Fabregas ready to come of age

Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas (center) vies with Portsmouth's Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari as referee M. Halsey looks on during their Premiership match at home to Arsenal at the Emirates football stadium on Sunday. AFP

The 20-year-old has been regarded as the most talented of Wenger's young prodigies for several seasons, but now the Spaniard has added goal-scoring to his game, making him the complete midfielder in the eyes of his manager.

He scored his fourth goal in six matches to help Arsenal to a 3-1 win against Portsmouth on Sunday, equalling his total for the whole of last season.

Wenger is convinced Fabregas is capable of being the kind of world-class playmaker who can compete with Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool for the game's top honors.

He drew a comparison with the way Paul Scholes combines striker's instinct with the ability to influence matches from midfield.

"He has a lot of characteristics of Scholes," Wenger said. "The frame, intelligence in the game, passing when to go into the box. He is only 20 and people forget that.

"I made a tape of him last year and you wouldn't believe how many chances he had. When he was a young boy he scored goals. That is a nice disease to have.

"Sometimes it disappears but it always comes back when you mature physically and mentally.

"When you go into the senior game you can lose it but if you did it in the youth team you can take advantage of positive situations anywhere."

If Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and former Gunners vice-chairman David Dein do manage to mount a takeover at Arsenal, Wenger is likely to have millions to spend in the transfer market.

But he maintains he has enough talent to succeed already, so spending vast sums on famous names would not necessarily be the best route to success.

"Money can always be enough or never enough," Wenger said. "If you have 100 pounds and your opponent has 200, then you want 200. When you have 200 he has 400. Where does it stop?

"It depends as well what the other clubs have. I believe football is great because everybody can have a chance by building a team.

"I feel we have stability. What is important in a football club is what is happening on the pitch.

"We are super ambitious and of course that creates a pressure but we can live with that. This team has been built to have an attacking personality. That means it is very important they express themselves.

"We have enough quality to fight for the championship. I selected these players and I believe in them. I have enough belief they share my ambition."

Arsenal was at its eye-catching best against Portsmouth.

It took the lead in the seventh minute when David James brought down Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor stroked home the penalty for his first goal of the season.

Fabregas got the second with a close-range strike after Gilberto Silva had flicked on a corner.

Philippe Senderos's dismissal early in the second half for a professional foul on former Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu did little to disturb Arsenal's rhythm.

Tomas Rosicky punished slack Portsmouth marking to extend Arsenal's lead and Kanu's strike a minute later was no consolation.

Redknapp admitted several of his new players had been given a harsh lesson in the special demands of the Premier League.

"One or two of the new signings are still coming to terms with the English game," Redknapp said. "People like John Utaka; on the ball he did some fantastic things, but he has to learn the other side of the game as well.

"I didn't shout and scream at anyone. We just had a chat about it.

"The problem is I won't see those players until Friday week because of the internationals. I can't sit down with them and show them videos and discuss the goals in detail.

"Then when they come back we are concentrating on playing Liverpool. Am I then going to start getting into them about what they did here? It's crazy."

AFP

(China Daily 09/04/2007 page23)