Is reality finally hitting home for Cesc Fabregas?
“Be careful what you wish for.”
Thanks to Spanish national coach Vicente del Bosque’s selection preferences, Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas needn’t learn the meaning of the aforementioned proverb the hard way. After repeatedly expressing his admiration for and desire to join hometown club Barcelona, Arsenal’s talismanic captain may have discovered that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Unable to dislodge the Barcelona trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets from Spain’s starting line-up, Fabregas has alluded to the fact that he may decide to stay in London this summer.
Undoubtedly frustrated by his serial omission, Fabregas admitted: “I haven’t said that I will definitely leave Arsenal. Everything is possible. Now I have my head and my focus on the World Cup. I am very proud to be captain of Arsenal and I love the club and have respect for them. It gave me such pride to be made captain.”
Vicente del Bosque has yet to find a place for Cesc Fabregas within his preferred starting XI. With a penchant for a lone-striker system, Del Bosque has used the talents of Xavi, Sergio Busquets and former Liverpool man Xabi Alonso in Spain’s central midfield area, the area in which Fabregas performs with such distinction for club side Arsenal. During Spain’s four games thus far, Fabregas has featured for the grand total of just 60 minutes, having come on as a substitute against both Honduras and Chile.
Should Fabregas decide to make the move to the Camp Nou this summer, it is likely that he would face similar obstacles to obtaining a regular first-team berth. Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola also has a penchant for the use of a three-man midfield, and the unbelievable wealth of midfield talent already existing at the Catalan club would minimise Fabregas’ chances of commanding an automatic first-team spot.
This sentiment has been reiterated by Barcelona misfit Alexander Hleb, who, speaking of Fabregas and mooted Barcelona target Gael Clichy, stated “I would advise them to stay [at Arsenal].”
Given his nationality and personal ambition, Fabregas’ desire to join Barcelona at some point in his career is understandable. However, unless he is content with a place on the bench, a switch to Catalonia may not be the best move at this stage in his career.
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Everybody is acting up if fabregas leaving, fabregas can be replaced in any team he is not irreplaceable. If he leaves it might b a blessing for arsenal, because he is a too frail. We need a balanced midfield to win tropies not fabregas. Wenger need to spend n enhance the team and stop using arsenal as a feeder club for European teams. I’m an arsenal fan from birth without 4 quality singings we r going to b 3 or 4 again
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You are wrong about it being easy to replace Fabregas. I guess you never loved Fabregas as a player for Arsenal.. Yes it is understandable that he will go HOME one day… but you’re wrong if you think Fabregas is ready to leave us or we are ready to leave him. He’s our captain dude.
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Things have worked out for Fabregas with the Spanish National team precisely the way that A.Wenger and Arsenal fans everywhere would have hoped, highlighting in the process the difference in the valuation that Barca and Arsenal have put on Cesc.
Fabregas is perfectly suited to the Arsenal system and Wenger has tailored the offense to run through him as its field general. Cesc is the engine that makes the current Arsenal team go.
At Barca and with the Spanish National team, not only are there players ahead of Fabregas based on seniority and familiarity with playing with one another, but the role is a little different, with Xavi and Iniesta both shouldering some of the responsibility for directing the attack. With the two of them at the height of their careers and already established in the lineup, Cesc has to demonstrate that he is clearly better than one of them to win a spot in the starting XI in a system where it is more difficult for him to do that. With less need for Fabregas to take on the responsibilities that he has at Arsenal, for Barca and Spain, Cesc is a luxury–a super-sub who can come off the bench and add a spark to the team when it’s not playing well and start a few games when Xavi or Iniesta need a rest.
For Arsenal, in its current system, Fabregas is worth every bit of 60 million: he is their leader and will play most of the games when healthy. For Barca, 30 million is plenty to pay for a super-sub in their system who will, at most, play half of the time, no matter how talented.
Everyone knows that Fabregas wants to return to play for Barca at some point. But, hopefully, his time on the bench for the Spanish National Team in SA will have convinced Cesc that the time for him to make that move has not arrived just yet. In 2-3 years, as Iniesta and Xavi begin to slow down and Cesc is in prime of his career, Fabregas can make even more money and become an even bigger hero in Catalonia by making his move to Barca then. At that point, he will step in and be a fixture in the Barca lineup.
In the meantime, as Arsenal’s skipper, he has a chance to not only play as much as he wants, but to be the focal point of the team and possibly even win some silverware. Winning silverware has the captain of Arsenal will make him more valuable and be a lot more satisfying than winning silverware while spending half of the time on the bench at Barcelona. I think that’s starting to sink in for Cesc, at least I hope that it is, as he has been warming the pine for Spain in South Africa. If so, he may soon realize why A.Wenger is so adamantly opposed to letting him go to Barca just yet.
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