the importance of being fabregas

the game : Arsenal v Aston Villa , Date : 27/12/2009 . He came , he saw, he conquered and he got crocked . Cesc Fabregas is becoming a fleeting pleasure in every Arsenal fan's life these days. Its an understatement to say that he came and changed the landscape of an otherwise toothless Arsenal attack . .Arsenal started with a midfield of Song,Denilson and Diaby. We know what Song does . Denilson hardly looked as if he wanted to be on the pitch. His passing range hardly exceeds 5 feet. I can hardly believe this guy captained Brazil in every level till Under 20s. Well ,but Diaby is surely becoming a top class performer this season. He has shown exemplary leadership and willingness to take games into his own hands and settle them. He has produced masterclasses this season against AZ Alkmaar at home in the Champions League and he was sublime last weekend against Hull City. However ,Villa are not Hull and offer more in every third off the pitch. However , he was the best player on the pitch in the first half , breaking up tackles, helping out Song, passing confidently and making up for Denilson's inadequacies. But , Arsenal with Arshavin and Eduardo (Dunne and Cuellar must have had laughing fits when they saw the teamsheets) which meant a lack of height and a distinct lack of pace and confidence(read Eduardo) , Arsenal dint offer much going forward. The scene demanded the introduction of an albeit not fully fit Fabregas. .As soon as he came on , the crowd lifted and Arsenal seemed to step up the intensity and their game an extra level or two. He seamlessly threaded balls, made darting runs and as usual everything seemed to go through him. His quick feet forced Dunne into an error (his first of the match ), which ultimately proved costly. Fabregas stepped up confidently and produced a sublime freekick which left the American goalie Friedel all hands up . Sometimes, you just need to stand up and admire the class this puny 21 year old oozes . Arsenal shifted gears then and went on hunt for the second ,which will put the match beyond Villa. Arsenal have in the past , allowed late goals in and with Villa scoring in the last 15 Premier League games, you sensed there was a lot of anxiety. .However, the 2nd goal did arrive. Milner who has been Villa' s Player of the Season so far ,somehow passed straight to an impressive Armand Traore at leftback. The Frenchman produced a beautiful crossfield diagonal to the "Roadrunner" Walcott. A rather hamstrung Fabregas had to match Walcott for pace ,and then nose ahead of Stephen Warnock to cooly slot in Arsenal's 2nd past Freidel. An impressive run and a finish to match it , but he had worked up his already aggravated hamstring. He was soon limping around and had to be taken off . Well, this was some gamechanging performance. .However, Arsenal weren finished . Diaby rounded off his brilliant evening by running through the Villa defence for fun and produced a classy side-footed finish past Friedel ,which would have made Bergkamp proud. As the dust settled on the evening, Arsenal had hauled themselves back into the title race ( 4 points behind leaders Chelsea with a game in hand). However, injuries to Denilson and Fabregas had fans sweating. .With Song heading for the African Cup of Nations in January, you really are worried about Arsenal's midfield if Fabregas and Denilson dont recover quickly. With already the forward line being thin, this triple blow could have Arsenal rocking at arguably their best form. So its imperative that the Professor signs some central midfielder in the January window leave alone a center forward. I wouldn mind Patrick Vieira :) :) :) . Alas, lets leave that discussion for now. Lets savour this Catalan kid called Fabregas who we know will not be at Arsenal for much longer (his's heart is at Barcelona) . Captain Fantastic. True to every letter !!!