Arsenal Fans Blog

Cesc Fabregas was the most creative player in the Barclays Premier League 2007-2008.

Fabregas has been lauded for the way he orchestrates Arsenal’s attacking raids, and he even translated that form to the Spain National Team on EURO 2008. Fabregas’ statistics show exactly why he is held in such high regard.

Cesc bein in the top of the list of goal-makers with 19 — 6 clear of third in the list, Wayne Rooney — and, on average, created more chances per game than any other player. Steven Gerrard was second with 3.06 compared to Fabregas’ 3.50 per game.

Cesc Fabregas has made the developmental leap from boy to man two seasons ago at Arsenal first team squad and his growth shows little sign of relenting. For evidence of his increased maturity, just look at his passing stats. The 21-year-old Arsenal midfielder attempted 2,526 passes, the most in the Premier League. Understand that to make the pass Cesc has to retrieve, or in his case demand, the ball in the first place.

The criticism previously levelled at Cesc Fabregas was his lack of accuracy in front of goal. But finally that notion was blown out of the water in 2007/08 as Cesc plundered 13 goals in all competitions and developed a real appetite for shooting. His 106 Premier League efforts on goal — broken down to 24 blocked shots, 45 on target and 37 off target — dwarfs the efforts of Michael Carrick, 17, and Frank Lampard, 56.

With Mathieu Flamini as Arsenal's holding midfielder behind him, Fabregas had the freedom to go forward and his instinct was to do just that. Not that he shirked any of his defensive responsibilities. In fact, Manchester United's Carrick, an oft-assumed deeper sitting central-midfielder, made 16 fewer tackles than his Arsenal counterpart. Meanwhile Aston Villa's Gareth Barry, another player whose predominant duty is ‘holding’ made slightly more tackles than Fabregas but had a success rate of 54.2 per cent; Cesc Fabregas definetely has won 68.3 per cent of his tackles.

And yet there are more strings to Cesc Fabregas’ bow — he can cross too. His tally of 16 completed crosses betters that of Frank Lampard and Carrick by 11 and 13 respectively.

At his current rate of growth, Cesc Fabregas’ numbers will inevitably make for even better reading this time next year.

Cesc Fabregas' season in numbers*
Appearances	32
Minutes	2859
Goals	7
Assists	19
Yellow Cards	9
Red Cards	0
Clearances	22
Shots on target	45
Shots off target	37
Shots blocked	24
Dribbles made	24
Dribbles successful	15
Dribbles unsuccessful	9
Tackles won	28
Tackles lost	13