🇪🇸 Cesc Fàbregas

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

His general passing isn't that good?

I think you're overestimating his slowness and I don't think you've watched Cesc Fàbregas enough (and I don't mean this in a patronizing or derogative way) if you say he isn't a general good passer... I'm surprised to read that...

I agree completely with Mourinho. He's the key we were missing in our puzzle (it's easy to talk about striker, because we played with only one last season - and that's summing all three we had together, meaning we had half of one with Samuel and a quarter of one with either Torres or Ba). He takes us to a new level. People label Mourinho as defensive all the time, but a team to afford, need and want a player of Cesc's caliber isn't a team defensive oriented. It's a team willing to take risks, to want to bring it to the next level. His speed on the ball and off the ball isn't that much important when we have a high press system that proved to work really well and players that can offer him cover. We have pace-y players to make runs to receive his balls, so he isn't missed there either. We missed a brain when we had a lot of muscles and a tad of geniality with Hazard, but Cesc is definitely the brain we've missed. We lost that with Mata and Mata didn't do it the way Cesc does (not better, not worse, just differently, although Cesc is way more versatile than Mata). Hazard can have his fun moments of a genius more freely now, there's someone behind him doing all the thinking. Schurrle can hopefully run and move smartly because there's someone to catch him. Oscar can share the burden of being creative (as it isn't natural to him) with someone else. (and for God's sake, I'm not even remotely implying Eden or any of our other AMs don't think, they do, it's just Cesc is a brilliant, fast mind that sees the whole story in his head in seconds, before executing it).

In a nutshell Fabregas is the player we (or at least me) hoped Josh McEachran would've become. Tempo guy who can pick a pass and has a beautiful picture in his head to pick out passes.

Its a shame Josh has regressed so much, really thought Carlo had him looking good early in his career

[Myself 793]

I saw that haha the guy is so shit its not even funny anymore

It's genuinely depressing.

[Stats 7,142]

That's pretty sad if true.

Torres DOES lack service then

They see Torres upfront and realise there is no point of doing a through ball because as usual he probably will do anything but score. His own teammates know he is that bad they are not bothered to even attempt a through ball to him

[Amblève. 4,995]

They see Torres upfront and realise there is no point of doing a through ball because as usual he probably will do anything but score. His own teammates know he is that bad they are not bothered to even attempt a through ball to him

It's pretty depressing I can see this being the truth, lol.

[Madmax 9,219]

It wasn’t something Jose Mourinho was so willing to touch upon last season, and he certainly didn’t mention it as much as he did the obvious flaws up front. Yet, now that Chelsea have made their major change in the area, the Portuguese was better prepared to discuss the other deciding factor that denied his team the 2013-14 English title. There were not just issues at centre-forward. There were also issues in the very centre of the pitch.

“We want to give the next dimension to our game in midfield,” Mourinho said last week. One less charitable description might be that his midfield has finally gone from a flat 2D to a more modern 3D, let alone any dimension beyond that.

The lack of imagination in his central pairing became painfully apparent in the game that probably most cost Chelsea the league, the 2-1 home defeat to Sunderland.

It certainly brought all of their issues to a head.

Although Mourinho so clearly lacked a main striker to put the ball in the net, he also lacked a midfield director to perceptively put the ball in the unseen dangerous areas when other avenues were closed off.

One stark feature of that game - as well as so many others - was the attacking trident of Eden Hazard and two others trying to make things happen but missing the nuance either in front or behind for their efforts to be consistently productive. They too often hit roadblocks. Those attackers could so often have done with a bit more dynamism either side, in order to alleviate the pressure on them to produce, and to let them hurt teams further forward. Chelsea as a whole, meanwhile, could simply have done with someone to suddenly direct the play.

It is no surprise Mourinho apparently asked for that type of deep midfielder last summer, or that there was initial interest in Xabi Alonso.

The stats make the problems as clear as some of the stagnation of their play. Chelsea attempted fewer through balls in the league last season than relegated Norwich - with an average of 1.4 per game - and far fewer than the rest of the top four.

That is all the more surprising because they focussed a higher proportion of their attacking touches through the middle of the pitch (30%) than any other side except Swansea - at 33%. The figures for individuals go even further.

Most conspicuously, none of Chelsea’s main central midfielders except Nemanja Matic even averaged 0.1 through balls per game, but the Serbian arrived halfway through the campaign and tended to occupy the more defensive role.

It is much the same story for key passes per match, with Chelsea’s central midfielders strikingly far down the list. Oscar, who was afforded the central role in the attacking trident most often, averaged only 1.5 per game and picked up just 2 assists

The problems are implicit, but Mourinho has made his solution explicit: their other high-profile signing this summer.

“[Cesc] Fábregas is the player we need to modify a little bit the profile of our game, which we need,” the Chelsea manager finally admitted. “Fábregas is this kind of player which I like to call ‘the seven’, because he’s not the six and he’s not the eight. Normally, the seven is the winger. I also call the 7 the guy in the midfield who’s a six and eight at the same time. So he’s a seven and we need him a lot.”

The stats also indicate that Fábregas is capable of providing a great deal, and certainly what Chelsea have lacked. Although he has not really played in that “seven” role since leaving Arsenal for Barcelona in 2011, due to the positioning of the likes of Xavi pushing him further forward, he is evidently adept at it. His figures make some reading.

If the former Arsenal midfielder can replicate anything like the impressive thrust he showed from his time in the centre while playing at the Emirates, then Mourinho has more than resolved his problem. The combination of Matic and Fábregas certainly looks one of the most complete midfield pairings on paper.

It certainly has so much more nuance than a one-dimensional John Obi Mikel alongside a Frank Lampard far off his driving best. Matic provides the range of movement and muscle, Fábregas then offers that next step that was so conspicuous by its absence over 2013-14.

It could well lead to Chelsea making the key step in 2014-15.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Each time I read we attempted fewer through balls than Norwich, it bemuses me.

How bad was our lack of movement to get less than 1.5 throughpasses per game?

This is another reason schurlle must start, we need the runs as much as the vision from fabregas.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

It's a typical Whoscored "stat attack" article that forces far-fetched stats together to prove a point. I've seen so much nonsense articles like that there. I tend not to take them seriously. For instance, it would have been more helpful if the author compared the stats from 2012/13 to 2013/14 to show it's a recurring problem we've had. The author then draws a conclusion that this must mean a "lack of imagination". The fact that Newcastle are up there in the so-called stat tells you everything you need to know. They were so "imaginative" under Pardew last season of course.

Seriously, the point is our possession based play, movement and attack build up paled in comparison to City and Liverpool last year. Or even Everton, a team with far less flair players and finances. They don't have a Fabregas or Hazard but they play much better than us. That's what we need to improve on drastically. The system. Fabregas might be a great player but just placing him into the starting XI isn't going to fix our problems. But whatever. I remain optimistic for the season of course.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Iceman10 (Forum Member) on Today, 6:06 pm

a_fourteen wrote:Seriously hope we dont boo him at the Emirates like Judas and Nasri. I dont miss him but booing him would be small time. Like Everton do with Arteta.

It all depends on Mourinho and his mind games and whether Cesc feels obliged to play along. Mourinho tried it a few weeks back in terms of saying that Cesc wanted to join Chelsea over Arsenal. Cesc has not played along so far, but that was likely the prelude, and going by the petty way that Mourinho has behaved in the past, inc. with RM Spanish players for having relationships with Barca Spanish players for the good of the NT, Cesc may eventually relent and play along with the mind games out of fear. I hope it does not happen.

GDeep (Forum Member) on Today, 6:21 pm

Cesc is a dirty little rent boy now, hope our fans let that be known... ARSE. :0)

I just think it's hilarious Arsenal fans spend most of their time in big matches booing players who have left and WON stuff.

Such a pathetic little fanbase.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Seriously, the point is our possession based play, movement and attacking build up paled in comparison to City and Liverpool last year. Or even Everton, a team with far less flair players and finances. That's what we need to improve on drastically. The system. Fabregas might be a great player but just placing him into the starting XI isn't going to fix our problems.

Filipe Luis will provide more attacking impetus to the left side given that he's an actual left back and will be more comfortable overlapping. The importance of overlaps from fullbacks in modern football as far as building attacks goes simply can't be overstated. Just watch City play. (or Liverpool or Barca or Madrid) When they are attacking, their fullbacks are basically wingers, they're so far up the pitch. Both at the same time too, both very comfortable in possession. We only ever really saw Ivanovic in advanced positions. Azpilicueta hardly ever ventured forward (no fault of his!) Except for the odd cross from Brana, his deliveries were sub-standard and he was/isn't comfortable on the ball. He really is more of a center-back. I hope Jose does something similar with Azpi and Luis with what Pellegrini does with Zabaleta and Kolarov. Pellegrini even does that in a 4-4-2 with one less man in central midfield and with a Toure who is always attacking. Most teams we face are very unambitious against us anyway. While it's a very physical league, there are many poor teams in it. We might as well go for it full on with more bodies in advanced positions next season and much quicker passing and movement from minute one. We can easily overwhelm teams with our quality in the first few minutes of games like Liverpool did. This is when defensive teams are at their most vulnerable.

Costa even without scoring at least will bother CB's with his presence and movement. He at least bothers defenders. (remember Torres vs Aston Villa away? Newcastle away? The list is endless) That inevitably leaves gaps for other players to exploit. He also plays like he wants to be found and never hides 5-10 metres by the wings, away from the 18 yard box like Torres. He fits perfectly into both an attacking and counter-attacking system like any good striker should. Costa at least plays in the box. We need to commit more players to the 18 yard box.

Sometimes last season, there were situations were we needed to score and the opposition had like 5-6 bodies in their penalty area but we had only 1 or 2 players there. This is why I was such a harsh critic of Willian last season. He does that a lot. I'll like to see a stat that shows how many touches he gets in the 18 yard box. What we see is many of our attacks breaking down after some sharp passing just outside the 18. It happens way too often. That's a consequence of not committing others forward and just leaving attacking moves to the "10's" and wingers.

Theoretically and on paper, it makes so much sense that we will win more games and more specifically, play much better football next season. I'm sure about the former, the latter is still in question. It certainly doesn't boil down to Fabregas and his through passes to drastically improve our attacks. However, I remain optimistic for the season of course.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

It certainly doesn't boil down to Fabregas and his through passes. However, I remain optimistic for the season of course.

I don't think the article was claiming that it boils down to Fabregas and his through passes. It's simply saying that, unlike our main rivals, last season we lacked a midfielder who does a lot of defence-splitting passes, which is absolutely true. It certainly doesn't boil down to Fabregas--or Hazard--or any single player to make us a better team as a whole, but it's undeniable that now we have more variety in attack than before.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

I don't think the article was claiming that it boils down to Fabregas and his through passes. It's simply saying that, unlike our main rivals, last season we lacked a midfielder who does a lot of defence-splitting passes, which is absolutely true. It certainly doesn't boil down to Fabregas--or Hazard--or any single player to make us a better team as a whole, but it's undeniable that now we have more variety in attack than before.

You can only make defense splitting passes when there's space to exploit. How do you split defenses with passes when teams like West Ham play like they did? The article is using one silly stat but the stat also shows Newcastle up there as well which is just, well, silly.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

You can only make defense splitting passes when there's space to exploit. How do you split defenses with passes when teams like West Ham play like they did? The article is using one silly stat but the stat also shows Newcastle up there as well which is just, well, silly.

True, but you're making it look like if there's space to exploit, any player can make successful through balls. It is not true. Many don't even attempt to pull them off. Fabregas likes--and is good--at making risky passes. Barcelona almost always plays against parked buses, so there's very little space, and Barcelona have no true runner CF in the team, yet Fabregas still managed to make most through balls in Europe. It's not always just about space. It's also about passing ability and reading the game.

We don't play against West Ham in every game, yet this is how many through balls our midfielders made last season:

Hazard - 7 successful/12 attempted

Matic - 3/3

Mata - 3/4

Ramires - 4/9

Willian - 0/4

Lampard - 1/6

Oscar - 1/2

Mikel - 1/1

This is frankly sad. Only Hazard tried--and succeeded at--riskier passes.

Fabregas - 24/48

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

True, but you're making it look like if there's space to exploit, any player can make successful through balls. It is not true. Many don't even attempt to pull them off. Fabregas likes--and is good--at making risky passes. Barcelona almost always plays against parked buses, so there's very little space, and Barcelona have no true runner CF in the team, yet Fabregas still managed to make most through balls in Europe. It's not always just about space. It's also about passing ability and reading the game.

We don't play against West Ham in every game, yet this is how many through balls our midfielders made last season:

Hazard - 7 successful/12 attempted

Matic - 3/3

Mata - 3/4

Ramires - 4/9

Willian - 0/4

Lampard - 1/6

Oscar - 1/2

Mikel - 1/1

This is frankly sad. Only Hazard tried--and succeeded at--riskier passes.

Fabregas - 24/48

I'm not picking on Cesc or anything but I doubt that particular stat is as significant as Miguel makes it. i get that he's writing for whoscored and has to throw about some of their statistics but then again, Fabregas was in Barca's midfield and they still struggled against defensive teams last season. I will like to see those stats from two seasons ago if you have a link to them.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

I'm not picking on Cesc or anything but I doubt that particular stat is as significant as Miguel makes it. i get that he's writing for whoscored and has to throw about some of their statistics but then again, Fabregas was in Barca's midfield and they still struggled against defensive teams last season. I will like to see those stats from two seasons ago if you have a link to them.

Chelsea midfielders' through balls in 2012-2013(whoscored):

Mata - 8/16

Luiz - 2/2

Lampard - 4/5

Hazard - 5/9

Mikel - 0/1

Ramires - 1/3

Oscar - 1/5

[kellzfresh 7,229]

True, but you're making it look like if there's space to exploit, any player can make successful through balls. It is not true. Many don't even attempt to pull them off. Fabregas likes--and is good--at making risky passes. Barcelona almost always plays against parked buses, so there's very little space, and Barcelona have no true runner CF in the team, yet Fabregas still managed to make most through balls in Europe. It's not always just about space. It's also about passing ability and reading the game.

We don't play against West Ham in every game, yet this is how many through balls our midfielders made last season:

Hazard - 7 successful/12 attempted

Matic - 3/3

Mata - 3/4

Ramires - 4/9

Willian - 0/4

Lampard - 1/6

Oscar - 1/2

Mikel - 1/1

This is frankly sad. Only Hazard tried--and succeeded at--riskier passes.

Fabregas - 24/48

To say those throughball stats are poor is an understatement. Wtf!!

That's why it seemed like we always gave the ball to ivanovic to cross or hazard to dribble 2defenders and cross as our only moves.

Just look at our supposed attacking midfielders through balls in 25+ games, I mean Matic came in January and gave more through balls than oscar and Willian combined

Let's hope it was because of torres that it was that bad. Costa will scream at pple this season, if they don't raise their heads up and spot his runs.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

To say those throughball stats are poor is an understatement. Wtf!!

That's why it seemed like we always gave the ball to ivanovic to cross or hazard to dribble 2defenders and cross as our only moves.

Just look at our supposed attacking midfielders through balls in 25+ games, I mean Matic came in January and gave more through balls than oscar and Willian combined

Let's hope it was because of torres that it was that bad. Costa will scream at pple this season, if they don't raise their heads up and spot his runs.

Of course it was because Torres was beyond dreadful. For contrast, the highest accurate through ball provider in Atletico last season was Koke with 9/15, then the others are low like ours as well. Didn't stop Costa scoring 36 goals.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Chelsea midfielders' through balls in 2012-2013(whoscored):

Mata - 8/16

Luiz - 2/2

Lampard - 4/5

Hazard - 5/9

Mikel - 0/1

Ramires - 1/3

Oscar - 1/5

The question is what does it actually prove. Newcastle were one of the least inspiring sides last season in terms of football but they 3rd, freaking 3rd on the list ahead of Man City! I checked that same stat for sides like Real, Bayern and PSG and it's just as low as ours.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

The question is what does it actually prove. Newcastle were one of the least inspiring sides last season in terms of football but they 3rd, freaking 3rd on the list ahead of Man City! I checked that same stat for sides like Real, Bayern and PSG and it's just as low as ours.

No, nowhere as low.

We make 1.4 per game, while our title rivals make: Liverpool 5, Arsenal 3.8, Manchester City 3.2, Manchester United 2, not to mention many others.

PSG - 2 per game, and only Monaco make more in the league

Real - 4 per game

Bayern - 2 per game, and it's the highest through ball rate in the league.

[Garden Of Eden 40]

Fabregas is defo gonna be up there for top assists.

[xPetrCechx 13,571]

It's your game Cesc!