You have to be in control of your follow through if you only just touch the ball in the modern game.

Saw this on twitter and had a laugh.

 

Cesc Fabrecat.

Ha ha, matches nicely with the Didier dogbra one.

That finish against Everton was expertly taken. A slow paced version of that brilliant Oscar goal a season back.

 

Something seem's off about Fabregas this season. I thought working in a 3 man midfield would work perfectly for him, but even in that role he can't seem to control a game. What's odd to see is the amount of misplaced passes he seem's to making, it's very unlike Fabregas. Hopefully it's just a bit of a dip in form because this new role should be exactly what he needed.

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Something seem's off about Fabregas this season.

is it? he got shafted from barcelona after they had invested massive resources in getting him "back" from arsenal. his defensive discipline didn't cut it. he doesn't get call ups for the national team anymore, a team that often fields three, four or even five midfield players. no formation can hide such a gaping hole in the middle of the pitch.

i've always thought that fabregas has been over rated. he was, and still is, a free roaming maverick with little to no defensive responsibility who you hope can deliver that final pass. if he doesn't, it's basically like playing 10 men. other playmakers in his mould has more to them that makes them useful. pirlo and kroos (number 6's) are/were waaaay better under pressure and have/had a way better understanding of the pace of the game. modric, thiago, koke (number 8's) etc are way more explosive and can contribute to their teams defensively and offensively without needing the ball.

modern football is played at a supersonic tempo, and fabregas is being left behind. 20 years ago he would have competed for all individual honors, now he's a luxury teams cannot afford (which spain and barcelona has realized). fabregas is a football genius born in an office workers body, and i feel that if we ever are going to reach the top of europe again, fabregas' role should be reduced to the bench and cameos when we need (and can afford his deficiencies) his talents.

14 minutes ago, opinionsarelike said:

is it? he got shafted from barcelona after they had invested massive resources in getting him "back" from arsenal. his defensive discipline didn't cut it. he doesn't get call ups for the national team anymore, a team that often fields three, four or even five midfield players. no formation can hide such a gaping hole in the middle of the pitch.

i've always thought that fabregas has been over rated. he was, and still is, a free roaming maverick with little to no defensive responsibility who you hope can deliver that final pass. if he doesn't, it's basically like playing 10 men. other playmakers in his mould has more to them that makes them useful. pirlo and kroos (number 6's) are/were waaaay better under pressure and have/had a way better understanding of the pace of the game. modric, thiago, koke (number 8's) etc are way more explosive and can contribute to their teams defensively and offensively without needing the ball.

modern football is played at a supersonic tempo, and fabregas is being left behind. 20 years ago he would have competed for all individual honors, now he's a luxury teams cannot afford (which spain and barcelona has realized). fabregas is a football genius born in an office workers body, and i feel that if we ever are going to reach the top of europe again, fabregas' role should be reduced to the bench and cameos when we need (and can afford his deficiencies) his talents.

 

Nailed it.

1 hour ago, opinionsarelike said:

Fabregas is a football genius born in an office workers body.

Last season he was mostly on the bench and came on if we needed a goal or simply rest of the starters. I understand him starting this season because hazard was injured and bakayoko wasnt fully fit.

We now have a fully fit team and Drinkwater coming back after the international break he needs to go back to the bench and be used just like we did last season.

Finally he can be on the bench and come on IF required against the swans/villas/fulhams (with all due respect) of the league.

On 02/10/2017 at 11:05, Drogbaholic said:

Last season he was mostly on the bench and came on if we needed a goal or simply rest of the starters. I understand him starting this season because hazard was injured and bakayoko wasnt fully fit.

We now have a fully fit team and Drinkwater coming back after the international break he needs to go back to the bench and be used just like we did last season.

If Conte needed a reminder, i'm sure he got it the weekend. Starting with Cesc in the team either up top or in deep, in a mid 2 or 3, if you have not got much possession he's out of the game and wasted.

It's not his fault, it's just how it is, he can't compete with younger, bigger, stronger, faster players. He has to have ball possession in space with time to create those moments of genius.

He's ideal to bring off the bench when we are struggling to open a team up but have a lot of ball possession, and those younger fitter players are exhausted. I'm sure Conte will remember this now.

I like fabregas alot. He can be incredible to watch at times, but I agree long term he shouldn't be starting games as often. 

However I think it's important to point out that he has been relied on for creativity this season, because hazard, pedro, and Willian, have either been injured or in poor form, and bakayoko is only just finding his feet. 

Maybe with hazard back we will see fabregas drop to the bench, but I still think it leaves a massive burden on hazard to produce the goods, especially with morata out. 

Hazard once said in an interview that the slowest players in the Chelsea team are John Terry & Fabregas, he couldn't decide out of the two. That was last season, quite scary when you think about it. 

But I think some of the comments in here are over the top, he's had like what? Two poor games in a row? Besides that, he's still an assist machine, the only player that can link up really well with Hazard which many people have conveniently forgotten on here. As soon as he starts scoring & assisting like he usually does I'm sure this will all be put to bed. 

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

Hazard once said in an interview that the slowest players in the Chelsea team are John Terry & Fabregas, he couldn't decide out of the two. That was last season, quite scary when you think about it. 

But I think some of the comments in here are over the top, he's had like what? Two poor games in a row? Besides that, he's still an assist machine, the only player that can link up really well with Hazard which many people have conveniently forgotten on here. As soon as he starts scoring & assisting like he usually does I'm sure this will all be put to bed. 

The league gets stronger every year, interesting point re Hazard connection as he has been missing yet I recall Fab finding Diego with his passing ability. Now we have Azpi finding Morata though that is in now on hold for a month. Thought, when we play sides as strong or stronger than us then their WBs push ours back which means if Fab gets the ball both our front two have two men marking them as they know Fab can't run past them. Unfortunately we have played 3 of the top three physically strong sides already in the first 7 games.

Of course in the other matches where Alonso and Moses can get forward then our front two are more likely to get the ball as less markers giving Fab more opportunity for assists. It is not easy to fit him in the game these days as it is becoming more physically stronger each season.

Edited October 3, 20178 yr by strider6004

4 hours ago, Slojo said:

Hazard once said in an interview that the slowest players in the Chelsea team are John Terry & Fabregas, he couldn't decide out of the two. That was last season, quite scary when you think about it. 

But I think some of the comments in here are over the top, he's had like what? Two poor games in a row? Besides that, he's still an assist machine, the only player that can link up really well with Hazard which many people have conveniently forgotten on here. As soon as he starts scoring & assisting like he usually does I'm sure this will all be put to bed. 

That is how fans are. Jekyll and Hyde. They will slate a player when not doing well. Then he will have his moments and others will give rave about him then there are the ones who go into hiding when he puts in top notch performances. Fabregas is a top CM who has limitations like all other CM. But he has qualities that no other CM in the prem has with his passing. He soon will be silencing people like you said. Just come end of the season we will see how vital his creativity will be.

1 hour ago, STATS said:

That is how fans are. Jekyll and Hyde. They will slate a player when not doing well. Then he will have his moments and others will give rave about him then there are the ones who go into hiding when he puts in top notch performances. Fabregas is a top CM who has limitations like all other CM. But he has qualities that no other CM in the prem has with his passing. He soon will be silencing people like you said. Just come end of the season we will see how vital his creativity will be.

Fabregas is a lethargic player, you can watch one game and work that out. But he has one of the best football IQ's in the sport, do people really think he's not worthy of this side? He performs much better as a squad player, he was phenomenal last season. I don't think the people who are wanting him sold now have even watched him this season, he's created a sh*t tonne of chances as he always does, we lose him and you'll see a big hindrance in the side when we need someone to make the pass. 

Physical limitations do not make Fabregas a bad player, or unfit to be a top-tier player. I'm shocked when I see people wanting him sold, Willian I'll see your point but Fabregas? Who do we replace him with? We can't get David Silva or Juan Mata. 

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

Fabregas is a lethargic player, you can watch one game and work that out. But he has one of the best football IQ's in the sport, do people really think he's not worthy of this side? He performs much better as a squad player, he was phenomenal last season. I don't think the people who are wanting him sold now have even watched him this season, he's created a sh*t tonne of chances as he always does, we lose him and you'll see a big hindrance in the side when we need someone to make the pass. 

Physical limitations do not make Fabregas a bad player, or unfit to be a top-tier player. I'm shocked when I see people wanting him sold, Willian I'll see your point but Fabregas? Who do we replace him with? We can't get David Silva or Juan Mata. 

Fabregas has zero pace but he runs his nuts off every game. He isn't lethargic, he's just painfully slow. He's still a fabulous player, though. We just have to ensure his slowness doesn't leave us exposed. I think it's become clear that he's most effective when coming off the bench against a tiring team. He's a joy to watch when he does that.

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

Fabregas is a lethargic player, you can watch one game and work that out. But he has one of the best football IQ's in the sport, do people really think he's not worthy of this side? He performs much better as a squad player, he was phenomenal last season. I don't think the people who are wanting him sold now have even watched him this season, he's created a sh*t tonne of chances as he always does, we lose him and you'll see a big hindrance in the side when we need someone to make the pass. 

Physical limitations do not make Fabregas a bad player, or unfit to be a top-tier player. I'm shocked when I see people wanting him sold, Willian I'll see your point but Fabregas? Who do we replace him with? We can't get David Silva or Juan Mata. 

Even those players you mentioned do not have passing range of Fabregas. Look for instance in the game at City last season when we on 3-1. They were all over us until he done that magic long pass for Costa. No other player in the PL has that type of vision and pass ability to execute something like that. Absolutely priceless. Don't know what people think sometimes. When the team clicks more just watch how much joy Morata will have from Fabregas passing combined with his movement.

45 minutes ago, STATS said:

Even those players you mentioned do not have passing range of Fabregas. Look for instance in the game at City last season when we on 3-1. They were all over us until he done that magic long pass for Costa. No other player in the PL has that type of vision and pass ability to execute something like that. Absolutely priceless. Don't know what people think sometimes. When the team clicks more just watch how much joy Morata will have from Fabregas passing combined with his movement.

That"s true but it also underlines the catch 22 situation with Cesc, as he was one of the main reason's City were all over us.

1 hour ago, Argo said:

That"s true but it also underlines the catch 22 situation with Cesc, as he was one of the main reason's City were all over us.

It would have been the same with any other player against a team who play football the way City do. They would have helped cover more ground but even then we still would be outplayed over the pitch. In fact, Kante was much more error prone than Fabregas in that game last season imo. Lost possession easily a couple times and conceded 1 or 2 silly fouls.

9 hours ago, STATS said:

Even those players you mentioned do not have passing range of Fabregas. Look for instance in the game at City last season when we on 3-1. They were all over us until he done that magic long pass for Costa. No other player in the PL has that type of vision and pass ability to execute something like that. Absolutely priceless. Don't know what people think sometimes. When the team clicks more just watch how much joy Morata will have from Fabregas passing combined with his movement.

The way the game is developing or has developed, there is not much place for vanity players like Cesc.

Yes, he is one of the best passers, but sadly thats IT!!!

Something as essential as shielding of the ball, he is poor, which is really strange considering the fact that he played with the likes of Xavi and Iniesta and he would have learned something from the masters of ball shielding in his 3 year tenure. He loses possession often, he is defensively absolutely INEPT. Again, for someone who has played for barca, his pressing is atrocious. 

Cesc can play the magic ball, but in a league where there are so many Top teams (top 6 + the likes of everton [or rather what they should be]+soton), Cesc is redundant for half of the games. As a squad player + an impact sub, cesc is great. But I would rather want a more complete player if conte wants to move to a mid 3.

But united seem to be able to include Mata and city silva 

18 minutes ago, barak81 said:

But united seem to be able to include Mata and city silva 

But both of those are more reliable off the ball, small nippy players in your face type. Cesc is a stand off player, he waits for the ball, he doesn't chase it.

11 hours ago, Argo said:

That"s true but it also underlines the catch 22 situation with Cesc, as he was one of the main reason's City were all over us.

Tbh the whole team was bad, Kante and Baka looked poor and outplayed.