Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas

[Visca El Barca]

Cesc om Tito. Ja Tito is the man!.

Cesc: "Tito is a very important person for me. He was my coach at the academy and if I'm here it's because he recomended me to Guardiola."

[Visca El Barca]

with Arsenal] I was the idol, the captain, I play every game, even when you don't win anything in 7 years, the fans keep singing.

I wanted them to say, 'Bullshit.' If I play badly I want them to whistle and boo me. No one wants to be booed but I wanted that pressure.

At times at Arsenal there's a feeling of: "If we win great; if not, well, we're very young, we're this, we're that, no pasa nada."

With Spain after 8yrs of rarely playing: I wanted to take the step and prove that me, Xavi, Iniesta can play together. That I'm good enough.

Cesc har den laengeste traad her, og han har ogsaa den laengeste traad paa Barcaforum.com, han er en mand som virkelig kan faa sat gang i diskussionen. Jeg maa indroemme, at jeg er overrasket over, hvor meget han bliver kritiseret inde paa Barcaforum.com. Nu har jeg ikke laest alle de ca. 1200 sider! der er om ham derinde, men de sidste 10-20 sider som jeg har laest, har han faaet meget kritik, trods hans gode stats. Det overrasker mig lidt, mit indtryk er, at naesten alle herinde er vilde med ham, men saadan er det ikke paa andre Barca fora.

De kritiserer ham isaer for hans korteafleveringer, og hans evner eller manglen paa samme til at orientere sig, ligesom hans pasningsspil ogsaa bliver kritiseret en hel del.

Hvad synes folk herinde om hans koeb indtil videre? Hvor vigtig spiller er hans rolle for holdet og paa holdet allerede nu? Er han allerede en af de baerende spillere? Kan han undvaeres?

[Visca El Barca]

Lidt bonus info;

Cecs har scoret ligesaa mange maal som Benzema ( Man siger tit herinde, at Real er farligere end os, fordi de har flere maalscorer), han har flere assists end Benzema, han har kun scoret et maal mindre end Falcao ( en topangriber) og 2 flere end Llorente!.

[Visca El Barca]

Learning the matrix

I appreciated the dignity and patience of Osasuna's Damia Abella Perez on Saturday night at Camp Nou when he stopped to chat with me after his team's horribly embarrassing 8-0 defeat. Let's face it, the Osasuna defender would have been forgiven if he never wanted to talk about Barca ever again. I wanted to get his view on the partnership between Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi, one or the other of whom has now scored or "made" 25 of Barcelona's 26 goals this season.

Messi has scored nine times and given seven goal assists, while his new teammate has hit the net four times plus making three more.

It's a surprise to me that some are surprised at this blossoming partnership.

Messi, Fabregas and Gerard Pique had nearly three seasons together in the Barcelona junior ranks, learned the football Braille that is taught at Barca's La Masia academy (they could read each other's play with their eyes closed), and are firm friends. Damia is a little older, but partly learned his trade in the same FC Barcelona school of excellence and confirmed my suspicion.

"It's far easier to be a world-class player because of your talent than to be a world-class player and also perform in the way this Barca side do" he told me. "The concept of football which they rely on is very, very difficult to learn and when it clicks, it's almost impossible to play against. Almost everything you are taught at La Masia is about gaining superiority of numbers -- finding two-on-one or, more likely, three-on-two situations in all areas of the pitch. Cesc's addition means that Barcelona are even better at doing that than they were."

“

I'd rather do without a striker or a defender in order to have an extra man, particularly like Cesc, in midfield.
” -- Pep Guardiola

In my time working in Spain, I've seen good footballers like Alexander Hleb, Dmytro Chigrinsky and Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrive and completely fail to "get" the Barcelona playing instructions. Not because they are inherently faulty, but because it's incredibly intricate, quick and hard to learn. Henrik Larsson took several months to master it, but did so because he possesses one hugely intelligent football brain. David Villa has been a success at Camp Nou, though he was incessantly caught offside last season because the timing of his movement is still set on a Valencia clock, not that of Barcelona.

Players like him and Larsson were used to being supplied with possession the instant their movement earned them a little bit of space -- it just doesn't happen that way at Barcelona.

Thus far, Fabregas has played in a couple of different midfield positions and also as the "false" center forward role. He has the capacity to burst into the box and score, timing his runs not only to beat the offside trap but also in the certain knowledge that Xavi, Andres Iniesta and particularly Messi will release a perfectly timed pass. What's more, Fabregas understands how to supply the aforementioned players when the roles are reversed.


Pep Guardiola heralded the "anarchy" that Fabregas is bringing to Barca's play (i.e., it's far harder for opposition marking schemes to nullify the Spanish champions). He also emphasized to me, postmatch, that the midfield area is the most important part of his team's creative brilliance. "I'd rather do without a striker or a defender in order to have an extra man, particularly like Cesc, in midfield," Guardiola said.

So now look back at the price Barcelona paid. Look back at their prolonged pursuit of the 24-year-old. Look at how often Fabregas has had to sit on the bench for Spain in recent years. The sheer joy in his game, his power and creativity, his combination play with those who are La Masia-trained make him, potentially, worth double what Barca actually paid for him. It's also a joy for Messi to have another teammate who is completely tuned in to his personal wavelength.

Football players are not that different from you or I. Going to work is a thousand times more satisfying when there are colleagues who are fun to team up with and who help you or the company achieve targets.

Last word on the subject from Guardiola: "I don't have a remote control to make the players move -- Cesc still has to learn that sometimes there are demands which mean that he needs to remain static rather than create anarchy." Which is to say that in the Maestro's mind there is still a good deal more to come from his new star apprentice. Something that should make the rest of La Liga -- indeed, all of Europe -- pretty nervous.

Taget fra en artikel skrevet af Graham Hunter.

[Visca El Barca]

The evolution of Cesc Fabregas

By Michael Cox
Special to ESPN.com


Cesc FabregasDavid Ramos/Getty ImagesHe was originally envisioned as a deep-lying midfielder, but Cesc Fabregas has gradually moved up the pitch and even been used as a central forward at Barcelona.

In 2001, Cesc Fabregas was going through an unhappy period personally. Aged 13, he was a highly promising midfielder in the Barcelona youth system, but had been devastated by the news that his parents had started divorce proceedings. Like any youngster who is told that, future superstar or not, it was a huge blow.

Fabregas' youth team coach at the time, Rodolfo Borrell -- now doing a similar job at Liverpool -- called on Fabregas' hero to help cheer him up. He went to Pep Guardiola, then the Barcelona captain, and asked him to sign his No. 4 shirt for Fabregas. "Dear Francesc Fabregas," Guardiola's message read. "I'm waiting a couple of years to see you in the No. 4 shirt for Barcelona."


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It meant a lot to Fabregas. "Guardiola was a hero for me and someone I really looked up to," he said. "I learned from watching him and the way he passed the ball and calmly controlled the game from midfield." That No. 4 shirt was supposedly always reserved for Fabregas when he finally returned to the club. He had worn the number in Barcelona's youth teams, and inherited the shirt from Patrick Vieira at Arsenal.

But the number was not just a number. It was a role. The No. 4 at Barcelona meant doing what Guardiola used to do -- sitting in front of the defense, rarely breaking forward but always on hand to keep possession and start attacks. Yet Fabregas' role at Barcelona is completely different from that. Sergio Busquets does the Guardiola job, Xavi Hernandez does something similar higher up the pitch, Andres Iniesta links midfield and attack. Fabregas' role is often even further forward than that, used as part of a de facto front three, popping up in the box to finish moves.

During his playing days, Pep Guardiola was Barcelona's No. 4 -- a midfielder who sits in front of the defense, a role Fabregas once was expected to fill.

"When I started at Arsenal we were playing 4-4-2, I was one of those two in the middle so I could come very deep to get the ball," Fabregas recalled. He played alongside Gilberto Silva in the heart of midfield -- at that stage, Arsene Wenger always favored a "double pivot" in the center of the pitch, protecting the back four, and generally leaving two wide players to link up with the forwards.

But Fabregas' tactical development changed because of injury. He was out for much of the 2008-09 season, when Arsenal got used to playing with two more sturdy players in front of the back four -- Alex Song, Denilson or Abou Diaby. Simultaneously, Wenger moved to more of a 4-3-3 system, and when Fabregas returned, Wenger found that he was suited for the most attacking role of the three, playing much higher up the pitch.

It went even further -- a 4-3-3 evolved into a 4-2-3-1, which meant the wingers dropping back slightly, and Fabregas venturing even further forward. It suited him brilliantly: In 2009-10, he hit 15 league goals; his previous best had been seven.

At Barcelona, he's yet again been pushed higher up, often being used as a central forward. In the 3-2 win at Milan in the Champions League in November, for example, he was frequently the highest player up the pitch, taking it in turns with Lionel Messi to draw defenders out of position, before the other exploited the space. The relationship between those two has been sensational, explained nicely by Graham Hunter.

Guardiola has sometimes played two midfielders at the back, and is now trying to use another upfront. He is trying to create a team of midfielders. "Midfielders are intelligent players who have to think about the team as a whole," he said in an interview with FIFA.com this week. "They're selfless players who understand the game better than anyone, and the more midfielders you have, the easier it is to slot them into other positions. That's how they become versatile." And that's why Fabregas has often been used upfront.

But it hasn't been plain sailing, despite some impressive performances. Guardiola's comment about the "anarchy" that Fabregas brings to the side was a backhanded compliment -- he also pointed out that he needed to hold his runs more. Other Barca insiders pointed the finger at Fabregas when the team's form started to slip. He had become too "English" in his style of play, they believed, too eager to attack quickly. This urgency was contagious and made Barca's passing patterns too obvious; they lacked the calmness they've become renowned for. Like Zlatan Ibrahimovic before him, Fabregas was brought in to provide "something different," but ended up making the side play to his own strengths.

The weekend Clasico showed when and how Fabregas can be effective. For the first half-hour, he was very poor, seemingly unaware of his positioning. Real pressed Barca hard, denying them space, and Fabregas was too keen to play forward passes, giving the ball away. It was Busquets and Xavi who steadied Barcelona with their calmness. They kept the ball; they didn't panic. Eventually, Barcelona created chances.

But the second half was perfect for Fabregas. Barcelona took the lead early on, and Real had to come after them. Jose Mourinho's side pushed up high, but no longer had the legs to close down in midfield. Fabregas' direct running in behind the defense became a key factor, most obviously when he put the finishing touch upon the game's decisive goal, a thumping diving header after a slick break. It was the third header he's scored at Barcelona in 12 games. At Arsenal, he scored just one header in 212 games. It underlines how much more of a penalty-box player he's become, and he's hit eight La Liga goals overall. Guardiola never got more than two in a season.

Fabregas has had different roles throughout his career: deep in a 4-4-2, higher up in a 4-3-3, pushed further forward in a 4-2-3-1, and now used primarily upfront. As it turns out, role number four is the least suited to shirt No. 4 -- but Guardiola's wait wasn't in vain.

[Visca El Barca]

Cesc er den seneste Barca spiller, som roser Pep og kommer ind paa, hviklen speciel person og traener han er.

"My dream has been to be a Barca player since childhood, but now if you want to play here it is for Pep, because he knows how to get the best out of players,” Fabregas is quoted as saying by Marca.

"What I have learned here in these months is unbelievable."

"It would be very important for the club for him to stay for as many more years as possible," he argued. “The players perform well, but it is he who operates the machinery.”

Resten af artiklen kan laeses her; http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/20 ... to-stay-at

[Davud Villa]

Heeey:)

CESC FABREGAS er syyyyyg main, han er endnu en stjerne spiller på Barca:)
Han er en rigtig god spiller.

[FCBarcelonaChr]

[FCBarcelonaChr]

Julemanden & Cesc! Han har vel ønsket sig endnu flere trofæer?
Og så får Julemanden lige Cesc's autograf til gengæld. Godt bytte!

[puyol83]

Julemanden & Cesc! Han har vel ønsket sig endnu flere trofæer?

Naah, han har ønsket sig at Pep forlænger:
http://www.fcbarcelona.dk/component/con ... elseq.html

[FCBarcelonaChr]

Det har jeg godt set. Det ønsker jeg mig til min fødselsdag!

[puyol83]

Det har jeg godt set. Det ønsker jeg mig til min fødselsdag!

Så synes jeg hellere at du skal ønske dig at vi snupper en sejr over Real

Muligvis El Clásico på min fødselsdag! Fedt fedt fedt fedt!

[FCBarcelonaChr]

Det behøver jeg ikke at ønske mig, for det sker jo alligevel!

[puyol83]

Det kan der jo være noget om ...og hvis du ønsker dig at Pep forlænger er vi selvfølgelig også sikret på den lange bane

[FCBarcelonaChr]

Ja det er vi ihvertfald. Og jeg er 100 procent sikker på at Pep forlænger!