when fouled by Oleksandr Kucher, but his spot kick was saved by Andriy Pyatov. He started all of Spain's matches at the finals, being substituted in each of the three group games and playing the entirety of the defeat by Italy in the Round of 16 which ended their participation. 2018 World Cup Fàbregas was not selected for the Spain squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup (his Chelsea colleagues Pedro, Álvaro Morata and Marcos Alonso were also overlooked after the club's disappointing season); he instead joined the BBC as a studio analyst for the tournament. Style of play Arsenal and Chelsea Originally brought to Arsenal as a youth to slowly develop via the League Cup, Fàbregas was unexpectedly deployed as Arsenal's starting central midfielder following injuries to fellow midfielders Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva and Edu during the 2004–05 season. While defensive midfielder Vieira served as his role model and mentor, he styled his game after his childhood hero and compatriot Pep Guardiola, whose shirt number 4 he would inherit in his subsequent move to Barcelona in 2011. Because he was of a different mould from his Arsenal predecessors who played in the same position, this led to criticisms of his lightweight frame and less aggressive style of play, due to his development in the Barcelona Youth Academy, with former teammate Ashley Cole criticising the Spaniard as "an unproven featherweight" in his autobiography. However, it did not take long for Fàbregas to become one of the most coveted and celebrated young talents in the game with his success at Arsenal. Functioning mostly as a playmaker and renowned for his passing range, he was described as the general of Arsenal's first team, bringing vision, creativity, and an innate understanding of timing and space to Arsenal's intricate passing game, displaying maturity that belied his age. He was the main creative force when he was at Arsenal, as exemplified by his 16 assists in all competitions in the 2006–07 season. Between 2006–07 and 2010–11, Fàbregas created the most chances in the top-division leagues of England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. At Arsenal, Fàbregas also often assumed responsibility for set pieces, taking corners, free kicks and penalties. By his own admission, scoring was a weaker part of his game in his first few seasons at Arsenal; wasteful finishing also being symptomatic of the larger problem surrounding Arsenal in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. This