Cesc Fabregas says his passion for football has returned a year after the worst season of his career.
Spaniard reflects on nightmare of a season
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas says his passion for football has returned a year after the worst season of his career.
The Spaniard missed four months of the last campaign with a knee injury and came under fire during that time after being accused of spitting at Hull's assistant manager Brian Horton.
Arsenal also had a difficult 2008/2009 season - finding themselves out of the title race by Christmas and eventually settling for fourth place in the Premier League table.
On Wednesday night, though, Fabregas can help the Gunners take the No.1 spot by beating Bolton at the Emirates, in a season which has seen the 22-year-old produce some of his most impressive displays.
"I was really down last season. I couldn't enjoy anything, everything was negative. I lost that passion for the game and was happier closed off at home. It's a very odd feeling," Fabregas told
Champions magazine.
Positive
"To be ruled out for four months through injury was the worst period of my career - but I learned a great deal from that experience.
"I deal with things very differently now. After a game it used to take me hours to pick myself up - three hours or so to deal with a defeat. Nobody could talk to me. But now, just half an hour.
"Maybe the next day you walk around with a bit of a long face, but you've just got to look ahead and be positive.
"I don't internalise now. I've got other things to distract me - my family, girlfriend, friends. I deal with criticism very differently now, whether it's something I read in the press or hear from fans.
"Before my injury, I took it all far too personally. Now I just think, well, what are you going to do? I don't allow it to get to me.
"I'm always making jokes, having fun, all day long. More and more I'm realising that life is to be enjoyed. You're here today and gone tomorrow."
