Talisman Fabregas is back

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: A player with Arsenal running through his veins makes a welcome return, reports David Hynter

THE PRE-MATCH talk in the Arsenal camp, as they prepared for tomorrow’s trip to Bolton Wanderers, was dominated, inevitably, by the returning talisman. It is quite a story. A player with Arsenal running through his veins is keenly missed during his absence but, as the club enters a critical phase of its title challenge, he steps back in, amid a raft of sensational headlines, to galvanise the collective effort. Move over Sol Campbell, who has agreed a short-term contract at the club but who will not feature in the Premier League game against Bolton. Arsenal are delighted to welcome back Cesc Fabregas.

It has been quite a season already for the club captain. An early contender for the player of the year awards, the Spain midfielder has repeatedly, in a manner not dissimilar to Steven Gerrard over time at Liverpool or Frank Lampard at Chelsea, seized matches by the scruff of the neck and, by the sheer force of his personality and ability, forced them to turn.

His last appearance was an eye-catching case in point. On as a 57th-minute substitute against Aston Villa on December 27th, as he felt his way back from a hamstring problem and, with the game drifting at 0-0, he scored almost immediately from a long-range free-kick. He added a crucial second, his 12th goal of the season, in the 81st minute before he succumbed to pain after a recurrence of the injury and limped off.

The ovation he received from the home crowd was tumultuous. All that was missing was the Superman cape around his neck.

Fabregas, who has declared himself fit for Bolton after recovering from the injury again, is not known as a goalscoring midfielder. Although he managed 13 in 2007-’08, his previous season’s best was five. Too often, when in promising positions, he panicked, went for power and missed the target. No more. As he considers the magical haul of 20, he has come to ooze with composure.

Arsene Wenger, the manager, has always claimed that there are goals in Fabregas’s game. What we are seeing this season, he argued, was the player evolving to a new level.

“I believe he is more mature,” Wenger said, “and he has gained a fraction of physical power. He’s 22 and that’s when you really become a man.

“Cesc hasn’t worked especially on his finishing. I believe it’s just his calm in front of goal. He always had chances and, in some games, he missed three or four because he always wanted to finish with power. Now, he finishes with calm. He places the ball and suddenly he scores goals.”

Fabregas might always have had chances in front of goal but there is little doubt that Wenger’s formation this season, with Alex Song as a holding midfielder and two wingers supporting a lone striker, has enabled him to break forward more. He has been invited into the space behind the striker and his timing has improved steadily.

“Song deserves some of the credit for Fabregas’s form and goals,” said Frank McLintock, Arsenal’s 1970-’71 double-winning captain. “Song is the most improved player in the Premier League this season and he has given Fabregas more freedom to receive the ball further up the field, where he can use his quick body movement to carve out space to shoot.

“I often thought because Fabregas was such a good passer, that his shooting would be equally good and now he has the confidence and freedom given by Song, you’re seeing him do it more and more. He has been the heartbeat of the team for the past few seasons, the one that the others look to. His maturity, skill and stature allows him to seize control of a game.”

As a 14-year-old in the Barcelona youth team, Fabregas looked up to Gerrard, who had already made his mark at Liverpool. “When you are young, you have your idols,” Fabregas said. “I had a mobile phone on which you could have a picture with a name underneath and I put Gerrard’s picture and his name on it. I was telling all my friends: ‘This guy is unbelievable’. ”

Wenger insisted that Fabregas was a different player to Gerrard, that the pair could not be compared but, with the Liverpool captain seemingly at the peak of his powers, the manager said that Fabregas still had plenty of room to grow. He is relieved to have his captain back; he will be missing Song, Denilson, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere from his midfield at the Reebok Stadium.

“Cesc is a player who is an exceptional talent but part of the exceptional talent is that he is never happy with what he is delivering,” Wenger said.

“There is a lot more to come from him because these players always get better.”

Guardian Service