Cesc Fàbregas

[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 13,563]

It's your game Cesc!

[The Chels 2,502]

Ramires

[Daniel1980 1,425]

https://twitter.com/PUMA/status/501364108349153280
"Wenger is a bellend"

Can't believe Puma actually posted this.

[Madmax 9,219]

https://vine.co/v/M3DVKATgvYL

Jizz ... jizz everywhere ...

[Jusek 2,031]

fabfabfabfabfabfabfab

[Garden Of Eden 40]

Utterly Fabregased

[DYC. 7,542]

Cesc with the throughest of all balls for the 2nd goal. The whole stadium and everyone in it just froze.

The guy is reminding me why I rated him so highly during his time at Arsenal.

2 assists and counting.