The Chronicles of Cesc Fabregas
James Watson might have suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and Francis Crick might have turned in his own grave after hearing Xavi talk about his “beloved” Cesc Fabregas – “He has Barcelona DNA”. Only four types (A, B, C, and Z) of DNA were known to mankind, until Xavi discovered the fifth – Barcelona! A player with such rare DNA has got to be special! Cesc Fabregas is Special – He is the captain of a fairly special club, wears quite a special number (4), flaunts a fairly special look and most importantly plays a fairly special brand of football!
On a normal day and weather permitting, Fabregas would lead out eleven ‘understandably’ talented men out on the best laid pitch in England, at the Emirates. He would be wearing the ceremonious yellow arm band with a “C” inscribed on it. He would spray some passes out to Walcott, assist Van Persie and help out Song at times with the defensive side of things. For an Arsenal fan, that would be a dream, especially if you are at the club for the past eight years and most certainly if it’s the club that has made you a Global Brand! Then again, Gooners are not born with “Barcelona DNA”, if they had been, then assisting David Villa would have been a more attractive proposition or even warming the Camp Nou bench would have been a dream come true.
Unless you have been living in Pluto for the past few years, you would know that the Arsenal Captain is headed for Spain. The Catalan giants will finally get there wish, sooner or later and for all the fiasco that is happening around this transfer, Arsenal fans would hope it is sooner rather than later.
Arsenal FC, established in 1886, has won the League 13 times, FA cup 10 times and League cup twice. Cesc Fabregas was in the team sheet for one of the trophies among these, the FA cup won in 2004-05. Arsenal FC has won without Fabregas, Arsenal FC has won with Fabregas and will continue winning with or without Fabregas. It is time to move on!
Is there a Replacement of Cesc in the Market?
‘Moving on’ is a great idea in most cases, but you should know ‘where’. How many midfielders can you name, who are capable of replacing Fabregas? If Barcelona finally decides to pay what Wenger is demanding for Fabregas, we will have another £40m added to our transfer budget. The Arsenal populace would love to agree that Xavi and Gerard Pique might have contributed to that transfer fee in their own special way.
Now we shouldn’t be skeptical of Wenger and start saying ‘He won’t spend the money’. If you had been Arsene Wenger whom would have you bought keeping in mind what role Fabregas had in the team and his age? From almost an “European Understanding”, in his position he is among the top 3 players in the world. His vision, his passing, his calmness and most importantly his creativity – is world class. We can consider only Wesley Sneijder and Xavi to be better than him, and looking at the age of both the players, Fabregas will be the best in the next 4 – 5 years. Sneijder is unlikely to leave Inter, even if he does, he will go to Manchester rather than London. Xavi is almost untouchable, being a “true” Catalan, he would “boss” the midfield for a few more years before he hangs his boots. So with all the money at Arsene’s disposal, he can’t possibly buy someone of the same standard as Fabregas – Fact!
Who will be the Next No.4?
The Answer – A Welshman who is 2 inches taller than Fabregas
We are not talkin’ Ryan Giggs here. Before closing your browser or calling the head of Women’s welfare association, you would like to know that Giggs is just 1 inch taller than Fabregas, so he doesn’t fit the bill. Co-incidentally, one Aaron Ramsey does!
When Ramsey signed for Arsenal from Cardiff City, he was already a sought out talent. In 2008, he rejected Manchester United and Everton to join Arsenal. That was the first thing that won over the Gunners faithful – rejecting Manchester United! After that, he had two eventful years at the Emirates. He made his debut in the Champion’s league in a match against FC Twente. He marked his debut in the league with two assists for Adebayor, scored his first goal against Fenerbahçe, and what a goal it was! It also made him the fifth youngest player to score in the Champion’s League history. Wenger has described him as “An offence-minded Roy Keane” and “an all-round player, with a fantastic ability to cover distances“.
Ramsey was having the best season of his career in 2009 – 10, scoring goals and assisting for fun. He was improving with every game, until Ryan Shawcross happened to him. He was horrifically injured due to a tackle from Shawcross in a match against Stoke City. He had a double fracture in his lower right leg; his tibia and fibula were broken! After this injury, there were even doubts whether he would be able to play competitive football again. Thankfully, he recovered, and that too in time! He returned to training after eight months at the sidelines. After completing initial training with Arsenal, he was loaned out to Nottingham Forest and later, Cardiff City.
Rambo’s Return to Arsenal
He returned to Arsenal in February last season in 2-0 loss to Manchester United in the FA cup. Ramsey made up for it though – He scored in a 1-0 win over United at the Emirates towards the end of the season. He was also declared the Man of the Match.
He has already become an Icon of Sort for the fans, partly due to the horrific Injury but mostly because of his performances. Still only 20 years of age, he has matured beyond his years! His passing, running, tackling and everything he does with the football seems to have the grace and finesse of a master at work.
People inside and outside Arsenal has criticized Arsene Wenger for his transfer policies. At times he seems to have unwarranted faith in youth. He keeps faith in players who are not up to the standards to play for Arsenal, but Ramsey is not one of them! He is a Gem in the making! One won’t be surprised if Arsene doesn’t buy a replacement when Fabregas leaves. There are many positions within the team which needs reinforcement, though the No.4 jersey will be in safe hands with Ramsey.
You can search the market, but you will find very few young players in that position more talented than Ramsey is! You might say, that Arsenal need experience, but as mentioned earlier, Ramsey has matured beyond his age. The Arsenal midfield is in safe hands with Ramsey and Wilshere in it. They form an exciting partnership. The way both performed in the 1-0 win over Manchester United last may, is a testimonial to that fact, and one should remember that – Fabregas was not in the team in that match.
Fabregas will not be in the Arsenal team in the future, but in Ramsey we have a player who is capable of replacing him. At this moment he is certainly not as experienced as Fabregas is. His game is surely not on the same level as Cesc, but as we saw earlier, ‘except two players’ no one falls in the same category as Fabregas. Among the rest, you won’t find better players than Ramsey of that age. He will surely go on to become one of the best midfielders in the next two years. So, it’s time to close this Fabregas saga, thank him for all the wonderful performances, moments to savor and move on! It’s also time to unleash our next No.4 – Aaron Ramsey and then just sit back and enjoy.
Article written by Guest Author – Amlan Majumdar (Follow him on Twitter)