Gunners skipper has instinct to turn the title race in their favour...

Thomas Vermaelen used a word not heard too often in modern football parlance when he was discussing the special talents of Cesc Fabregas after Arsenal's crushing victory over Aston Villa on Sunday.

The word was... vision.

"He's really smart in his game and, in training, if you play against him, he's really difficult to defend against because I think he has eyes in the back of his head. He sees everything," enthused Vermaelen.

"He is a good captain, too. He has a lot of qualities in football and I think that's important for a captain. He talks in the dressing room, not too much, but just enough.

"For us, he was very important on Sunday. He scored twice in 20 minutes [sic] so he was very important. I think, before he came on, we were the better team, but we didn't create too many chances - and when he came on we controlled the game more and we created some more chances.

"He played some good passes behind the defence, they were really dangerous. He has a great vision in the game. He is the best midfielder I have played alongside."

Unfortunately for Arsenal, Fabregas is unlikely to be fit enough to play again in Wednesday's Premier League game at Portsmouth, but his exemplary 'impact substitute' performance against Villa proved his extraordinary value to this young Gunners side.

And his vision, in particular, is a quality that cannot be found easily on sale in the January transfer window. Nor, as Arsene Wenger has stressed, can a ready-made replacement for Robin van Persie be picked up at a sensible price.

Indeed, vision is a quality that is also part of the Dutchman's game and, furthermore, a vital part of the overall style of play delivered by Wenger's team.

It is an almost old-fashioned quality, something that removes a team, or a player, from mere functionalism; an ability to 'see round corners' and think beyond the next obvious pass to the move that follows - and its conclusion.



Running riot | Fabregas turned game against Villa

In essence, Fabregas showed all the qualities of an old-style goal-scoring inside-forward in his cameo on Sunday - high technique, flair with the ball, appreciation of the team's shape and pattern and the vision to create chances and take opportunites. His run from the halfway line to score the second goal was a perfect example of that.

There was a time when every team in the old First Division in England played with a schemer in the No.10 shirt - a player whose role is known in modern football as a play-maker. In Italy, they call these guys 'fantasy men' and in Spain 'the brain' or 'cerebro' of a team.

Many teams in England have weaned them out over the years. Few survive.

Older football followers will remember such players as George Eastham, Johnny Haynes, Tony Currie, Charlie George and Liam Brady - men through whom the games were weaved and made, but who could also score goals when needed.

Modern midfields rarely provide for the luxury of such players, but in Fabregas, Arsenal have a unique footballing gem - someone who combines all the quality of an old inside-forward with the work ethic of a modern dynamo.

At Arsenal, Fabregas is appreciated and he will be missed at Fratton Park where Armand Traore, back from injury to take the left-back position, will be returning after spending a season there on loan last winter.

"It is going to be a tough task for us," Traore warned. "And we know that Cesc is so important to us. He's our captain, but he is also more than that because he is our playmaker. But we know now that we have to win all our games if we are to take the title."

And that is something that a little vision from the Catalan maestro can help bring to reality for Traore, Vermaelen and the rest if they can repeat the form of Sunday's second-half display against Villa.

While Chelsea labour to open up defences and Manchester United apply a high-speed battering ram approach, Fabregas offers Arsenal something very special - a key to unlock the meanest and toughest opposition.

Tim Collings, Goal.com UK