Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas had admitted that he is frustrated in constantly being a substitute for Spain at the World Cup. So does a player who is unquestionably so talented deserve to be starting?
Despite Arsenal having a disappointing season, Fabregas was in exceptional form scoring 20 goals and finishing the season as their top scorer. That is a remarkable feat and to score 20 goals from midfield takes some doing, as a result he has outscored every midfielder in the Spanish squad. However the Spanish team with the quality it has it capable of scoring a lot of goals with or without Fabregas in the team, so although his achievement this season was exceptional, it isn’t something which Spain need badly at the moment.
Fabregas has accepted his role as a substitute with good grace, despite his frustrations. He has said on the matter:
“I will not say ‘I’m angry or I don’t care about not playing, I will go through my anger by doing my best on the training ground and proving that I’m ready to do my job.”
He added: “I don’t have any regrets. I do not play as much as I want but it’s normal that the coach chooses the others. There is a lot of quality here and everybody deserves to play. It’s normal that I want to play more, right? Football is my life and I have been fighting all season to be here and help the team with my best.”
Clearly he is hungry to make an impact and he could end up having a similar effect as he did on Spain’s Euro 2008 campaign where he came off the bench to make telling contributions. Such as scoring the winning penalty against Italy in the quarter-finals and providing two assists in their victory over Russia in the semis. Eventually his hard work paid off and he was named in the starting XI for the final and ended up in the ‘Team of the Tournament’. So as long as Fabregas can remain patient and bide his time he will get rewarded for it, as he always seems to show his quality when he is a substitute for Spain. Against Honduras in their last game he was a goal-line clearance away from scoring a goal with his first touch after coming on.
There is no question that out of all the Spanish midfielders Fabregas provides the most drive from midfield and is the most capable of scoring a goal. However this seemingly isn’t enough to get him in the team with the Barcelona trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets along with Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso as the preferred four in midfield. What’s interesting about this is that with Fabregas being linked with a move to Barcelona he would be replacing one of the three at club level. Given Pep Guardiola interest in recruiting Cesc this summer he must clearly believe that Fabregas can make more of a telling contribution and if that is the case, then wouldn’t the same apply at international level?
It’s truly a testament to how strong the Spanish side that a player like Cesc Fabregas cannot get in the starting XI when he would easily walk into the starting line-up of any club in the world. At the moment though this Spanish side is playing really well but as soon as a midfielder has a bad game then Fabregas will get his chance and if he takes it he can cement his places in the XI. For now if he just keeps up the same attitude that he has shown then he will get what he wants in the end.
