Cesc Fabregas fansite

In many ways Cesc Fabregas is the embodiment of the current Arsenal side - hugely talented, young, a joy to watch and, this season, with added bite and determination

The twenty year old Spaniard says he is a changed man. He believes he has ‘grown up’ this year and is becoming a more selfless player in order to have a better chance of winning team, rather than individual, accolades.

Cesc certainly started the campaign like a man on a mission. He scored seven goals in his first nine appearances – virtually doubling his previous years final tally by mid-September. The recent goal against Newcastle was his 12th of the season, to go with 16 assists.

So with goals added to his already impressive repertoire , Cesc is surely well on the way to becoming the complete midfielder, but the former Barcelona man is still not happy. Always one for self-analysis, he has come to the conclusion that he needs to add more of the team’s all round displays and improve his defensive input, rather than focusing on personal glories. Nowadays he is just as happy to put in an attritional, defensive display, as he is smashing home 25-yard screamers against Spurs – even if it doesn’t grab as many headlines. “people were saying ‘fantastic, fantastic’ when I was scoring all those goals, and now that I am not scoring as many, people are saying I’m not playing as well as I used to,” he begins. “For me that’s rubbish. It’s difficult to accept because people who say that don’t really understand what football is about. I don’t take it personally and I just try to play for my team and for the club. Now I realize that I am playing more for the team. Before, maybe I wanted to show more of my own stuff, but now I don’t care.If I’m not man of the match, if I’m not player of the month anymore I don’t care, because I know I’m doing extra positive things for the team, and now that gives me the most pleasure.”

For evidence of the new Cesc, cast your mind back to Everton away on December 29. Arsenal were up against it at Goodison Park, trailing at half-time to Tim Cahill’s goal. Buit Arsene Wenger’s team dug in and, unusually, found a route through the Everton back line with a more direct approach, to win 4-1. It wasn’t the sort of free-flowing game you would normally associate with Cesc (it was one of the few games this season when he didn’t score or set up any of the goals) but his contribution wasn’t lost on his team-mates, least of all William Gallas who said afterwatds: “I thought Cesc was amazing. You could see in his eyes how much he wanted to win the game, he was defending well, competing for every ball, winning headers, To be honest I saw a part of Cesc that I didn’t know was there. Nornally his football is based on an offensive, passing game, but he showed he could fight for the team as well. That’s a great sign – a sign of a real winner.”

Cesc, now in his fifth season at Arsenal, agrees that supporters are beginning to see a new side of him. “I think you are not going to see the Cesc who always tries to do nice things anymore,” he reveals. “Now if I have to defend for 90 minutes for the team, then I will do it. If I don’t get credit for it, then I don’t mind at all because all I want now is to win the title and to celebrate that at the end of the season with my team-mates.

“I think I have developed the defensive side of my game, and I must say that Flamini has helped me a lot in that aspect. The way he defends, his passion for the game, sometimes he makes me realize that I have to help out defensively. If the right-back goes forward then I have to stay back, or cover the centre-back. I feel very strong physically, so if I can do this for the team then it’s fantastic.

“I have grown up a lot since I joined Arsenal but especially in the last year,” he continues.” Defensively I feel much more responsible. It’s true that before, I was playing more for myself, a little bit individually to see if people were talking about me. Now it’s completely different. I just want to play for the team, I don’t mind what people say, I can say that I am enjoying it more than ever.”

Cesc reveals that talking with the more experienced members of the squad, such as Jens Lehmann, William Gallas and Gilberto – as well as Arsene Wenger – helped to bring on the change.

“I realized a few things,” he explains, ‘through speaking to some of the players in training, and also seeing the hunger of the players. That gives you more power as well, knowing that there are people like you who really want to win things. Everything comes together. The manager as well tells me that he expects more from me, I want to give everything for the club.”

His winning attitude seems, so far at least, to be paying off, with Arsenal proudly sitting five points clear at the top of the table with 12 games remaining, when this interview took place.

Arsenal could be on course to lift their first league title since 2003/2004. Cesc joined the club during that season, but didn’t play a league game in the unbeaten campaign, so this is the first real title race that he has been involved in, and the youngster is loving every minute.

“You want to win all the time and last season it was difficult. Each morning when you wake up and go to training, if you are in third or fourth position, it’s not the same. Now every morning when we come into training you feel ready to fight for the title, to take on the big teams, the big players and that’s why I really love being a footballer. For these moments.

“We should take inspiration from being top,” he continues, rejecting the notion that it’s best to ignore the league table. “We have to try to keep the gap, and keep playing in the same way. We are not thinking it’s all over, we would be very stupid to do that. We have to keep working hard and keep believing we can do it. If we can win it, it would be amazing considering the age of the team. It would be unbelievable. So we really want to do it, and not just the league but the Champions League and FA Cup too.

“This is my first time being at the top of the league at this stage, that’s why I don’t want to lose that advantage. We want to be the team at the top and for me, to win the league at 20 years old, playing every game, that would be something unforgettable.”

Cesc played, and scored in his debut season for Arsenal, making him the clubs youngest ever player and goalscorer, but those appearances were in the league cup. He didn’t make his league debut until the start of the following season – starring for the full 90 minutes in another 4-1 win at Goodisn Park.

That was game number one for Cesc, but game 41 of the famous 49 match record unbeaten sequence. A lot of the playing personnel has changed since then, so how does the current side compare to the class of 2004?

“Back then we were more looking for the individualities, rather than the team,” Cesc states. “We were strong defensively, but a lot of the time we would look to play the ball to Thierry, to Dennis, to Reyes, to Robert and see what they could do. Now we are playing as more of a team. You can see the mobility , the sharpness, the combinations. So yes, you can say it’s different now.”

Arsenal have 63 points from 26 ganes so far this season, a tally they have only bettered at this stage of the season once in Premier League history, and that was back in 2003/2004.

In fact the side has earned just five fewer points than in the whole of last season, and Cesc puts the improvement over the past 12 months down to an excellent start, and also continuity in the team.

“Last year we had a lot of injuries and that made things difficult for us.” He argues. “You could see Man United last year, and Chelsea three years ago when they won the league every week they had the same team. It was unbelievable. We could never do that because we always had injurues. This year though, so far we have been able to have a more regular team. That has helped a lot.

“Also it was important to get a good start because in the last two seasons we didn’t start well and in the end we paid for it. It’s easier to be top at the end if you have had a good start. We know we have to stay consistent and to get regular results. That’s what we are starting to do now.”

The Gunners’ form this year has confounded many of the pre-season predictions, and Cesc believes that being written off in many quarters last summer may also have contributed to the flying start.

“It’s true that people were taking us out of the top four at the start of the season, even placing us in the middle of the table. I don’t think it added pressure, in fact it probably helped us more because we wanted to show everyone what we could do. It fired us up.

“We didn’t care what other people were saying about us. We knew we had the quality, we know what we can do. The important thing is always not what others believe, but what you yourself believe. People inside the club always believe, and if we don’t do well then people can say what they want. But if we do well, then that will be for everyone inside for the club and for the fans. That’s who we are playing for, no-one else.”

If Cesc doesn’t win the league this year, it certainly won’t be for want of trying. It’s clear that it is in his nature to constantly look to improve, to better himself, and this extends to his activities off the pitch too.

Going somewhat against the stereotypical view of the modern footballer, Cesc reveals that he currently spends much of his spare time with his head in the books.

“Yes I am doing a little bit of studying – I am trying! I am doing maths and also Spanish and Catalan literature. I have to pass an exam before I can do a two year course. Then I can do a real university qualification. I came here when I was very young, 16, so I had to leave my studies and concentrate on my English and my football. Now though everything is ready in my head, I know how long I need to rest, I know how long to study, so now I can focus on studying too.”

The international midfielder adds that the recent serious injury suffered by one of his boyhood heroes helps explain why he chooses to continue his education.

“I wouldn’t say I particularly love studying –I would prefer to play on the PlayStation sometimes – but you have to be responsible in life and sometimes do things you don’t especially like.

“I’m doing it for myself, for my parents and because you just never know. I’m just 20 years old, and don’t get me wrong, but anything can happen in life. I want to be a footballer all my life but a footballer’s career is just until 35, or if you are lucky maybe 38. After that you are still quite young. I don’t want to look that far forward but I can remember Ronaldo playing for Barcelona. I was just a kid, when I went to watch him play, he was 20 and now he is near the end of his career. It makes you think how quickly it goes.”

Always looking to the future then, and that leads to questions about how long his Arsenal career will continue. Given his roots with Barcelona (he attended his first game at the Bou Camp when he was just nine months old, and then started for their youth sides) , many people believe that he will, one day, end up back there.

“I don’t know about that to be honest,” he answers. “if the boss and the club want me to be here, and they think I can still give a lot, then of course I’m happy to stay, because I love this city, I love the club and I love the people.

“If however one day they tell me that I have done enough for the club, then of course I would love to go to Spain, to play for one of the big teams in Spain. But anyway I don’t want to leave, I’m really happy here.”

One man who has made the move from Arsenal to Barcelona is Thierry Henry, and Cesc had the chance to catch up with his former skipper during the recent round of international friendlies.

“We played France in Malaga,” he explains, “and afterwards I had the chance to speak to Thierry because it was the first time I had seen him since he left Arsenal. I had spoken to him on the phone, but it was nice to see him in person again.

“We swapped shirts and it was nice to catch up. I watch all of Barcelona’s games and it’s difficult for Thierry because often he plays on the left wing. He has to defend more and it’s not his position. But as I was saying, he’s doing things for the team that he doesn’t always get credit for. People only look at goals. They want him to be the player he was at Arsenal but they don’t play the same footballor the same shape. But we all know Thierry is a winner, and he wants to do well for the team.

“He told me that he watches every Arsenal game he can. He’s still a big fan, and he really wants us to win the league.”

Not as much, you sense, as a certain midfielder wants it.