He made the Arsenal team look better than it really was.
Everyone can see that clearly now, if they couldn’t see it before.
He was the strongest character, the creative brain, the main goal-maker, and also a reliable goalscorer.
In Valencia last night Cesc Fabregas became the first Barcelona player to score in his first four La Liga games.
Barca were 2-1 down in 23 minutes and still 2-1 down in 76 minutes. Then Messi played in his mate, just onside, and Fabregas slotted Robbie Fowler-style. One on one, unbalanced the crouching keeper, placed the ball between him and his post. Game finished-2-2.
For two years many fans and hacks said: He won\’t get in the team, Barcelona don\’t need him.
That annoyed me intensely.Very few things annoy me intensely, but that did.
Mainly because I knew Fabregas is a more prolific goalscorer than the marvellous Iniesta.
Last weekend, he was playing with a smile on his face against Osasuna. His appetite was huge, his enjoyment palpable. When the score was 1-0, he ran into the box to get on the end of a Messi pass that was clipped up into his run and he volleyed sweetly past the keeper with his left foot, a flawless finish by a player who was very relaxed but also fully focused on the job.
Seeing that goal again on Revista last night, the chip from Messi was far higher than I realised, making the chance very difficult. Yes, the ball was aimed perfectly into the stride -pattern of Fabregas but the ball flew up so sharply to a height of, I\’d say, fifteen feet – in a tight area. As that ball was coming down, Fabregas was having to run with his head tilted sharply back, so that he could see where it would be when it dropped to a kickable height.The margin for error was almost nil. A goal was impossible unless he kept his balance and kicked the ball perfectly.
He scored a world-class goal for 2-0.
After that the champions crushed Osasuna by scoring six more goals. And that kind of score is a slaughter nobody really likes to see. La Liga is weak because Real Madrid and Barcelona do their own TV deals. Serie A have now switched to an EPL model, where the TV money is more fairly shared. That will make the Italian league more interesting than it has been.
In the summer of 2010, I wrote two ANR pieces explaining why Arsenal should let Fabregas go.
The first, before Spain won the World Cup, was on May 14, 2010 :
Wenger no longer deserves to have Fabregas playing for him.
On Friday morning I logged on and saw these headlines :
Cesc Fabregas: If I leave Arsenal I’ll go to Barcelona before World Cup Metro.co.uk 08:45
What the papers say: Cesc begins contract talks but wants Barca return Arsenal Addict 08:44
Fabregas set for crunch Arsenal talks Sport.co.uk 08:40
Fabregas Confirms He Wants To Join Barcelona And Is Set For Talks With Arsene Wenger Football 365 08:39
Fabregas wants Arsenal future resolved Telegraph.co.uk 08:25
Fabregas keen to resolve Arsenal future before World Cup ESPN.co.uk – Football 08:11
Cesc wants future resolved Sky Sports 08:00
What do I reckon this morning? Only what I have already written on ANR and always told Gooner friends.
1. Fabregas should be playing in a team of men who know how to defend and win trophies. He should NOT be playing with muppets like Walcott, Eboue, Diaby, Song and Denilson. He should not be playing with clowns like Almunia and Flapianski. You only get one career, son. Go home and be happy.
2. Arsenal is going nowhere under Wenger, a delusional dictator. His last trophy, the FA Cup in 2005, was jammy and he won’t win any more trophies. He says 3rd is a trophy and may even believe 3rd is a trophy. He needs help but is too arrogant and Phrench to accept help. He prefers to surround himself with a large staff of yes-men and to coach a squad of nice guys who won’t talk back to him.
3. Fabregas should leave and win 12 trophies with Barca. I hope he captains the Catalan giants and lives happily ever after. He’s been run into the ground by Wenger and I really pray that doesn’t prevent Fabregas becoming the great player he could have been. Wenger no longer deserves to have Fab4 playing for him.
4. Since Cesc Fabregas has more bottle than Wenger, I hope Fabregas comes back to manage Arsenal when he is 38. He is 23 now.
5. In his heart, I think Wenger would like to take the 40m euros from Barcelona and spend it on Phrench kids and African kids. He’d like to spend it on giving Diaby a pay rise.