Category: Cesc

Cesc Fabregas was brought back to Barcelona for around £ 35 million, which many believed was reasonable sum of money for one of the best midfielders in the world. However, many said that Barcelona did not need a player like Cesc Fabregas since they already had the likes of Andres Iniesta and Xavi in the midfield. Further, the emergence of Sergio Busquets has also made them extremely strong in this area. Despite this, Pep Guardiola went ahead and brought him to the Camp Nou. After being criticised for his performances initially, Fabregas has become a mainstay at Barcelona.

He has been so good for the club that they are believed to be looking at the possibility of letting Xavi leave in the summer. The 35-year-old has been linked with clubs from North America as he looks for one final payday. Fabregas, though, has rejected suggestions saying that he could be the Xavi by saying that the former Barcelona youth team player cannot be replaced. He says that there is no other option for the club but to change its style once Xavi leaves the club. Carlos Puyol has already announced that he will leave Barcelona at the end of the season and he is widely expected to retire.

The same fate could befall Xavi as well.

“I don’t see myself replacing Xavi. Xavi is unique. No matter how hard we look, Xavi is a one and only. Whoever replaces him [in the starting XI] will have to be very strong mentally and the team and the fans will have to get used to playing differently. The day Xavi is not in Barcelona, we will see a different team. I don’t know if it’ll be better or worse but it’ll be different for sure,” said Fabregas. Barcelona have already been looking to alter their style of play this season.

Fabregas spent 7 seasons playing in Arsenal as he started his Arsenal career in 2003 and concluded in 2010 and even though many fans agree with his decision of joining Barcelona, there are others that even consider the Spanish midfielder to be a traitor as he left Arsenal on a time that the Premier League club needed to win trophies and needed all the support they could get.

 

“I know some people felt bad when I left and they didn’t understand my reasons, they considered I left in bad manners. The people, who need to know the reasons, know them. The most important figure was Arsene Wenger and I have to be grateful all my life to him.” Fabregas said.

 

“This team has been the best for a very long time and when you play with the best, they want you to be one of them. For that, you need consistency and I feel I have that now, and I’m probably going through my best spell here’’. Fabregas added.

Fabregas has been featured in over 80 matches for Barcelona and his time playing alongside the Brazilian Neymar has reminded him of Johan Cruyff as the former Arsenal player compared Neymar to the Dutch legend.

“He reminds me of Cruyff. I never got to see him play live, but Cruyff had an incredible change of rhythm, like Neymar. He starts fast, slows down suddenly, then starts again with a lot of speed. I also remember him having the same speed when driving forward.” Fabregas told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Neymar is a versatile player that can play either as an attacking midfielder, a forward or a winger and Barcelona signed him from Santos with a price tag of €57 million and he is already being compared to Cruyff, at least according to Fabregas.

The former Arsenal player participated in a Questions and Answers section with fans on Facebook as he went on talking about what he does apart from football and things he enjoys to do in his spare time. Alexis Sanchez also was a talking point for the Spanish midfielder.

“I think that Alexis will be a star for Barça and the world of football. He’s a good lad and a good friend,” says Cesc

“I like to be with my family and with my friends on my free time, especially with my daughter who always gives me special moments. I also like to go to restaurants and eat sushi,” said Fàbregas, who noted that he’s motivated “to be better each day.”

When asked about Alexis Sánchez, Cesc said that Chilean is a special player. “I think that Alexis has it all to be a great star at Barça and in the world of football. He’s a good lad and a good friend of mine,”

Fans also asked the midfielder about which would be the best moment of his career and if he has anyone in particular that he considers being his favorite one.

“The best moment of my career was probably when we won the Club World Cup and all the trophies I’ve won with Barça,” said Cesc, who added that the two penalties he scored in the Euro Cup against Italy and Portugal were the most important ones of his career, but his favorite was “the one against Milan, at the San Siro, when I was at Arsenal.

Fabregas continued by saying that he has learned from Tata Martino what truly is hard work and honest when asked about the Argentinian manager and Tito Vilanova said that “both are great managers and I learnt a lot from them. I want to send a big hug to Tito.”

Barcelona will be going into the champions league encounter against Celtic without star player Lionel Messi, who had to be substituted early on in the match against Almeria during the weekend. He has suffered a muscle injury, which troubled him during the early parts of his Barcelona career. Messi has been one of the – if not the best – player in the world over the last few years. He has won four FIFA Ballon d’Or awards in succession, which is a record. Undoubtedly, every team will miss the services of such a player.

Cesc Fabregas, though, have said that it is up to the other players in the team to rise up to the challenge and play well in the absence of Messi. Fabregas will know all about Celtic after having played against the Scottish club numerous times while at Barcelona and at his former club Arsenal. Barcelona also lost to Celtic at Celtic Park last season, which will be in the memories. A victory for Barcelona will put them on step closer towards qualification already after having secured a 4-0 win over Ajax in the first group match.

Milan are expected to be the main challengers in the group, but they are also in a poor run of form. It is now in the hands of Barcelona to run away with the group.

“Messi is the best player in the world, he makes a difference, but he won’t play (against Celtic). We can’t do anything about that. Without Messi, we will all have to take more responsibility. We have to step up, don’t feel his absence and play football without him. I might have more offensive responsibilities. I will try and help the team as a striker or whatever other position I play. Now I feel confident, in good shape and the manager trusts me,” said Fabregas.

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Barcelona recently brought striker Neymar from Santos for around £ 50 million. He is expected to occupy the left of the 4-3-3 formation. This would mean that he will face trouble when cutting in from the left to shoot on his right foot. The centre position is right now occupied by Lionel Messi, who is right now regarded as the best player in the world. However, Neymar is just 21 years old when compared with Messi, who is 26 years old. As a result, there have been several suggestions that it is now time for Barcelona to consider selling Messi, who is already their all-time top scorer.

Fabregas, who came from Arsenal in a £ 35 million deal, has said that it would be unthinkable to see a Barcelona team without Lionel Messi leading the line. The Argentine ace has managed to come a long way since making his debut as a teenager. He has won the FIFA Ballon d’Or award four times in succession, which has never been achieved before. He is close to beating several records held by stars like Pele and Maradona. Even though Neymar is an excellent player, Fabregas has said that Messi is absolutely vital to Barcelona and the club should not consider selling the 26-year-old, who has a £ 200 million release clause.

“It is unthinkable for Messi not to be part of this club. Leo is the most important player – he has no equal. Remove Messi and you may not lose everything, but you do run out of a large part of what makes this team tick. He has been chased by almost all of our rival teams in the world. It will definitely to be a good environment for him to learn a lot and he can help us to win and achieve our goals,” said Fabregas about Messi and Neymar.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has said that midfielder Cesc Fabregas enjoy more freedom when he was at Arsenal. Fabregas made the £ 35 million switch to the Camp Nou almost 2 years ago. He was primarily a midfielder at Arsenal, but he has played as a striker at Barcelona on numerous occasions. He has also been regarded as a false number nine by the Barcelona managers. It has been effective on some occasions, but there have also been times when the experiment has failed. When he was at Arsenal, Fabregas dominated the midfield by creating and scoring goals.

Pique believes that Fabregas is at his best when he is playing in the midfield Premier league team because it allows more freedom for the players. He has been restricted on several occasions due to the passing style of football adopted by Barcelona. The 25-year-old midfielder scored a hat-trick against Mallorca during the weekend, which helped him take his total tally for the season to 12 goals. This remains some way off the 19 goals be achieved when he was an Arsenal player back in the 2009-10 season.

It is even more impressive considering that he played in the midfield for Arsenal during that season. Fabregas is expected to be dropped for the Champions League semi-final match against Bayern Munich.

“In England you have more time on the ball; midfielders, especially those who move between the lines, have more space. There is more freedom to move around, and it is enjoyable as a midfielder. But I can see how going back to a positional game can be difficult if you have had the freedom to play according to your intuition instead of a collective order. I can see how Cesc would like to have more freedom as he used to have at Arsenal,” said Pique.

The Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has surprisingly praised the Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil. The German midfielder is regarded as one of the best in the Spanish league at the moment. Despite Real Madrid struggling this season, Ozil have been one of the best players in the league. He has been able to hold first-team spot despite challenge from the summer signing Luka Modric. Ozil has made 21 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid this season. He has scored four goals in these matches. Even though Fabregas has made less appearances than Ozil, the former Arsenal man has been able to score more goals for Barcelona due to his higher position up the field.

Fabregas has said that he is an admirer of Ozil and he would one day like to play alongside the German midfielder. He has said that one of the reasons for this admiration is the fact that Ozil place in a similar manner to what he used to do at Arsenal. Fabregas had a free role during his final few years at Arsenal. He was extremely effective in this role at not only creating chances, but also scoring goals as well. He is trying to find a similar role at Barcelona under the management of Tito Vilanova.

“I admire him (Ozil) a lot. I can relate to him because he plays in that roaming attacking midfield role that I played in at Arsenal and I think we would play well together. I can relate to him, we’re very similar,” said the Barcelona midfielder about the Real Madrid midfielder Ozil. However, there have been very few transfers between the two clubs in the history. This coupled with the fact that Fabregas has made his desire of staying at Barcelona forever makes it difficult to see them united in one team.

The Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has revealed that he is extremely impressed by the class of Barcelona in recent weeks. The club have been an excellent run of form in the first half of the season, but they have been even better since the winter break. As a result, they proudly sit top of the la Liga table 18 points ahead of their arch rivals Real Madrid, while they are yet to lose a match in the domestic league. After starting the season on the bench, Fabregas has found lot of first-team opportunities in recent weeks and he has played a starring role for the team.

Fabregas has said that usually a winter break works against the team because it spoils the rhythm of the team, but he is extremely happy to know that

Barcelona has secured its 13^th victory in the ongoing La Liga by defeating Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona thrashed Bilbao by a huge margin of 5-1. This is the best ever start for Barcelona in La Liga. The previous best was in 1991-92 season when Barcelona had won 12 out of its first 14 matches.

Lionel Messi was again the main contributor in Barcelona’s victory. The Argentinean scored a brace which was his 11^th brace in the season. He is now only two goals away from breaking Gerd Muller’s world record of scoring the maximum number of goals in a calendar year. Muller had scored 85 goals in 1972 and Messi has already scored 84 goals this year.

Messi has scored 28 goals in the ongoing season so far out of which 21 have been scored in La Liga. He is currently the leading goal scorer in the ongoing La Liga.

Apart from Messi, the other three goal scorers for Barcelona in the match against Bilbao were Adriano, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas. Now, Barcelona is 11 points ahead of its arch rivals and defending champions Real Madrid.

In the post match press conference, Tito Vilanova said, “I am proud of my team. It was an amazing performance. We just demolished them. The attitude of the team was fantastic. Even after getting ahead by 5-1, the boys didn’t relax and were trying to score another goal till the very last minute which was really heartening to see.”

Fabregas also looked delighted after this victory. The Spaniard said, “It was a great day for us. Each and every player of the team gave his best and that’s why we won by such a big margin.”

Barcelona will play its next match against Benfica on Wednesday.