Cesc Fabregas

Thought I'd liven up the debate a bit....

How does everyone think he'll do this season?

After a stuttering performance in the league last season he seemed to have got a grip of it towards the end and was making some impressive performances.

He had a reasonably good World Cup and was very impressive against Zagreb on Wednesday pulling the strings in midfield and getting on the scoresheet twice.

Will this be his season when he really makes an impression? Will he possibly be making a good case to be added to the WC list by this time next year? Or is he still not quite there yet?

He seems to have bulked up a bit and no longer gets so easily knocked off the ball. He has also improved his distribution and final ball and also seems to be making better decisions now in the final third.

Can he do it against the more physical premiership teams like Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd, Blackburn and Bolton?

Also do you see his goalscoring tally increasing this season? He has the abiltiy to maybe become a ten a season man in the EPL IMO - certainly seems very composed in the box...

He will be a star.

Just needs to beef up; could be the complete player.

Crouching Tiger wrote:I think he is going to be great.

Him, Rosicy, and Hleb are going to be great together, and he definately has the potential to be the best midfielder in the prem.

Chelsea, Man u, Blackburn and Bolton will be no problem for him. Liverpool on the other hand...

I hope so.

He should also benefit from playing on the bigger pitch at our new stadium, more space to create his magic.

I agree though - his vision is unbeleivable for a 19 year old - the best i've seen in my lifetime.

and what's so much greater about facing Liverpool than any of the 3 others you mentioned crouching?

I think cesc and sissoko will have made themselves 2 of the consistenly best young midfielders in europe by the end of the season

with regards to cesc when arsenal are playing well he will do well against any team... not sure about his ability to inspire if arsenal have their backs against the wall but at 19 he is already awesome.. also not too sure he will ever be a free scoring midfielder but he will get his fair share.

I really think Cesc will come on leaps and bounds this season. He came through last season (second season syndrome) well. He had a good start but tailed of around Xmas, he put in some really consistent displays for the latter part of the season that really earned him a place in the Spanish WC squad. From that second season I believe he can add some real consistency to his game and he now has the saavy against the teams we play each season. (e.g Bolton, Everton)

The rate he is progressing he will possibly be in a World Class bracket by two years.

I said earlier in the week that he should be looking to get more goals this season. He had a good goal record at youth level, and at the U-17 World Championship he won the Golden Boot with five goals, he also got voted player of the Tournament. Wenger may give him more of a licence to get forward this season so who knows - Maybe 8+

COTR wrote:I think cesc and sissoko will have made themselves 2 of the consistenly best young midfielders in europe by the end of the season

with regards to cesc when arsenal are playing well he will do well against any team... not sure about his ability to inspire if arsenal have their backs against the wall but at 19 he is already awesome.. also not too sure he will ever be a free scoring midfielder but he will get his fair share.

or a 19 year old he has a lot of leadership IMO - at the World Cup he was bossing Puyol around!

@CT

Gilberto is a good player! His reading of the game is top class and he very rarely gives away dangerous free kicks.

What we need in midfield IMO is someone who isn't scared to get physical and put his foot in - this is what we're missing. We do need some signings if both Cole and Reyes leave but IMO Reyes probably isn't leaving

Crouching Tiger wrote:

Tweedledum wrote:@CT

Gilberto is a good player! His reading of the game is top class and he very rarely gives away dangerous free kicks.

What we need in midfield IMO is someone who isn't scared to get physical and put his foot in - this is what we're missing. We do need some signings if both Cole and Reyes leave but IMO Reyes probably isn't leaving

A la hargreaves

Probably not due to price.

Its a shame we didn't get Yaya Touré really...

diaby may turn out to be the player they need CT. if he isnt and gilberto is injured they may struggle

It is a real shame that we will miss Diaby for a good part of the season he would be pushing for a place in that midfield.

Even if he was'nt selected it would push Gilberto Silva on further and make him perform week in and week out. I believe some of his inconsistant performances last season were down to a lack of competition. He felt to comfortable in that side.

I think Reyes is leaving too.

I think we will not see the best of fab unless he is played in a 3 man's midfield with a less defensive work to do. He is the best finisher at the club after henry and rvp at the moment, his vision is next to none and he is also a very good dribbler though he chooses to play it simple for most of the times.We won't see the best of him unless all these attributes are best utilised ie should be played in a more attacking role

If Reyes AND Cole leave my perfect signings would be Chivu and N,Zogbia.

I am worried that if Gilberto gets injured we may be in trouble but Djourou, Lauren and Flamini can play the DM role so it might not be so bad

Crouching Tiger wrote:

Tweedledum wrote:

Crouching Tiger wrote:I think he is going to be great.

Him, Rosicy, and Hleb are going to be great together, and he definately has the potential to be the best midfielder in the prem.

Chelsea, Man u, Blackburn and Bolton will be no problem for him. Liverpool on the other hand...

I hope so.

He should also benefit from playing on the bigger pitch at our new stadium, more space to create his magic.

I agree though - his vision is unbeleivable for a 19 year old - the best i've seen in my lifetime.

I think it also depends on the extra signings you make with the Reyes and Cole money...If he has a supurb DM behind him, ie not Gilberto, he will be able to unleash his potential, but if wenger doesnt sign a good DM or two, he has to do a lot more work.

Imagine:

-------------------DM-------------------DM-----------------

----------Hleb---------------Fabregas-----------Rosicy---

----------------------------Henry---------------------------

I think He would make a supurb second striker/ AM

yep exactly what i meant

Agooner wrote:I think we will not see the best of fab unless he is played in a 3 man's midfield with a less defensive work to do. He is the best finisher at the club after henry and rvp at the moment, his vision is next to none and he is also a very good dribbler though he chooses to play it simple for most of the times.We won't see the best of him unless all these attributes are best utilised ie should be played in a more attacking role

But Cesc is also very good at ball retention - if we play 4-5-1 I don't think Cesc would be the attacking midfielder, I think it would be Rosicky because he has greater pace and not as good ball retention

I don't think we'll go for Ribery, I'd like us to get the Zog

Tweedledum wrote:

Agooner wrote:I think we will not see the best of fab unless he is played in a 3 man's midfield with a less defensive work to do. He is the best finisher at the club after henry and rvp at the moment, his vision is next to none and he is also a very good dribbler though he chooses to play it simple for most of the times.We won't see the best of him unless all these attributes are best utilised ie should be played in a more attacking role

But Cesc is also very good at ball retention - if we play 4-5-1 I don't think Cesc would be the attacking midfielder, I think it would be Rosicky because he has greater pace and not as good ball retention

Yes he is very good at ball retention but that is also a good quality for an attcking midfielder to have, so it shouldn't be use as reason not to play him a bit forward. U are right though about rosicky ,given the personel we have i think he would be the attacking midfielder in a 4-5-1 system

Crouching Tiger wrote:

Tweedledum wrote:

Agooner wrote:I think we will not see the best of fab unless he is played in a 3 man's midfield with a less defensive work to do. He is the best finisher at the club after henry and rvp at the moment, his vision is next to none and he is also a very good dribbler though he chooses to play it simple for most of the times.We won't see the best of him unless all these attributes are best utilised ie should be played in a more attacking role

But Cesc is also very good at ball retention - if we play 4-5-1 I don't think Cesc would be the attacking midfielder, I think it would be Rosicky because he has greater pace and not as good ball retention

Ok then, if you were to get Ribery:

---------------------Fabregas------------Gilberto--------------------

-----Ribery---------------------Rosicky--------------------Hleb-----

Ribery is shit IMO, loses the ball a lot, and does a lot of mindless running.

yes he loses the ball quite often but that is true for all football with a little bit of "risk" element in thir game, see ronaldo, deco etc

@ agooner

Yeh, i'm just saying that its useful to have Cesc a bit deeper because he'd see far more of the ball - which is a good thing

Crouching Tiger wrote:

Agooner wrote:

Crouching Tiger wrote:

Tweedledum wrote:

Agooner wrote:I think we will not see the best of fab unless he is played in a 3 man's midfield with a less defensive work to do. He is the best finisher at the club after henry and rvp at the moment, his vision is next to none and he is also a very good dribbler though he chooses to play it simple for most of the times.We won't see the best of him unless all these attributes are best utilised ie should be played in a more attacking role

But Cesc is also very good at ball retention - if we play 4-5-1 I don't think Cesc would be the attacking midfielder, I think it would be Rosicky because he has greater pace and not as good ball retention

Ok then, if you were to get Ribery:

---------------------Fabregas------------Gilberto--------------------

-----Ribery---------------------Rosicky--------------------Hleb-----

Ribery is shit IMO, loses the ball a lot, and does a lot of mindless running.

yes he loses the ball quite often but that is true for all football with a little bit of "risk" element in thir game, see ronaldo, deco etc

I don't think he's as 'crisp' or graceful as the other attackers. I don't think he'd fit.

OK that's your opinion on him

Tweedledum wrote:@ agooner

Yeh, i'm just saying that its useful to have Cesc a bit deeper because he'd see far more of the ball - which is a good thing

yeah u are right, i was also just saying he would have been far more useful a bit forward had we got someone deeper as good as him at retaining possession

He's great in Europe and against the smaller teams but completely non-existant against United Cheslea Liverpool. But that is to be expected of a 19 year old. He needs someone next to him that is more imposing then Gilberto and looks to work best in a 4-5-1

Agooner wrote:

Tweedledum wrote:@ agooner

Yeh, i'm just saying that its useful to have Cesc a bit deeper because he'd see far more of the ball - which is a good thing

yeah u are right, i was also just saying he would have been far more useful a bit forward had we got someone deeper as good as him at retaining possession

*cough*Fran Merida maybe?*cough*

yeah let's hope so,it would be good to add to the spanish spine in our team

Tweed , are u following the debate between pierre and me about the world player of the year award? it seems he has given up because he hasn't replied to my last post yet

Agooner wrote:yeah let's hope so,it would be good to add to the spanish spine in our team

Tweed , are u following the debate between pierre and me about the world player of the year award? it seems he has given up because he hasn't replied to my last post yet

I was going to reply but Pierre NEVR gives up - you've been warned - hes another poster that has good opinions generally but seems to seriously underrate Henry

I tend to think the reason he looks so good in the 4-5-1 is largely down to Gilberto. Gilberto is a specialist - and he's at his best when sitting back, and the 4-4-2 demands a certain flexibility. I think Cesc could work just as well in a 4-4-2 if he had a different partner.

@ chap

I said something similar to this in the Arsenal thread - he isn't very dynamic and doesn't offer much attackwise - compare this to other DMs in a 4-4-2 such as Parker and Carrick and the difference is more noticable - defensively very solid but harldy likely to offer much in the final third

cesc does have a dark side. he was sent off against everton and kicked outy at ballack. this is good in my opinion. he can actually get stuck into a challenge unlike the likes of pires. he will be key this year, there is no doubt.

cesc is pure class, i have liked him for awhile, i think that he would like to play in spain maybe when he is 25-26 so im hoping he wont stay his whole career at arsenal. As he will be one of the best midfielders around.

l r d wrote:cesc is pure class, i have liked him for awhile, i think that he would like to play in spain maybe when he is 25-26 so im hoping he wont stay his whole career at arsenal. As he will be one of the best midfielders around.

Hopefully we get to see the best of him whilst hes here though - an amazing player to watch and it'll be sad when he goes back to Spain