after the Spaniard questioned the quality of his former Gunners teammates.
Fabregas, who currently plays for Monaco in the French Ligue 1, had earlier this week claimed that only Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri were on a comparable level with him in terms of technical ability during their time together at Emirates.
The midfielder said: "I was the captain at Arsenal, I always felt so much pressure on myself.
"I had to lead the Arsenal team to win something.
"I gave everything, and sometimes I used to cry on my way home after we lost a match.
"But then when we lose a match, and we are on the bus going, you then hear some players laughing, talking about where they will be going out later, and this was going on for a few years.
"At that time, I felt only Robin and Samir were the players who were at my level mentally and technically."
Reacting to the development, Sagna, who played alongside Fabregas at Arsenal for four years, said he was 'surprised' to hear this statement from Fabregas, adding that former Chelsea star has shown some lack of respect the North London club and his former teammates.
"I was surprised to read this statement from him," Sagna told Goal.
"I was surprised because Fabregas was supposed to be one of the leaders of the squad, he was one of the great prospects, and as a leader and a true player, you do not speak like that about your team.
"So I was surprised because he is a nice guy, he is still a nice guy, this does not change anything.
"But I was kind of surprised. Arsenal made him so saying that some players were not at his level was a bit harsh because I'm not sure out of all the seasons he was playing at the club, he was always an exemplary player.
"At that time, the press was talking about him not running enough or tracking back. So other players could have said 'you should be running more or doing more.
"If you look at Liverpool today, all of them are running. This is a team. And maybe, because we didn't have the right spirit at that time, we didn't make this little extra push or make that little extra run to track players. Maybe this is the reason we did not win.
"Obviously, in the team, we all have different levels. Some will be good physically, others will be good technically, but this is not a reason to speak in that way about other players. 'I don't agree with that statement."
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