‘The Premier League is the target; it’s the most important dream a coach can have. Have I got it in me? Time will tell.’
Perhaps Cesc Fabregas thought it’d take greater than two and a half years before these innocuous comments, made in an interview with Sky Sports back in August 2023, were dug back up.
But given the Spaniard’s rapid managerial rise at Como, it should come as no surprise that he has already caught the attention of several top European clubs – not least one or two of his former clubs.
Following Liam Rosenior’s dismissal from Chelsea, owners BlueCo are actually on the hunt for his or her fifth managerial appointment since taking on the west London club.
And reports suggest that Fabregas, a two-time league winner at Chelsea as a player, is a reputation under heavy consideration to take over next season.
So what could Fabregas bring to Chelsea if given the reins at Stamford Bridge?
Rapid rise at Como
After an illustrious playing profession, Fabregas went straight into coaching at Como, initially working with the youth and B-team but quickly progressing to first-team assistant.
And having helped Como back to Serie A at the primary time of asking, Fabregas took over as head coach, guiding the Italian club to a tenth-place finish of their first season back within the top-flight.
Como continued their progression this season and currently sit fifth and in contention for European qualification with just five games of the season remaining.
Alongside a pretty brand of football, Fabregas has also developed a fame as an analytical thinker and excellent communicator, little question helped by his fluency in 4 languages and standing in the sport.
‘Needless to say, Cesc goes to be one in every of the very top coaches,’ former Como goalkeeper Pepe Reina told The Athletic last yr.
‘He has his ideas of football and in addition a pragmatism in terms of communicating his message to everyone. He convinces you.’
What could Chelsea fans expect from a Fabregas team?
In an interview with ITV in 2024, Fabregas laid out his approach as clear as day. ‘A team that desires to dominate, a team that desires to create possibilities, to defend as high as possible up the pitch, to have an excellent reaggression after we lose the ball,’ he said.
Those ideals are borne out in the info. Continuously deploying a 4-2-3-1 formation, Como have had a mean of 61.1 per cent possession in Serie A this season, probably the most of any side.
In build-up, the 2 central midfielders often drop deep to attract out the press and create space centrally, with wingers coming inside and full-backs providing width down the flanks.
Nico Paz, the young Argentine on loan from Real Madrid, is usually on the fulcrum of Como’s attacking incisiveness, linking well with the striker and deeper midfielders to assist unlock defences.
And while deliberate on the ball, Como’s tally of 61 through balls this season is second only to Juventus, indicating a desire to still play through the lines to onrushing attackers when possible.
Without the ball, Fabregas sticks to his principles, too. Como’s PPDA (Passes per Defensive Motion) of 9.1, the very best in Serie A, shows a team that presses intensely to win the ball back quickly.
Expert evaluation: ‘A contemporary and exciting style’
In Italy, most individuals and most pundits like his playing style. It’s a contemporary playing style, it’s an exciting play style, which has the features that you just expect from a young, emerging manager and a young, emerging team.
Loads of courage, twiddling with a high line, attempting to keep the ball as much as possible and really attempting to have a powerful identity, a powerful attacking identity against any opponent.
It’s like a Spanish team playing in Serie A. He has a transparent philosophy in mind.
Lorenzo Bettoni, Italian football journalist and editor of Football Italia
And the eight goals scored from high turnovers (again, probably the most in Serie A) show that Como are sometimes rewarded for his or her brave, high-intensity pressing approach.
Fabregas’ style has not been without its detractors, though, with some, including fellow Serie A managers, questioning whether his approach opts for style over substance.
‘Fabregas is a little bit of a controversial figure, because in Italy, there’s at all times been this debate between those that play well and those that win games,’ Italian football journalist Lorenzo Bettoni noted.
‘It’s a debate that has involved mostly Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri, who’s on the opposite side, who’s more practical, anyone who cares slightly more concerning the result than the playing style itself.
‘On the opposite side, we’ve got coaches like Cesc Fabregas. He’s shown to be a coach who has great ideas, who’s capable of implement an amazing playing style. But at the identical time, there are doubts on whether he can actually achieve results solely counting on his playing style and never accepting any compromise.’
Can Fabregas cope with the Chelsea set-up?
A move back to London would mean more for Fabregas than merely swapping the lakes of Como for the banks of the Thames.
As a shareholder in addition to head coach at Como, Fabregas has a level of influence unlikely to be afforded to him at Chelsea, who’ve seen several head coaches butt heads with those above them in boardroom positions.
And while Fabregas’s Como squad is the fourth-youngest in Serie A, it has also leant on experience with the likes of Diego Carlos and Alvaro Morata each signed last summer.
It’s abundantly clear that one other recent Chelsea head coach attempting to implement his fresh principles would profit greatly from an injection of experience into that squad.
But whether the club would even barely consider altering course from their aggressive youth-first transfer policy is a bet for Fabregas to weigh up.
In some regards, comparisons may very well be drawn between Fabregas and his fellow countryman Mikel Arteta, who has turned Arsenal’s fortunes on their head since arriving as an unproven novice in 2019.
Whether Fabregas could be afforded the identical time within the pressure-cooker environment of Stamford Bridge stays to be seen, but his record in Italy suggests he doesn’t need long to get things moving in the suitable direction.
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