changed initially in the 2007–08 season when he scored 11 goals in his first 16 games, and Arsenal manager Wenger claimed that the Spaniard's previous inability to score was down to a mental state, and even compared the Spaniard to Michel Platini, a French midfielder renowned for scoring. There were also concerns raised over the large number of games Fàbregas was playing for club and country at such a young age, but while he initially avoided long spells on the sidelines, he played significantly fewer games due to injury in his last three seasons with Arsenal. At Chelsea, Fàbregas played a similar playmaking role in midfield, using his technique, ball control, vision, and passing ability to dictate the tempo of his team's play, while he was supported by defensive midfielders, in order to give him more space and time on the ball, due to his own lack of pace, stamina, defensive skills, and athleticism. In this deeper creative role, he excelled in Chelsea's new style of play under Mourinho, where he proved to be an effective assist-provider. Barcelona and Spain At Barcelona, Fàbregas continued to play a prominent midfield and playmaking role, although he was moved into a more offensive position than that which he had occupied at Arsenal. His new role with Barcelona was comparable to that which he had played with the Spanish national team. He effortlessly fit into Pep Guardiola's 4–3–3 formation, participating in the midfield's trademark "tiki-taka" patient, attacking, build-up style of play, also associated with the Spanish national squad under Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque. Fàbregas was used in a variety of different roles under Guardiola, scoring several goals and providing many assists. Due to the presence of Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Andrés Iniesta in the three-man midfield, as well as the emerging Thiago, Fàbregas was often employed out of position as a winger, or even as a supporting forward under Guardiola. He regularly performed in the role that Lionel Messi had often occupied during the previous season, functioning as a false-9 in a 4–6–0 formation (a role which he would also play for Spain at Euro 2012 under Del Bosque), whilst Messi would play as a right winger or second forward. Fàbregas was, however, still used in deeper roles on occasion, as an attacking, deep-lying or central playmaking midfielder, in particular under Guardiola's immediate successors, Tito Vilanova and Gerardo Martino. Outside football Personal