The Joy of Captain Cesc

This post is very (very) long so I’ll give a quick rundown of what is under the cut! First up there’s a pre-match interview with Captain Cesc. Followed by some words of Wisdom from Mathieu Flamini and also Manuel Almunia plus more reaction to Cesc’s captaincy from, Michael Ballack and Guillem Balague. I’ve also caught up with a few quotes from Cesc from earlier in the week…and I have found out that Arsenal has at least one fan we could do without…

First things first though, let us all wish the team and their new captain good luck for the match against Chelsea. It will be Cesc’s 150th appearance, and debut as captain, in the Premier League. You can read the match preview at The BBC. Go Gunners!

Captaincy feels like being awarded a trophy

(Source) Cesc Fabregas is living the dream. At just 21, the midfielder is the new Arsenal captain and says: “It’s a great honour – like winning a trophy.”

“If you look at the list of the people who have done it, it is frightening, but I never hold back in football and I have taken it as a personal challenge.”

“If I have to talk with Henry to ask for advice I will. He did a great job and I hope I can be at that level when they look back at the job I have done.

“To be captain of Arsenal is not in the reach of any player.

“But I am not going to change my character on the pitch.

“Ever since I arrived I have identified with the spirit of the club and that is why the captaincy feels more than a responsibility, like being awarded a trophy.

“My team-mates have congratulated me and I have the support of everyone. It is the key to try to do things better on the pitch. Arsenal never give up and now we have qualified for the next round of the Champions League we have to get back on the right path at Stamford Bridge to shut a lot of mouths up.

“To make my debut as Arsenal captain in the Premier League against Chelsea will be special. I will always remember it.

“Our bad run is going to come to an end against Chelsea. A lot of people say we are finished in the title race but the league is very equal and there are a lot of games to come. If we win at Stamford Bridge, then things change.

“People make Chelsea favourites but they should not be complacent over our bad run and they should know we are going to fight until the end for the three points.”

Flamini backs clever Cesc

Mathieu Flamini is convinced his former team-mate is the man to lead Arsenal back to glory.

Flamini says: “Arsenal have a lot of quality but are going through a difficult period at the moment, but I think Cesc can sort that out. He is an amazing player and a one-off. The most important thing is for him to keep performing on the pitch.

“I think he can lead the team for many years. He has always been clever and can make a great leader.”

He said Fabregas had dreamed of captaining Arsene Wenger’s side since he joined five years ago from Barcelona, where he led the youth side.

“It was important for him to become the captain of Arsenal and I think he’ll do a great job, I think he can lead Arsenal to glory – every player at the club respects him.

“It is very important for Arsenal to have him in the team and I think it was a good decision to make him captain.”

Manny supports Captain Fabregas

Manuel Almunia spoke with the media ahead of Arsenal’s match against Chelsea and said, on the change in captaincy, “It’s the boss’s decision. We will have a good relationship with Cesc, we had a good relationship with Gallas. Gallas has been a great captain, and I’m confident that William is going to help Cesc. Now is the moment of Cesc and he is going to take the chances, he is going to respond

“Against Kiev, Cesc was the same as normal [as captain]. Maybe I saw in his face some more responsibility, more taken on his shoulders, but he’s mature enough to cope with this. He has the spirit, he has the ability, all the capacity to be a great captain for Arsenal. All he needs is to be a bit lucky and for the team to follow him in a good way. We will try to follow him as we tried to follow William Gallas in the past.

“It is true that Cesc is one of the symbols of the team, but a captain is nothing without other team-mates. Cesc is still young and it’s a big responsibility, but me and the other team-mates are going to help Cesc and we’re going to lead Arsenal.”

Almunia also made some insightful comments regarding the recent turmoil at Arsenal, saying “It’s been the two worst weeks in my career at Arsenal. The last two weeks have been a nightmare for us. We needed to win but we couldn’t get the right performance and we didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t find the right way to play, we couldn’t play as Arsenal know to do.

“The situation didn’t change yet. I think the situation will change when we react in the Premier League.”

“It is true many problems disturbed the peace of the team. I hope now we have the calm back in this team and we only have to speak about football.

Ballack and Balague on Cesc

Chelsea’s Michael Ballack’s said in The Times “As a footballer, what he [Cesc Fabregas] can do goes without saying. He’s been involved in the first-team at Arsenal for three or four years, which gives him a lot of experience for his age. He won the European championship last summer with Spain, so he should be carrying that confidence.

“You watch Arsenal play and you see he’s the one who’s controlling things. I’d call him their playmaker, even if he’s not a No 10. On the pitch he has a very big influence. You see that he’s accepted by the other players. If he wants the ball he gets it from them. Cesc has reached a level above the other young players, so there are a lot of boys of 19 or 20 who will look up to him.”

Ballack believes Fabregas still has lessons to learn. “To be captain now is an important stage in his development, even if it has come out of a situation that nobody expected. I think from his standing as a player he can handle this job.

“But it can be hard for a young player because you don’t have the experience, and sometimes you can really miss that. You can have everything else but you need experience as a captain. Still, it is a decision made by Arsène Wenger, who knows what he’s doing. Cesc is appreciated and respected by Arsenal, by the fans, by the media and across this league. But normally at Cesc’s age, you are not the captain.”

Spanish football pundit Guillem Balague said in his blog, “In recent seasons, Cesc Fabregas always seemed to have at least 5 options for the pass in front of him, but now that players are not so hungry for the ball, opportunities are diminished and too many players are looking to Cesc for him to come up with the solution on his own. He is the leader out on the pitch, but in spite of him saying after the [Kiev] match at the Emirates on Tuesday that he is totally relaxed about his role [as captain], his body language says otherwise and he looks a little daunted by the task.”

Also here is an expanded quote from Arsene Wenger on the issue of Cesc being a young captain, “For me there is no such thing as a born leader, I believe leadership is something you learn and grow into when you are given responsibility.

“I have never met someone who was a born leader – but I believe Cesc can develop it. He knows about the job, he understands the problems within a team, and he will quickly adapt to the role.”

“As for his age I do not think being a captain is necessarily linked with that. Tony Adams was 21 when he became Arsenal captain and don’t forget Cesc has already played more than 200 games for us.”

Cesc hails Gallas and Almunia

Here are a couple of quotes from an interview Cesc gave to Setanta after Arsenal won the match against Dynmao Kiev on Tuesday. We missed them at the time sorry.

“It was difficult [the match] but you could see that every time he [Gallas] touched the ball it was cheering him up and he was fantastic. He is a big professional and nobody doubts his commitment and he has shown that tonight again.”

On the game, which could have gone against his side had Kiev had a little more luck, Fabregas added: “The most important thing was the result. It was a difficult game because every team who comes here comes to defend and try to play on the counter attack. But we were patient and continued to play our football and in the end we scored the goal that we deserved.”

Fabregas also hailed goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, who did very well to deny Artem Milevski just before Bendtner’s goal. “Almunia has kept up in games four or five times now. He is growing in every game and is vital for us. Everyone respects him in the dressing room and he is gaining confidence so he is fantastic for us.”

Other bits and pieces

Just a reminder, that if you haven’t already, you can send questions into Skysports “Ask Fabregas” and you never know you might just get the answer to something you’ve always wanted to know! Submit your question here.

The Times published a list of the 50 worst football fans today and according to them Osama Bin Laden is an Arsenal fan I really did not need to know that. Here’s the whole list if you need to check if you’re on it

Related posts:

1. This is your captain speaking
2. More Captain Cesc interviews
3. The Joy of Cesc
4. Cesc talks about being Captain and the premier league
5. Captain Fabulous!