Cesc’s Appointment As Captain A Stroke Of Genius

By: Wayne Farry | November 26th, 2008

It might seem a little late to be talking about Fabregas being given the captaincy, I could say the normal things like ‘he’s the man for the job’ and so on. But I want to talk about why I think that Wenger’s decision to give the 21 year old the captaincy is much more than a simple replacement, it could turn out to be a stroke of genius.

Now, I’m going to say all the usual stuff, but bear with me. As much as it’s been said in the past couple of years, Fabregas has indeed been Arsenal’s best player over the last 2 seasons. Last season especially he had a fantastic start to the campaign. As the season went on it appeared to take its toll on him but as the summer came along he was raring to go and had some stellar performances at Euro 2008.

Given Gallas’ misdemeanors of late, it was obvious that Cesc would be made captain. But not just because he’s a very good player, or because he is a good leader. One of the reasons I think Wenger chose Fabregas as captain is to keep him locked down. Over the last few months Fabregas has spoken about his desire to return to Spain, not immediately but eventually. Then there were mutterings that if Arsenal continued to go without trophies, he’d leave.

But giving Fabregas the captaincy should be enough to take his mind off a move elsewhere. Nothing should make a player want to stay at his club more than being given the responsibility of leading his team-mates. The pride that he’ll feel now will be immense, and he knows that if he left Arsenal he’d be seen as having turned his back on the team and on the fans. So, in a way Wenger’s almost tricked Fabregas into staying. It’s a smart move by Wenger, a very smart one. And one that might just keep Fabregas at Arsenal for a long time.