Cesc Fabregas Prepares Como for Tough Frosinone Challenge
Cesc Fabregas knows exactly where Como stand. And just as clearly, he knows where they don’t.
On Sunday afternoon at the Stadio Benito Stirpe, his newly-arrived Champions League side walk into what he calls one of the five toughest fixtures of their Serie A season, away to a fearless Frosinone. Talk of Scudetti, Roma, Inter and long-term revolutions? He batted that away with the sort of bluntness that used to define him in midfield.
‘I’ve won zero titles’
Asked whether he would be glued to Saturday’s Scudetto showdown between Roma and Inter – and whether Como belonged in that conversation – Fabregas didn’t even pretend.
“In my view, they are the two strongest teams in Italy. I will watch it because I love football and think it is going to be an incredible game, not because they are our direct competitors for position,” he said in his pre-match press conference.
The comparison some have tried to draw – Fabregas at Como as a kind of Johan Cruyff figure at Barcelona – was dismissed even more sharply.
“I am a long way from so many, let alone him. Jose Mourinho said there are coaches who have won titles and others who won zero titles, and I am in the latter camp.
“The most important thing is Como, not me. I am within this project and I give it my all.”
He circled back to the one thing he believes can truly turn Como’s meteoric rise into something lasting: time.
“The key for a coach is time to work, and I think this team has improved so much over the last two years. If we can continue with this same side for two, four, five years, then we can really do something, but if we change every six months, it’s difficult.”
From Serie B to the Champions League in three seasons, Como have scrambled the usual hierarchy and left everyone guessing about their ceiling. Fabregas, though, is determined not to let the story get ahead of itself.
Frosinone test ‘one of the five most difficult’
So he dragged the conversation back to Frosinone. Newly promoted, full of energy, and unbeaten in their last three with two wins and a draw, Massimiliano Alvini’s side have quickly shed the label of relegation fodder.
“It is going to be one of the five most difficult matches of our Serie A season,” Fabregas insisted.
“Frosinone are in great form, watching them I can see 11 friends giving their all for each other, they play with courage and on the front foot. We need the perfect performance and I really enjoyed seeing Massimiliano Alvini’s team in action.
“They have a fluidity and a very positive mentality, they’re a genuine danger for anyone they face, and if we want to win, we need our best performance of the season.”
The message was clear: forget the glamour of Napoli away, forget the spotlight of the Champions League. This, in a tight stadium against a united group playing with nothing to lose, is where a new project’s foundations are really tested.
Full squad, big call in goal
For the first time this season, Fabregas has a full squad to pick from. Jayden Addai is back on the bench after surgery on a torn Achilles tendon, a significant boost to Como’s attacking depth.
The bigger decision, though, sits between the posts.
Jean Butez has been the long-term No. 1, an ever-present until the last game. Robert Sanchez, on loan from Chelsea, has arrived with medals and experience of a club where pressure is constant.
“Sanchez arrived from a very important club, he won trophies and knows how to deal with constant pressure to win. We didn’t expect him to come here, but it’s important for every player to get rest, even the goalkeepers. The last game was the first time in a year and a half that Butez didn’t start.
“That was a test, we’ll take it one game at a time and see what happens.”
It’s a rare luxury for a club that so recently fought its way out of Serie B: two high-level goalkeepers, a fully fit squad, and a coach who refuses to let the noise about titles drown out the reality of the next 90 minutes.
Roma and Inter can argue over the Scudetto. On Sunday in Frosinone, Fabregas will find out if his Como side are ready to deliver that “perfect performance” he keeps demanding – or if this fast rise still has a few hard lessons left.
