Cesc Fàbregas

[nadavTKL 1,787]

But yeah, I am not a big fan of having Fabregas and Matic as two deep midfielders when we defend. It makes Matic over work, and it makes Cesc burn out and lose the cutting edge and precision needed for his passing.

Question is, how are we supposed to play? what are we supposed to do? playing Cesc in #10 means no Deep Lying Playmaker, no creativeness in center midfield, against the best teams when you need to move the ball quick it wouldnt work too well.

If you want more steel and power in midfield the best solution for us is a box-to-box CM, someone who can defend well, link up well, attack well, obviously very dynamic, someone who would let Cesc stay as the DLP.

Koke, Vidal, Pogba - they would make it work probably. I think Willian and Oscar (when in form) could play in a similar role, but to this point Willian isnt playing centrally, and when we're facing a strong team Oscar is benched for Ramires.

I love Cesc as a player, think he is the 2nd most important player when we're attacking, but him as the DLP is proven to be a big problem for Jose and our development as a team.

Jose is yet to find REAL solutions to this problem. His best solution is Ramires and he seems to think he cant get a better solution in this transfer window. I would take Witsel, but its mainly because im tired of Ramires and his nonsense, not because i think having Witsel (who is a DM who sits deep, similar to Matic) is the way to go or the missing piece we need to be complete. If Witsel would play here, after some time we'll all say the same - we're slow in the build up, we're attacking with four players max, we're predictable. "Its not ideal and we need better than that". We'll control games better than with Ramires, pass better, but Ramires on the other hand is box-to-box, he lets Cesc stay deep when the manager wants it, and he's joining the attacks around the box.

Another problem which is the reason we cant regret buying Cesc or drop him or move him further up the pitch - there arent any world class DLPs in the market, never. It took us years to find Cesc available, and we were very lucky.

As long as Koke and Pogba wont come to play for us, and there isnt a quality DLP in the market, the best solution IMO for this "Balance Problem" or "Big Games Problem" is in our own squad - Oscar (or Willian). Jose should work on getting Oscar-Matic-Cesc to be a reliable trio when defending.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

^^^Matic-Oscar-Willian.

Think of it as the poor man's Maka-Lamps-Essien.

[zolayes 14,489]

^^^Matic-Oscar-Willian.

Think of it as the poor man's Maka-Lamps-Essien.

or BALLACK BALLACK BALLACK

[iseah100 5,612]

He needs a workhorse next to him. Should give willian a shot

[Barbara 15,149]

He'll be fine, just like the rest of the team. Mourinho won't move from 4-2-3-1, but a 4-3-3 with Oscar supporting him is still the system I like the most.

[Styles 9,790]

If Fabregas produces a stinker today it will only strengthen my growing belief that he needs to be dropped in the big games / latter stages of Champions League.

[Fernando 6,585]

Pretty wasteful.

But then again he also sucks in big games.

Barcelona fans was right about this guy going missing in the big games.

[iseah100 5,612]

As bad as anyone. Awful set pieces, bullied off the ball, no creativity.

[DYC. 7,542]

He deserves to be benched for the next couple of big games. But the other options aren't good enough, to put it politely. Quite the dilemma.

[yuvala 2,167]

Pretty wasteful.

But then again he also sucks in big games.

Barcelona fans was right about this guy going missing in the big games.

Is any of our players NOT missing in big games?

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Diabolical. Can't fully blame him though. A player like him is bound to look like a deer in the headlights playing for this Mourinho side.

[Oscar 441]

You cannot bench Cesc when Jose parks the bus.

Cesc is the designated set piece taker and hazard is the one man counter attack...

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

Sadly, it looks like his talent has been coached out of him and replaced with some basic slide tackling ability

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

You cannot bench Cesc when Jose parks the bus.

Cesc is the designated set piece taker and hazard is the one man counter attack...

yeah has worked brilliantly so far.

If this is the only reason to play Fabregas in a big game, I propse hazard also starts practising set pieces.

[Styles 9,790]

One of our so-called best players but plays bad to average every time we play a top team.

So bad sometimes he has to be hidden in different positions ( #10 role).