The increasingly wayward wizardry of Chelsea's Cesc Febregas

Arsenal fans have always had a special place for Cesc Fabregas’s magical free kicks (not particularly the one that led to Chelsea’s goal against them this season, though). Be it those delicious inswinging curlers which nestled at the top corner, winning three points for the Gunners in the past, or the ingeniously pathetic ones he took against Tottenham this week, both were subject to a hearty applause from the Arsenal faithful.

Fabregas has always had textbook technique, a few tricks up his sleeve, and the ability to pick out teammates from any distance or angle. But here, from this weekend’s visit to White Hart Lane, let’s see what he does on a restart just inside his own half. Will he …

… make a short pass to the likes of Oscar, Matic, Ivanovic, Zouma or Cahill;
… ping a 50-yard pin-point pass that sets up a Chelsea chance;
… play a misplaced ball (a reasonable mistake-might happen to anyone)?

What he actually does:

SEE MORE: Mourinho denies rift with brooding Costa.

But that wasn’t Cesc’s only contribution to Chelsea’s Sunday comedy routine. Here Tottenham players are surrounding the referee and complaining instead of falling back into defense. This is a good time to play a quick restart and catch them napping. What Fabregas saw, though, was, perhaps, a chance to catch his teammate Willian napping … and to knock him unconscious. Thankfully, Willian’s self-defense mechanism was quick enough to save the day for him, his club, and, of course, his dearest mate, Cesc.

https:\/\/twitter.com/YedIin/status/670963460797153280

This is the perfect microcosm of the season Fabregas is having. From the superstar that he was at the Emirates, he has suddenly become the living metaphor of his current team’s form. The Arsenal fans who were cursing Wenger throughout last season for letting Cesc join Chelsea are suddenly owning up their mistakes and admitting “Wenger knows best.” And if the follies weren’t enough to convince them, consider this bit of trivia:

We all know that Cesc Fabregas can be a world-class midfielder when he’s at his best. But to prove the good old “class is permanent” theory, he might just have to stop making pin-point passes to his opponents and take a lesson or two from Mesut Ozil.