Why the Gunners are destined for a Fabulous future

Why the Gunners are destined for a Fabulous future

By Adam Clark

It seems fitting that in the week Arsenal have lost their talisman, we are celebrating the merits of the heir apparent.

Thierry Henry’s move from the Gunners to Barcelona may be the most high-profile transfer of the summer so far but it’s the previous piece of business between the two clubs which may prove to be more significant to the future of Arsenal. Namely Cesc Fabregas’s move in the opposite direction.

Arsenal are losing Henry at a time when they have already enjoyed many of the best years of his career. But for 20-year-old Fabregas, who swapped the Catalan club’s youth system for Arsène Wenger’s in July 2003, the path ahead remains long.

Despite his youth Fabregas has become such a vital feature of the Arsenal side that the Spaniard scooped over 60 per cent of the votes cast in our official Player of the Season poll.

Only Jens Lehmann saw more minutes of Premiership action last season as Cesc was left to run the show during the prolonged absences of Henry, Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky.

In that time he attempted a staggering 414 passes, finding his intended target 56 per cent of the time. Brazilian midfielder Gilberto, Arsenal’s second most productive distributor, made 96 passes fewer than the Spaniard.

One area in which Cesc himself has admitted he needs to contribute more is in front of goal. The diminutive midfielder began the season with a brace in a Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Zagreb but added to that tally only twice more. His lack of goals was not for the want of trying however. The youngster racked up 92 attempts on goal in the Premiership and hit the target 49 per cent of the time. In addition he saw 17 goal-bound shots blocked and three strike the woodwork.

While Fabregas may not have been finding the net regularly himself, he was resplendent in midfield - and others reaped the rewards. The Spanish international was comfortably Arsenal’s top assist maker, playing the final pass for 13 of their 63 Premiership goals. To put that contribution in to perspective, his midfield colleagues Alexander Hleb, Freddie Ljungberg, Gilberto and Rosicky made eight assists between them.

And yet the statistics suggest there are many more layers to Fabregas’ game. Defensively he excelled, winning 44 of the 72 challenges he made. A return of 26 clearances, 13 interceptions and three blocks makes for further impressive reading. In terms of dribbling he produced an end product on 26 of the 39 occasions he surged forward. Then there are the 65 crosses he attempted - 42 more than any other midfielder.

The above haul of statistics would be an impressive return for a seasoned international, and yet Cesc has only 153 club appearances and eight Spanish caps to his name. In a side lacking neither prodigious young talent nor experienced stars it was Fabregas who shone brightest.