Cesc Fàbregas

[Styles 9,790]

If you're a great, world class player, this is not a legitimate excuse to be utterly invisible.

Well, he was carrying an injury and their game-plan was to man-mark him. Hard to blame him really. If that's going to be a tactic that opposition teams are going to use this season then it's up to Mourinho to come up with something.

[Rom2013 446]

If you're a great, world class player, this is not a legitimate excuse to be utterly invisible.

He is a CM... obviosly in this kind of games he won't do 10 assists, and score 2 goals. Again... taht's the job of Oscar (since he is the midfielder in the most advanced position) and he can't do it.

In this kind of games the job of Fabregas is to sacrifice himself in defense and do the link up. Nothing more.

If you want Fabregas to do more, drop Oscar and put Ramires in the field with Willian.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Well, he was carrying an injury and their game-plan was to man-mark him. Hard to blame him really. If that's going to be a tactic that opposition teams are going to use this season then it's up to Mourinho to come up with something.

He has to be able to deal with being man marked. He was also man-marked vs Palace as well for instance and had a great game but they are an average team. Even average players get man-marked during games. It's nothing special. Normal tactic. It's no excuse for his impotence in big games.

As for being injured, just for the sake of argument he was, doesn't explain his Man United performance.

[DYC. 7,542]

He has to be able to deal with being man marked. He was also man-marked vs Palace as well for instance and had a great game but they are an average team. Even average players get man-marked during games. It's nothing special. Normal tactic. It's no excuse for his impotence in big games.

As for being injured, just for the sake of argument he was, doesn't explain his Man United performance.

It's called having a bad game? Superior players go through the same thing.

[Styles 9,790]

He has to be able to deal with being man marked. He was also man-marked vs Palace as well for instance and had a great game but they are an average team. Even average players get man-marked during games. It's nothing special. Normal tactic. It's no excuse for his impotence in big games.

As for being injured, just for the sake of argument he was, doesn't explain his Man United performance.

Henderson and Fellaini both have an athletic advantage over Fabregas; he isn't going to shake off players and impose himself if man-marked, and especially not when he's carrying an injury.

I'm not really trying to make excuses for him. I'm just trying to make sense of why he didn't really perform.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

I like him, but like said before he isnt big game player and cant realy control game under pressure. This is where Modric is better. But Cesc has better vision and chance creation, resulting in more assists.

But when big game comes, you would prefer Modric instead. And physicality should be no excuse. Modric or Iniesta are smaller, but they put more work, running and have better ball control under pressure than Cesc. Cesc problem is mentality, and he has worse balance and field vision when under pressure than Modric, Pirlo or Iniesta...

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

Henderson and Fellaini both have an athletic advantage over Fabregas; he isn't going to shake off players and impose himself if man-marked, and especially not when he's carrying an injury.

I'm not really trying to make excuses for him. I'm just trying to make sense of why he didn't really perform.

I think that the obvious solution is to play fabregass FORWARD when he is man marked. this gives us more space in midfield, will allows us to control the ball at the back and see the picture in front of us. BUT mainly, it would free up space deep for Oscar to drop into an initiate attacks. in the big games he plays to static at the back

[kellzfresh 7,226]

I like him, but like said before he isnt big game player and cant realy control game under pressure. This is where Modric is better. But Cesc has better vision and chance creation, resulting in more assists.

But when big game comes, you would prefer Modric instead. And physicality should be no excuse. Modric or Iniesta are smaller, but they put more work, running and have better ball control under pressure than Cesc. Cesc problem is mentality, and he has worse balance and field vision when under pressure than Modric, Pirlo or Iniesta...

Pirlo in his younger days could dribble through pressure, fabregas just can't. He doesn't have the upper body strength to hold off pressure too, so his only option is to pass the ball quickly like Mata used to do.

Modric, Iniesta and thiago are just more mobile / agile which makes them dribble away from man-marking.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Re-watching the game, Fabregas was IMO, chiefly at fault for Liverpool's goal. Instead of getting back into position, he was ball chasing Moreno whose running lane was already shut down by Ramires. Moreno plays a pass to Sterling in acres of space, the position Fabregas was supposed to be in, Matic then has to try and close down Sterling and block his path to goal. Sterling instead just makes a simple pass to Emre Can and bang! Goal. This is not the first time he's chasing the ball instead of holding his position. It's tactically naive considering the role he's playing.

[Nike 373]

As the season goes on, you will see exactly what i mean when I said cesc is mata and modric/thiago is silva.

Mata when given room and time was brilliant but was man marked out of games easily. Now, teams are doing the same to Cesc. Just because he gets an assist doesnt means hes playing well (which is exactly what Mata did, do nothing 90 percent of the match and get a random assist)

[Rom2013 446]

Sorry double post

[Rom2013 446]

Fabregas and all the other defensive players are well positioned. We have the 4 defenders and two midfilders and Cesc with the left back of Liverpool. Where the hell are Oscar, Hazard and Costa to stop the RB and the LB of Liverpool.

Fabregas is in the position where Ramires or Oscar should have been. But Ramires is in the position a CM should be... so the problem here is that in that picture we don't know where the hell is Hazard and Oscar.

And if you look at that moment, we had a problem there because Oscar and Costa failed in trying to recover the ball that high on the pitch.

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

Just - rest him.

[OneMoSalah 8,609]

If you're a great, world class player, this is not a legitimate excuse to be utterly invisible.

Well that is a load of shit.

If a team has set out with a gameplan that is to man mark a player like Fabregas and the marker is doing it well then he is gonna struggle to impose himself as much. In other games Oscar and Matic have controlled the game in phases when Fabregas has been marked tightly and they continued to do so today. Lets be honest, hes played worse in big games for Arsenal than he has done for us, his mentality for the bigger games has improved under Pep, Tito and Martino at Barca and even at Chelsea now he seems to be better equipped to play in bigger games and he is a much more mature footballer.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Well that is a load of shit.

If a team has set out with a gameplan that is to man mark a player like Fabregas and the marker is doing it well then he is gonna struggle to impose himself as much. In other games Oscar and Matic have controlled the game in phases when Fabregas has been marked tightly and they continued to do so today. Lets be honest, hes played worse in big games for Arsenal than he has done for us, his mentality for the bigger games has improved under Pep, Tito and Martino at Barca and even at Chelsea now he seems to be better equipped to play in bigger games and he is a much more mature footballer.

That's your opinion which I think is a load of shite as well. He wasn't even man-marked for large portions of this game but was still ineffective. Fabregas has been nowhere near good enough either offensively or defensively in any of the big games so far. The only thing of note being his exquisite pass to Costa for the 2nd goal. It's early days and it might be harsh but that's the brutal truth. I'm not going to make excuses for him or any player.

[OneMoSalah 8,609]

That's your opinion which I think is a load of shite as well. He wasn't even man-marked for large portions of this game but was still ineffective. Fabregas has been nowhere near good enough either offensively or defensively in any of the big games so far. The only thing of note being his exquisite pass to Costa for the 2nd goal. It's early days and it might be harsh but that's the brutal truth. I'm not going to make excuses for him or any player.

He was obviously marked in the game today, Rodgers even stated in a interview somewhere after the game he wanted to man-mark Fabregas to null his influence. Anyway it wasn't the big games we had to improve on from last season remember, it was the smaller teams we played that set up to frustrate us that fucked us for the title, so if he doesn't score 23 goals, create 310 goals and make 49649 tackles in a big game (or whatever your 'crazy' expectations are even when you consider he was an Arsenal player who more or less struggled in big games 9 times out of 10) I don't mind because he does alright and he makes the difference in the smaller games, which is where we struggled last season.

[Styles 9,790]

That's your opinion which I think is a load of shite as well. He wasn't even man-marked for large portions of this game but was still ineffective. Fabregas has been nowhere near good enough either offensively or defensively in any of the big games so far. The only thing of note being his exquisite pass to Costa for the 2nd goal. It's early days and it might be harsh but that's the brutal truth. I'm not going to make excuses for him or any player.

So what do you propose? That he doesn't play in the big games?

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

So what do you propose? That he doesn't play in the big games?

That he should have a greater influence, that's all and keep the ball better. He's already a player in his prime, so I don't expect him to drastically improve in any weak areas.

He's one of the best central midfielders in the world, so of course he has to play.