Imagine we kept Ramires and sold Matic. Ramires - Fabregas - Kante would have legs for days, lungs for days, and attacking intent for days. Goodnight. I miss our Brazilian with braces. I'll never miss our Serbian Eiffle Tower.

Fabregas needs to start against the big clubs.  When he came on we were the more dangerous team.  Gen is just so calm on the ball and makes the right decision 99% of the time 

Michael Ballack's Girlfriend interviewing Cesc

 

 

1 assist and 1 goal in his last 3 cameos, and he didn't even play for an hour, quite amazing.

He's the assist king...

hope he stays for next season, he really is the super-sub of the league

but know he wants to start every game, hopefully winning trophies will keep him happy ;)

He's the assist king...

The best midfielder in the EPL for me. I can't swap him even for Pogba.

The guy is the closest to Xavi in my opinion.

Mail have Cesc the 3rd highest earner in the EPL at £220k a week.

Was quite surprised at that, then again its the mail.....

35 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Mail have Cesc the 3rd highest earner in the EPL at £220k a week.

Was quite surprised at that, then again its the mail.....

This on the week where Wikipedia have decided the Daily Mail are not a reliable source. 

On 2/8/2017 at 21:47, wallosh said:

The best midfielder in the EPL for me. I can't swap him even for Pogba.

I'd be inclined to agree.

3 hours ago, Chelsbear said:

Mail have Cesc the 3rd highest earner in the EPL at £220k a week.

Was quite surprised at that, then again its the mail.....

 

2 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

This on the week where Wikipedia have decided the Daily Mail are not a reliable source. 

I found Daily Mail a lot more reliable than the red tops who do seem to rather embellish their fairy tales.

Conte compared Fabregas to Pirlo, and said Cesc is a genius like Pirlo

Quote

The manager drew comparisons between the Blues ace and Italy legend Pirlo, who Conte had under his wing at Juventus.

“Cesc is a top player and is a genius at football," he said. "I can talk in the same way about Andrea Pirlo. We are talking about a genius of football.

"Cesc doesn't run 100 metres in 10 seconds, but I can allow him this because he's a genius with the ball. His velocity is in his mind. With Cesc we are working on tactical aspects and to improve his position." 

“Sometimes you must make the decision and look at the balance of the team," he added. "Sometimes you must make different decisions. Cesc is an important player and I always try to put him in the best condition to give us his best for the team.

"I'm very pleased with him. Don't forget N'Golo Kante is playing in his place and a lot of people say that he is the best player in the league. Then there is Nemanja Matic, who I think is playing in an outstanding way.

"When you have two players playing so well it's not easy. It's the same for Willian and Pedro. For me, sometimes it's difficult to sleep and to make the best decision. I prefer to have this type of problem.

"The most important thing is these players are totally involved in the team. Cesc is playing with us and is very important for the team and I’m pleased about this.”

 

 

Speaking of him being like Pirlo, that's the way I thought it was going to be in the beginning with Cesc as a nailed on starter. 

Unless I'm wrong, Juve thrived having Pirlo in a role where he didn't have to do much running and could be a ball player (supported by the legs of Marchisio and Vidal). 

 

Now, I know Cesc has looked good just about every time he's featured this season, but has he been paired with Kante/Matic yet? I think he could truly play like Pirlo did if he had those two supporting him. 

I'm not sure how we could fit him in with those two without switching to a 4 at the back, though. 

He came in too late today and we should have continued with the 3-4-3 formation since we wanted all 3 points.

I had a starting XI weeks ago playing Cesc in front of Matic and Kanye, but meant dropping either Moses or Alonso

..........................Courtois..........................

...........Dave.........Luiz......Cahill...................

..................Kante.........Matic......................

.........................Cesc...................................

Pedro...............Costa.............Hazard..........

Great game today alongside Kante. When the oposition don't pay enough attention, or put enough pressure on him, then he will destroy them with his vision, passing and positioning. I hope he continues to start in our next games.

Cesc Fabregas has now been directly involved in more league goals (10) than Mesut Ozil (9) this season, despite playing 1227 fewer minutes.

Simply has to start more Games, he's miles better than Matic

Magic hat.

I'm happy to see him scoring and assisting, his professionalism this season has really impressed me. Player on his level can't sit on the bench, but he did and every chance he got, he proved himself. 

Excellent performance by Fabregas and great to see that Conte's decision to select him in the starting 11 proved to be a wise one in the end. He was my MOTM.

Deserves to start against West Ham.

Great game today alongside Kante. When the oposition don't pay enough attention, or put enough pressure on him, then he will destroy them with his vision, passing and positioning. I hope he continues to start in our next games.

He doesn't have the legs.

The great enigma.

We play better football with Cesc in the side, that is undeniable, however in a midfield two that leads to his partner having to do the defensive work of two men which I believe is a major factor in why Matic has fallen off a cliff so badly. I would hate the same to happen to Kante.

The next option is 3-5-2 with Kante and a new arrival like Bakayoko protecting his flaws, but on the flip side that will mean Pedro out and he is really starting to come into his own in a blue shirt.

Great problem to have but problem never theless. On the whole I think Conte has got his use of Cesc right (especially since December), he is using him when the situation requires (let's be honest there were times under Jose Cesc was targeted by opposition) and its paying dividends.

If Conte can convince Cesc to play this role from next season on that will be great, but if he left his boyhood club because he didn't accept that, Antonio will need a big sales pitch.