Qwiss There's probably a middle ground here in fairness. I'm taking your initial comment quite literally. You said he was no sort of leader. I said he exhibited leadership by being an example on the pitch (not always) and by being the figurehead of the team. You'll find plenty of commentary for and against both those points. Wenger certainly considered him a leader having taken the captaincy from Gallas to give him it.
I'd agree he wasn't a great leader. He was petulant, ill-tempered, faded in games and seasons. His last-18-games-itis cost us big time, but often we were only 'competitive' at times, either in games or in spells of seasons, because of his talent (mainly) and leadership in dragging through a team that had no place in our history.
At Barca he didn't need to be, that team was stacked with experience and leadership. At Arsenal an ill-fitting leadership role was thrust upon him because we didn't have experience and leadership. I can barely remember his time at Chelsea.
I wasn't comparing his leadership with Henry, Vieira or Adams, I was highlighting how all leaders had faults, and noting that having faults didn't preclude Fabregas from being a leader. He's every bit on their level talent-wise but nowhere near Vieira or Adams as a leader. I don't regard Henry as much of a leader either in fact, he was a poor choice to use but the Reyes example illustrated a point.
