Fabregas aspires for Arsenal captaincy

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
19 Aug	3:00 PM	P	Aston Villa (H)	1	1	Draw

Precocious midfield maestro Francesc Fabregas has achieved so much in his short career at Arsenal, but still covets one honour that has so far eluded him - the Arsenal captaincy.

"I was captain of the youth teams at Barcelona and I like to lead by example," Fabregas said. "One day I would like that honour at Arsenal. Thierry is a great captain but I hope I can stay at Arsenal for a very, very long time and if I have the chance I would love to be captain."

Speaking about Arsenal's youth policy, Fabregas is proud that he was one of the first young stars brought to Arsenal by Arsène Wenger. He insists that they have improved since last season and can do much better this coming season.

"I was one of the first of the young Arsenal players such as Mathieu Flamini, Philippe Senderos and Johan Djourou when I arrived three years ago and it's been so positive to see a lot more young lads come through," Fabregas said.
"There is definitely a buzz here and we think we are capable of doing better in every competition."

Despite his obvious talent, Fabregas is still keen to improve areas of his game. Arsène Wenger had previously said that he would like Fabregas to become more physically imposing, and also improve the defensive part of his game, something that the young Spaniard agrees with.

"I'm always trying to learn from what the boss says and my team-mates. I know I had to improve defensively. I think I have but I've still got a lot to learn," he agreed.

"One day you might be improving your passing, another day your tackling or strength in the air. Even Thierry and Ronaldinho still want to learn. You can always improve.

"I'm a bit quicker and stronger and I think I'm now more capable to run with the ball because of that. This is one of the things I learned from Patrick Vieira, he was always getting forward and he could defend too.

"Watching a lot of the things he did has really helped my game. I will never be like Patrick, of course, but it is good for a central midfield player to be a physical presence, although the most important thing of all is what's inside your head."

Fabregas also thinks he could add more goals to he repetoire, something he used to do when he played youth team football. "It's true that I used to score lots of goals in youth football, maybe 30 or 35 a season," he admitted.

"But in my first full season at Arsenal, I scored three and last season five. I now feel much stronger and more confident going forward and the target I have set for myself is very high. I'd prefer not to say what it is, people will think I'm crazy!" he laughed.

Arsenal fans will be hoping that Fabregas will be scoring goals as Arsenal captain for a long time yet.

Arsenal take on Aston Villa today at 3pm, in the first match of the season and the first Premiership match at the new Emirates Stadium.

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