By Jonathan Chong on Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Midfielder Francesc Fabregas has said that he is honoured to be nominated club captain and revealed that Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry are his role models for the captaincy.

The Spanish international was made club captain after defender William Gallas was stripped of the captaincy for making public controversial comments the week before.

Fabregas' captaincy got off to a good start last night when a 1-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv ensured that the Gunners progressed to the next round of the Champions League.

He said: "It is certainly one of the best things that has happened to me in my career.

"It will make me keep my feet on the floor more than ever because I know I have a big responsibility, and I want to use it well.

"I want to keep things normal and do everything I can with my team-mates because the next few months will be very important for us.

"I am lucky enough to have played under three great captains since I joined Arsenal and I would definitely like to take things from each of them.

"Patrick Vieira was a truly amazing captain. He led by example, in the dressing room he was always relaxed, making jokes, talking to the guys - he was one of us. He never said too much before the games, but on the pitch you always knew you could count on him to go to war with you.

"Thierry Henry was the best player in the world when he was here and was definitely a guy you knew would always be there at the decisive moment.

"I still speak to Thierry on the phone occasionally and will ask him about him. I have lost touch with Patrick a bit, but I would love to speak to him too about the job because he has so much experience."

Manager Arsène Wenger also had praise for his new captain, saying: "He was very good for me.

"He was focused for 90 minutes in the game, worked hard defensively and offensively.

"It was not easy in midfield because they closed us down very well. I expected them to go up a little bit in the second half, but they didn't."

User Comments

3

koen_nmgn

Posted on 26 Nov, 2008 at 06:45 PM - Reply

Cesc is the man for the job, I wish hem the best of luck.

2

Tai Obasi

Posted on 26 Nov, 2008 at 04:39 PM - Reply

Truly, my wish for a Gunner's captain is not Fabregas at this moment of intense crisis but clearly the Spaniard had his best game of the season so far wearing the skipper's band against Dynamo Kyiv. If that was a sign of things to come, then let's bow for 'Skippo'.

1

adewuyi abiodun

Posted on 26 Nov, 2008 at 02:47 PM - Reply

I am a strong fans of fabregas , and i love the step taken by wenger of naming him as the skippo of the team it is a wellcome development, i believe fabregas will make a big impact to the team and i pray he leads the team to a better height. And thanks to the prof ARSENE WENGER.

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