Cesc Fabregas earned his way to a secure future in Chelsea’s squad

Cesc Fabregas has proven this season Chelsea made the right decision in keeping him, despite interest from other teams in the transfer window.

Cesc Fabregas’ future at Chelsea looked in doubt at one stage last season and again in the summer after the arrival of Tiemoue Bakayoko. Last year in the Premier League, the Spaniard only started 13 games and featured in 38% of Chelsea’s total minutes. This campaign he has already started 12 games. More importantly, he is looking again like a guaranteed starter in the big matches, featuring in well over 75% of the club’s Premier League minutes.

Antonio Conte explained earlier this week how Fabregas won him over:

"Cesc at the start of last season didn’t play a lot, but I was very happy because through the work he tried to change my mind and it happened. If you remember the second part of last season he started to play with regularity and first part of last season I played almost every game with [N’Golo] Kante and [Nemanja] Matic… This season he has continued to work very hard, showed me great commitment and behaviour and the coach has to make the best decision. – via Goal"

It is a testament to Fabregas’ professionalism that he has played his way back into the starting XI. Many other players would have simply sulked at being left on the bench and demanded a move.

The tactical shift to a 3-5-2 has certainly helped, giving him the freedom that he craves to build attacks from deep and control the tempo. Alongside Kante and Bakayoko / Drinkwater, Fabregas can concentrate more on his passing and less on his defending.

When Chelsea use this formation, the key is Fabregas’ support to the attacking players. Fabregas has taken on the extra responsibility – no other player in the squad has made more passes, key passes and through-balls. He also ranks third for long passes and has chipped in with three assists so far.

Fabregas spoke recently about his role in this system:

"It allows me to get into areas where I can be close to Eden [Hazard] and Alvaro [Morata] and create things. You could say freedom. We know the boss likes to have discipline in our system and game. In this way, we cover the pitch well. It’s working well. – The Independent"

Fabregas may still struggle  in a 3-4-3, as evident earlier in the season when Kante and Drinkwater were both injured. This formation, with Fabregas as one of the two, should only be used against lesser teams and when Kante is available to partner him. Too many times the opposition would overrun the Bakayoko-Fabregas midfield, leaving the defence exposed.

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Now on the wrong side of 30, Fabregas cannot and should not be playing 90 minutes every game, especially with Chelsea still active in four competitions. Antonio Conte should save him for the bigger occasions, or against teams who sit deep to try to frustrate Chelsea.