Cesc Fabregas arrived at Chelsea FC tainted with the pretentious air that stains those who play for Arsenal and Barcelona, but his quality has shone through.
Chelsea’s recent league match with West Ham was nearing half time when Cesc Fabregas stood over a free kick just a bit beyond the outer reaches of the Hammer’s penalty area. This was notable for a couple reasons.
One, the sight of anyone not named ‘Willian’ sizing up a free kick in that area has been scarce this season, and not without justification. Jose Mourinho’s offensive strategy in his final days with the club seemed to be something to the effect of: ‘pray for Willian to score a free kick so I can keep my job.’
It was also notable, because despite his reputation for playing inch-perfect passes to his teammates, passing the ball into the back of the net has not exactly been a focal point for Fabregas in his deeper midfield role.
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Fabregas seemed to care little of roles and focal points when he whipped the ball into net’s top corner. It was an outstanding goal and his first of two equalizers in the match. His stutter-stepped penalty late in the second half gave Chelsea what felt like the 100th draw of Guus Hiddink’s interim tenure.
After a run a poor form that straddled the latter half of last season and the first half of this season, excellent performances like the one against West Ham are again becoming the norm for Fabregas. This is great, and it also makes me question everything I thought I knew about football.
Football fans (myself certainly included) can sometimes be guilty of thinking in absolutes. A team is either loved or they’re loathed. A player is either something approaching a deity or he is a repugnant human being out to destroy the world one goal or well-timed cross at a time.
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The tiki-taka of Barcelona and the tiki-taka-lite of Arsenal during Fabregas’ time with those clubs always seemed to sit in opposition with the more direct, bulldozing style Chelsea had cultivated since Mourinho’s first spell at the club. Derisive shouts of ‘bus parking’ after a low-possession Chelsea victory are usually going to emanate loudest from the Camp Nou and the Emirates.
Frank Lampard he was not. Michael Essien he was not. Fabregas appeared to embody every last one of the ‘style over substance’ platitudes that get flung around haphazardly when misty-eyed commentators discuss Barcelona and Arsenal. He also had an aversion to celery, which was not going to endear him to many Chelsea supporters.
I didn’t like him. It was irrational, but I was thinking in absolutes. Chelsea=good. Barcelona and Arsenal=bad. When news of his transfer to Chelsea appeared on my computer screen during the summer of 2014, my concern wasn’t centered on where in the starting eleven he was going to slot in, or what kind of chemistry he would develop in the midfield with Eden Hazard and Oscar. The concern was Chelsea signing a player with ‘Barcelona’ and ‘Arsenal’ listed prominently on his resume.
Those concerns and frustrations lasted just about as long as it took Fabregas to play his glorious chip pass to Andre Schurrle for Chelsea’s second goal last season against Burnley. In just a few short seconds, the heart of Burnley’s defense had been turned into the Washington Generals, and worries of nineteenth century football tactics casting their evil spell over the club for another season dissipated. Fabregas instantly looked to be just what Chelsea needed to carve up the compact defenses that had stalled the previous season’s title campaign.
There was directness apparent in Fabregas’ play that could be thought of as the antithesis of tiki-taka. Sideways and backwards passes for the sake of gaudy possession stats were what I expected, but instead I saw a player with a surgeon’s precision for hitting a pass that led to a scoring chance.
Maybe directness was an attribute Fabregas always possessed, and I just never noticed it through the royal blue haze that colors my view of the football world. It’s amazing how a change in laundry can alter your appreciation of a player.
When Diego Costa dug a hole in the Stamford Bridge pitch prior to his Champions League penalty kick against Chelsea while playing for Atletico Madrid, I was annoyed. Hypocritically, I then laughed hysterically at him baiting Arsenal’s Gabriel into a red card earlier this season. He was wearing a Chelsea shirt then, so it was okay. That’s silly, but that’s often how football fandom works.
Fabregas has thrived most in his Chelsea shirt while playing in a deeper central midfield role. The role affords him a better view of the pitch and a greater area to find his teammates sprinting up the field looking to ignite Chelsea’s attacks.
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It’s a role not dissimilar to the one in which Italian passing wizard Andrea Pirlo flourished under new Chelsea coach Antonio Conte. I am hopeful Fabregas will enjoy a similar success playing for Conte, and I would enjoy that success as long as their residency remains in west London.