When entrenched in an international break, football fans across social media and beyond tend to cast their minds back to the sunny days of memorable club performances. 

Indeed, that seems particularly pertinent at Arsenal at the moment. 

Rooted to the bottom of the Premier League after a miserable start under Mikel Arteta, supporters on Reddit were recently reminiscing about the masterclass former captain Cesc Fabregas produced against Blackburn Rovers in 2009. 

At the time, the midfielder was on the ascendancy. 

Over a year into his role as Arsene Wenger's skipper, Fabregas had established himself as perhaps the best midfielder in the Premier League amid frequent links with a return to Barcelona, a move that would eventually happen in the summer of 2011. 

Lining up against Blackburn alongside the likes of Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin, Fabregas was at his best, as you can see in the video below. 

Whether he was pulling the strings from deep or pushing up into a No.10 position, Fabregas appeared to find the kind of space that lies only between heartbeats and his stunning range of passing on full display. 

Setting Thomas Vermaelen for the first, he then slid van Persie through to double the home side's lead before releasing Arshavin in a similar vein. 

Into the second-half, Fabregas continue to wreak havoc and score a gorgeous volley from just outside the box. Finally, rounded off a wonderful display by playing Walcott in on the counter to slot home. 

"Best player of the Emirates era and it isn't even close," said one Reddit user. 

"The best young player to ever play in the EPL," claimed another. 

"At his peak he was right up there with Xavi and Iniesta," was a particularly bold claim. 

Four assists (a feat matched only by Paul Pogba, Harry Kane, Dennis Bergkamp, Santi Cazorla, Jose Antonio Reyes and Emmanuel Adebayor) in one Premier League game is impressive enough. 

Throw in a stunning strike too and it's hard to disagree with some of the fan reaction above.