Arsene Wenger’s appointment of Cesc Fabregas as captain is more than just a strategic move, designed to ward off Barcelona attempts to recover the one that got away. The decision also says something significant about the way Wenger sees Arsenal Football Club. 

Wenger has changed the youth system, the players’ diets and the style of play and he has now appointed a captain made in the image of another gifted Catalan, Josep Guardiola i Sala.

The first time I was in a room listening to Wenger speak was after a Champions League game between Barcelona and Arsenal in 1999. Arsenal had just managed to claim a 1-1 draw, despite being comprehensively outplayed in the first half, and Wenger was extolling the virtues of Barca’s then captain.

“Guardiola was technically perfect,” he said, with something of a “purr” in his voice. “In the first half we tried to close him down to stop him using the ball but that didn’t work. In the second we just had to stop the ball getting to him in the first place.”*

Here’s what Wenger said when asked about the position of captain this week: “I don’t believe too much in leadership. I believe more in good passing than a guy who jumps around with his hands in the air and plays the leader.”

In England, where the captaincy often goes to the most ‘inspirational’ player, Wenger’s words probably sound strange but, thinking back nine years, I can’t help feeling Fabregas, a ball-playing midfielder who commands respect by the way he plays and leads by example, is the captain Wenger has wanted all along.

And if the move helps him recover his outstanding form of last season, and keeps Barcelona at bay for a year or two more, so much the better.

PHOTO: Gallas and Fabregas attend a team training session in London Colney, Nov 24, 2008. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

* I paraphrase, of course. It was a memorable quote, but nine years is a long time…

Even manager Arsene Wenger has no clue which version of Arsenal will turn up to matches at the moment.

The one that swept aside Manchester United last week with a dazzling brand of football, thrashed Blackburn Rovers 4-0 away and dismantled Fenerbahce in Istanbul or the one that lost at home to Hull City, got bullied into defeat at Stoke City and was well-beaten 2-0 at home by Aston Villa last weekend.

Wenger moaned about a lack of consistency, while goalkeeper Manuel Almunia said that changes were going to be needed if Arsenal are to mount a serious challenge for the title.

While on their day they are the best team to watch in England, they are also extremely fragile. (more…)

When Aleksandr Hleb and Mathieu Flamini left Arsenal in the close season with no obvious replacements you might have been tempted to question Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy.

Well, Cesc Fabregas was not among the doubters, as he told Reuters this week. Cesc says he always had faith in the man who brought him in from Barcelona as an unknown teenager (as well he might).

Owen Wyatt “caught up with” the Spain midfielder at a trendy London nightspot and clearly picked up some fashion tips while he was there.

Check out the video above, and give us your thought on Wenger and his 2008-09 vintage Arsenal in the comments below, or in a vlog of your own, which we’ll be happy to host here (if it’s any good).

It’s come to something when even the good people at Marca are getting fed up of the whole Cristiano Ronaldo saga.

The Spanish sports paper devoted an editorial and a couple of articles yesterday urging Real Madrid to get on with the job and sign the Portuguese forward asap. Today, they have vox pops from fans saying much the same sort of thing and it looks like their campaign to get things moving is going to continue.

Presumably Marca are seeing a dip in sales as a result of Nothing Much Happening day after day. After all, if there really is no movement you soon run out of ways to spin the story.

Real don’t have to worry about selling newspapers (at least not directly) and they may well feel they can afford to wait. The player himself is currently injured, meaning it matters little if he only makes it on transfer deadline day.

But are they right to sit tight and hope that Manchester United eventually give in and accept whatever offer (reportedly 90 million euros) is on the table?

Only time will tell, but Real may find they have painted themselves into a corner.

This is a good Real Madrid team but not yet a great one. They won the league title last season comfortably but they look some way away from being good enough to win the Champions League. They need some kind of reinforcement, whether that’s in the form of Ronaldo or someone else.

Perhaps it would be wise, as Marca suggest, to make one final push for Ronaldo now and if that fails turn their attention to players like Van der Vaart, Fabregas, Kaka and Villa sooner rather than later.

It would liven up the front pages, anyway.

PHOTO: Cristiano Ronaldo during Portugal’s Euro 2008 defeat by Germany at St Jakob Park, Basel, June 19, 2008. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth