football Cesc Fábregas: United? The only thing in my head was staying at Barça In the second of a major two-part interview the Barcelona midfielder insists Manchester United move was never on • Read part one of Sid Lowes interview with Cesc Fábregas Friday 25 October 2013 22.00 BST At no time did I say that I wanted to go and I stayed out of it, says Barcelonas Cesc Fábregas about interest from Manchester United. Photograph: Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty ImagesAt no time did I say that I wanted to go and I stayed out of it, says Barcelonas Cesc Fábregas about interest from Manchester United. Photograph: Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images Sid Lowe in Barcelona You talk fondly of your time in England and this summer there was an opportunity to return. Were you tempted to go to Manchester United or would you only go back to play for Arsenal? I dont know. But I never planned to go back this summer. Its not something I was even thinking about. I was always clear in my mind that I want to succeed at Barcelona and Id give everything to triumph here. I said openly: I havent even thought about leaving, Im not going. I heard about it when I was in Ibiza with friends. A friend read it in the paper and told me, then I read it … Did you call the club and say: Hey, whats going on? No, no, no. When I heard, I contacted Darren [Dein, my agent] and he confirmed that it had come out officially. He said: Yes, its true. He said: What do you want to do? I didnt know anything about it [until then]. If a club comes in for you and you tell your representative that you want to go, then you go. I spoke to [Josep Maria] Bartomeu, the vice-president, and he told me: Youre not going anywhere; we have complete confidence in you. Then I spoke to the president. I was very relaxed about the whole thing because thats what they transmitted to me. Its true that they had offers, and they told me that, but the only thing in my head was staying at Barcelona. How do you explain the fact that United seemed so convinced? That conviction must have come from somewhere. At no time did I say that I wanted to go and I stayed out of it. I was surprised. I didnt encourage them at all. Has your decision to stay been vindicated? Only Gerard Piqué has started more league games and youve had an impressive start, playing probably your best football since returning in 2011. The seasons started brilliantly. This coach [Tata Martino] lets me play the way that suits my qualities and Im very comfortable, very happy. Im feel better all the time, more and more central. The coach is giving me more opportunities, more status, more leadership. On the first day – well, not the first day, but maybe the third or fourth, early on – he called me over and told me: I want you to be the player you were at Arsenal. And I thought: Wow!, because Id always felt so good at Arsenal, so important. Im not the No10 exactly because things arent so clearly defined positionally as they with Pep [Guardiola] and Tito [Vilanova], who were very focused on that. When we attack, Tata likes things to be a little more anarchic – just a little – which means that with the ball you can move away from a set position without any problems. Do you feel liberated? Because I didnt want to affect the system last season, I would sometimes think: Hostia [bloody hell], if I move from here, we lose the ball and I leave someone free, Ill get a rollicking. Now I have the assurance that the manager wants me to make those runs. What could be a problem isnt. But its also down to continuity ... There was an assumption in England that youd return because you werent playing, even though you made more league appearances than anyone else last season. But it is true that you shifted position a lot and when the big games came, you werent always included ... If you play one game and then the next, and the next, and the next, but then comes the game away to Bayern Munich and youre losing 4-0 and youre sitting on the bench, then you cant help but let it get to you. You think: Hostia, Im not even warming up and theyre beating us 4-0. That has an impact. It surprises you, it affects you mentally, because you feel good and then suddenly: bang! If youre winning, providing assists, playing well, scoring, everything happens naturally. If you feel truly important and then you miss the occasional game, if youre rotated, you take it differently. But if its like that, the big games, its harder. Its more mental than anything else. Did you feel that you needed greater support, more trust? I know what I can do but you need others too. You think: The coach trusts me, he believes in me, Im playing, Im important. And that makes a real difference. Even more so here because you know Xavi is very important and Andrés [Iniesta] is very important, and [Lionel] Messi, and you can end up thinking: Maybe Im not at that level. I cant spend my life saying Well, its Xavi and Iniesta; no problem because that becomes an excuse for not being ambitious. But sometimes that can happen. I want to show that Im at that level; the difference this year is that Im able to. If everything continues like this, through this season and into next, Ill feel increasingly important. The fundamental problem remains though, doesnt it? The men you have to compete with for your three most natural positions are Xavi, Iniesta and Messi … thats some competition. Yes, but its the continuity that helped make Xavi the player he is and Iniesta the player he is; that helped make them so good. The same goes for Messi. Ive sometimes fallen somewhere between the three. But what I like about Tata is that the player in the best form plays. I try to be at my best so I can play. Thats what we all want and Ive been able to show that. Thats what the manager wants: when he has seen a player whos tired, he doesnt care [who it is, he changes them anyway] … Youre still getting moved about a bit, though. Do you have a preference when it comes to position or are you happy just to play? Hombre, ahora si. [Right now, yes.] I want to play. But in the long run every player wants a regular place, to be able to say: This is my position. And what position is that? I enjoy all three positions, which is lucky. Imagine, for example, if I could only play on the left of the front three, I have an obstacle there [Neymar] thats ... wow! I started as a holding midfielder in a 3-4-3 with Piqué and Messi in the under-13s, at the base of the midfield diamond – Guardiolas position – and Ive moved forward as times gone on. Sergio Busquets position, you mean? Yes, exactly, Busi. At Arsenal, I played in the two in front of the defence, then sometimes [Arsène] Wenger would play me wide right because theres less pressure there, more freedom. Then in my last two or three years at Arsenal, as mediapunta behind the striker. Now I sometimes even play as the striker or on the left ... I could end up back at No4 but I think physically I have a good few years playing further forward, hahaha! But, yeah, why not? Plenty of creative players have headed backwards later in their careers. At Arsenal you took on a huge amount of responsibility very young: they made you captain and gave you Patrick Vieiras shirt, and you grew into it. Will that happen at Barcelona now? As the captain, someone whod been there for a long time, at Arsenal I felt like I had to motivate the players and drive the team. I had that responsibility. But Ive only been here two years and I still feel on the margins, a little removed from that, because there are other players who have that role. I dont hold back if I have to make my presence felt, thats in my nature, but I do feel a change from Arsenal, where I felt like people looked to me. You take a step forward and the team takes a step forward. I enjoyed that responsibility but at Barcelona it hasnt happened. Its not something you look for, it finds you. Itll happen naturally like it did at Arsenal. Suddenly you find yourself in a situation where you feel that responsibility, you sense it. At Barça, theres Xavi and [Víctor] Valdés, [Carles] Puyol and Messi, who have that role. The rest of us push from behind. Your return to Barcelona hasnt been easy. This is a different environment ... Its difficult to explain but at a club like Barcelona or Real Madrid, theres so much pressure that its not always good for young players. When everythings going well this is the best club in the world but when things go badly you hardly leave the house, whereas in London if you lose the fans still sing your name. In England you have that extra mental freedom: you know that if you misplace a pass the fans will support you, theyre always on your side. The media spotlight is greater in Spain too, the pressure. Developing as a player at Arsenal was good for me. And now that youre back? My case was different because the supporters saw me as someone whod been here as a kid, whod left and who the club had to pay a lot of money for. Without that, I would have been viewed differently. I had the added responsibility, demands, and there were difficult moments. But overall, and especially now, people [at Barcelona] have been brilliant. Is Barcelona really so different? When you go back, you realise what Barça really is. Its not just about winning trophies, its a model. Recently, we played against Rayo Vallecano. We won 4-0 and people werent happy because they had slightly more possession than us. And, suddenly, a debate arises from nothing. Its incredible: it was one game in five years, the first time wed had under 50% of the ball, and we won 4-0! It wasnt as if we won 1-0. But thats why this club is so special. No one plays quite like Barça. In England theres a lack of control but people dont want it any other way. You watch a game where the passes are being pinged about – pam, pam, pum – and you think: Hostia, theyre playing well, but the crowd want something else. Someone plays a pass backwards and the fans roar them forward: you have to attack, attack, attack. Sometimes at the Camp Nou its the opposite – you drive forward and the pressure is to be patient. You can pass the ball around for a minute or so and the crowd enjoy it. They want it. Barcelona won the 2012-13 league title but the season was greeted as a disappointment. The 7-0 aggregate defeat against Bayern Munich weighed heavily and so did the illness to Tito Vilanova, who youve known since you were 12 or 13. It was so important to win the league and dedicate it to Tito and [Eric] Abidal. What Id say [to the critics] is that if you have the kind of season we had at any other club it would go down as a brilliant season. You win the league with 100 points, 15 points clear of Real Madrid, which are records. You lose in the cup against Madrid, something that can happen – its Madrid! And you reach the Champions League semi-final with Xavi not fit, Messi not fit, with Tito back but having been away for three or four months with illness. We werent right physically. And you lose. Thats still a good season. At any other club it would be a very good season, especially with what happened to Tito ... That must have had an effect on the team ... A profound effect. You arrive at training one morning and they tell you, and for days its all you can think about. You ask: Why? Why always here? Its horrible, very, very hard. But as a team we overcame … we overcame … we overcame … and then Bayern come out, like motorbikes, and theyre a very, very good team. It was their time to win the tournament: theyd reached three semis and lost two finals. They had a right to win it, bloody hell. You cant always win but that shows the demands at Barcelona. Do we forget the human element, the pressure? Some people have the brains to understand, to appreciate that Bayern are a good team, that we got 100 points, that you cant always win … Others are more fanatical and only complain, complaint after complaint, always going on. And there are a lot of them, eh! But, look, you need that level of expectation to ensure the club keeps growing. Im glad we have that. It cant be criticism for criticisms sake, though. Speaking of Bayern, are they favourites again? I saw them against City and that was the best theyve played. Youre curious to see how theyll play because of Pep. He hadnt changed much at first and what he changed didnt turn out well in the German Super Cup. He went back to playing with a fixed centre-forward, like last year, but against City I saw changes again with the false nine, pressing high, [Philipp] Lahm in midfield … So is it a Pep team now? Against City yes. Si, si, si, si. The movements they were making were the same ones he asked us to make, the pressing. It was a great game to watch as a spectator. This weekend is the clásico. How do you think Gareth Bale will do in Spain? Will the lack of space youve described be a problem for him? Thats the question, one of the things hell most have to get used to. A lot depends on how Madrid want to play. If Madrid want the ball, hell find it more difficult because he wont have the space in front of him; the opposition will close up defensively and sit deep. But if theyre not going to have so much possession and they break well, as they did with [José] Mourinho, itll suit him. Over the last few years, Madrids opponents have thought: Weve got the ball, they grow in confidence, they move up the pitch and, bang, a counterattack and its a goal. Bale will enjoy that. That suggests that, stylistically, the best opponents for Madrid are … Barcelona. You make it easier for them. Yes. Recently, Madrid havent liked opponents ceding them possession and waiting. Cristiano [Ronaldo] finds himself with two lines of four in front of him; Bale would too. [Karim] Benzemas alone. What they like is teams like Rayo; what they like is for the opposition to come forward with the ball and then lose it. In two passes, Madrid are at the other end. They have such powerful players going forward. In the last few clásicos theyve done that very well against us, to their great credit. Theyve won possession, been aggressive and made life difficult for us, mostly on the counterattack. The bottom line is that you want to win so theres an obvious conclusion: Barcelona should change style, shouldnt they? At least against Madrid. It would be an option but Barça have to play like Barça. If we lose we have to lose playing like Barça and when we win we win like Barça. Thats something Ive learnt since returning. At Barça no one likes to lose. If you play well and lose or you play badly and lose, either way youve lost. But here people do appreciate that we do things a certain way, our way. Now we have another coach and sometimes he has other ideas, so lets see. But, in theory, well be the same Barcelona we always are.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 07:29:39 +0000
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