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Discover the surprising tactical nuances of Cesc Fabregas's coaching style. While he emphasizes possession, his true genius lies in his relentless pressing game and adaptable formations. This video breaks down how his strategies could perfectly suit the current Chelsea squad and the demands of the Premier League.
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Chelsea need a new manager. Unfortunately, a certain ex-player has some of the most exciting
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tactics in football and those tactics seem perfectly suited to the players at Stamford Bridge
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I'm Jacob Orlesford, 442's resident tactician and this is why Cesc Fabregas is the perfect
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appointment for Chelsea Football Club. To understand how things could potentially look
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for the Blues, we first got to establish Fabregas' football philosophy. His Como side have the most
0:28
possession in the Serie A this season, yet this is sixth for most passes per sequence, which is
0:34
important because contrary to popular belief, Cesc Fabregas isn't just another positionalism coach
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Fabregas playing under Pep in that style leads people to believe he's part of the Pep dynasty
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but he isn't, not really. Yes, the centre-backs will split and build up, the full-backs will go
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high and wide and the central midfielders will come in short to try and receive the ball, which
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is a pattern that many would associate with that typical possession football but Cesc Fabregas isn't
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a typical coach and has his own little tweaks to change that build up. In possession they will
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always try and have this back four at the back which means when the attackers get the ball they
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can take more risk because they've got that safety net of a back four already waiting behind them
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For example on the opposite side of the ball they go man to man this pushes the Genoa defenders over
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and creates one v one on the ball side of the pitch. Those rotations of players into different
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zones are constant and fluid, which is why Cuomo can play in small overloads consistently and get
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at the opposition. But he's not just this attacking, inventive coach. Fabregas wants his team to really
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really press the opposition relentlessly. I mean, no team has scored more goals from high turnovers
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than Cuomo have this season, which is really the way Fabregas separates himself from the typical
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possession and control first managers. This situation is common in Cuomo's press. They try
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to force the opposition to play that pass towards the touchline so they can cut off all the passing
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angles and really hound the player who receives it in the wide areas. They do that by having this
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mark off the back passing option with three Cornwall players already ready to jump to try and pin that
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guy who's about to receive it by the touchline. Then being man-to-man and having that eagerness to
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jump onto the next pass means that the pressing distances are constantly minimal for Cornwall
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which means they can constantly apply loads of pressure to the ball. Now considering they have
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the most possession in Serie A, that is quite surprising. A high intensity press constantly
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looking to turn the ball over isn't something you would typically associate with one of the
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highest possession teams in Europe's top five leagues. But Coma have the fewest passes against
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per defensive action in Serie A this season, despite having loads of the ball. So as much as
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having a lot of the ball playing free flow and attacking football is important Being absolute hound dogs who try and nick the ball at every opportunity is also a key philosophy that Cesc Fabregas has Now for the real question
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why have I emphasised these key points of Cesc Fabregas's football, from the pressing to the
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attacking rotations to the build-up play? Well, because this blend of idealism and pragmatism
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is perfectly suited to not just Chelsea, but the modern state of the Premier League. This was Liam
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Rossini's last lineup for Chelsea. The team speaks for itself, a runner up top, two high intensity
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wide players and a somewhat technical midfielder. Yet, Chelsea in that game had just 47% possession
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Now, possession isn't the end of the world and you can win games without having a lot of the ball, but Liam Rossini is someone who puts possession at the forefront of his footballing ideas
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which means that his rest defense can be a little bit weak as he looks to bomb players forward to
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try and control games, which obviously led to them conceding three goals to Brighton. Fabregas
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finds the midpoint. He finds something between position football and pragmatism and security
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so he changes Chelsea entirely. The back line would look something like this, with everyone
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fitting. These fullbacks are essential. At times, the fullback will hold the width if their winger
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goes central. They'll then be encouraged to be a winger themselves and take their man on. That
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as a result, pulls the opposition toward the ball and gives space for the winger to operate in that
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central area. However, the fullbacks aren't exclusively width holders. They're not always
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getting chalk on the boots by the touchline. If the winger is by the touchline and looks to go
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direct toward the goal on the outside, then the fullback role changes. They'll be expected to make
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darting runs on the inside to overlap and give the winger a wide 1v1. Basically, these lads
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their in-possession job rotates about what these blokes want to do. If they go inside, the fullback
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goes outside. If they go outside, the fullback goes inside. It's somewhat basic stuff on paper
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but their out-of-possession job, that becomes a lot more complicated for the team. The left-back
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commit tie to join the press here, which means this central midfielder has dropped back in to
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maintain Cuomo's back four at all times, which as we've mentioned is essential. So when we look at
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this team, naturally, Cucurea and Rhys James are the ideal fits. When we look at them on an athletic
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level, Cucurea will be happy to jump and join that press and Rhys James and Cucurea both have
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the technical level to serve in those final third moments. But that leads us on to our midfielders
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who do we have at the core of a potential Cesc Fabregas Chelsea team? Well, the midfield's quite
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a nice area for Chelsea, something that Blueco have actually built somewhat well. And there's
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a few players you could fit into these roles. Moises Caicedo has played as a fullback previously
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and his ability to cover distance and win duels at a ridiculous rate makes him pretty
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perfect for that kind of filler role, that holding midfield destroyer position. So that
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gives us our backline it gives us one of our midfield pivot players but what about the partner Well Fabregas midfield often becomes more of a triangle with his holding player being the one who usually does that auxiliary filling in at full and in defence
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Which is positive news for the Chelsea squad and the way Chelsea have been built
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We saw at the weekend that Leeds tried to target Enzel Fernandes, trying to get him into 1v1s by pinning Malo Gusto on the inside
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Now, they did that not only because Noah Okafor is good in 1v1s, but more so because Enzel Fernandes isn't good in 1v1s
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He's not a good wide defender. So if he was to slot in here and we move things to be a little bit more like this
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then Enzo Fernandes could be a really, really nice option for Fabregas if he comes to Chelsea
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His ability to get into the box and score goals whilst also be a serious central creative threat
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having the second most expected assists in the Chelsea squad this season, is ideal for Fabregas' risky rotation-based football
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So that's the foundation sorted from the back four to the two deeper midfielders
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But we need the number 10 fixing because that's a really important role. Here, we see that 3-4 build-up common in Flaurogas' football
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You've got two central players who've come deep to receive the ball from the back line
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But one of those players is the attacking midfielder. Him taking up this position here means that his actual marker doesn't want to commit that high to press him
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which means he can receive on the half turn and then drive into a ton of open space
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That attacking midfielder is Nico Paz, one of the most exciting young players in world football
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who has been given license to roam pretty much freely within the structure at Como
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But Chelsea don't have a Nico Paz. They've got a Cole Palmer
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For me, Palmer fits into that role perfectly. And he could really build some nice rotations with someone like Enzo Fernandes
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Because Palmer, at his best, receives in all areas. And he's given that creative freedom to almost do what he wants
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Because he's cold with it. That's one of the worst jokes we've had, I reckon
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But it is somewhat right. Because Pochettino was the one who gave Cole Palmer the best season he's ever had, really
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by giving him that license to do whatever he wanted. The last two Chelsea managers have stripped that away from him
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Enzo Moresca had that positionalist approach where he tried to keep things very rigid
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to secure Chelsea out of possession whilst also creating chances. Liam Rossini has similar ideas
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but in more of an attacking emphasis manner and a weaker out of possession approach
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But in both teams, Cole Palmer has suffered. So putting him in that number 10
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giving him that free roll to operate wherever he wants to go, could get Cole Palmer back to his very best
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But before we get into who Palma will be supplying in the Chelsea attack, a quick one for me to tell you about our latest offer here at 442
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Right now, we've got up to 50% off all of our magazine subscription plans
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Whether you're signing up for a short-term six-month deal or you have plans to go a little bit longer
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if you click the link in the description you get the latest 442 magazine dropped off at your door every single month And if that wasn enough by signing up now you get our next issue the World Cup issue completely free It comes with a World Cup wall chart and supplement as well
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So the link's in the description if you want to get on it, and I don't know why you wouldn't
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But for now, let's get back to the video, because we've got to work out who Fabregas is going to have scoring his goals if he comes to Chelsea
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Now, the wide players in Cesc Fabregas' team have many different roles
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Both of them need to be able to shift inside to link with the central players and the overlapping fullback
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But we also need them to go very very direct Jesus Rodriguez and Martin Batarina both sit in the top five corner players for shots per 90
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Whilst also sitting the top five for successful dribbles per 90 now Chelsea definitely have an interesting
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Set of wingers. They've got Garnaccio and Neto who are both very direct
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but with minimal output and are really secure in possession, which could be a problem for Cesc Fabregas
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However, William Estevão has to be in this team. He's someone who is a shoo-in
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So, Bosh, that's our right winger. But the left winger, that's a little bit more difficult
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I think a new arrival would be best. Someone who can shift on the inside and rotate with the midfielders
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to create those small space overloads, which is pretty mental that we're talking about
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trying to get a more technical winger, considering how much Chelsea have spent
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but it is the reality. For now, I think I would lean towards Pedro Nettel
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Out of possession, he is relentless which is key to Fabregas' philosophy. He also has that ability to be really, really direct
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even if the end product isn't there. To be honest with you, out of a bad bunch of players to fit Fabregas
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Nettel's probably the best option. So we've got pretty much the full team but we've got to go upstairs now to the striker
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Who is going to score the goals? Well, it's Giao Pedro. Jao Pedro is in every day of the week and twice on a Sunday
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A Fabrica striker needs to be able to occupy defenders in the box to create space for that front three behind him to create chances
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They also need to be a relatively dominant force to be able to win balls that come into the area and hold up play
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And we also need them to join in with some cheeky rotations if needs must
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Fortunately, Jao Pedro can do all of them things. He has such a high technical and physical flaw
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that means he can play in pretty much any system under pretty much any manager
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So this is the potential team if Fabregas takes over Chelsea ladies and gentlemen
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which would be a generational appointment in my opinion. His football is the way forward for Europe's top clubs
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It blends pragmatism with nice attacking control possession football. So would you be happy with Cesc Fabregas or is there even a chance of Chelsea luring him away from Como
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He's got a pretty exciting project going on over there. let me know in the comments below
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because this is going to be an interesting summer for Chelsea as it usually is at Chelsea Football Club
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under Blue Cool I've been Jacob Oldsford this has been 442 we'll be back next week
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with some more beautiful tactical ysis
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