- 4 hours ago
When Cesc Fabregas left Chelsea in 2019, Como we stuck in the 4th division of Italian football. Now, sit on the verge of a shock Champions League qualification, having beaten Lazio, Roma, Juventus, and upset Serie A's established order. Adam Clery looks at their season, and the man behind it, to show why Fabregas might well be the next elite European manager.
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00:00Right, hello everybody, welcome to the Adam Cleary Football Channel, and you may or may not be aware of what
00:05is currently going on with this man.
00:08Cesc Fabregas, you remember him, he's currently in charge of Italian side Como 1907, who, as recently as just 2019,
00:17were mired in the 4th division of Italian football.
00:21Siri D, as they unsurprisingly call it, they were flirting with bankruptcy, the stadium was falling apart, it was all
00:28going quite badly wrong.
00:30And yet, right now, they are on the verge of a shock European qualification, routinely upsetting the Italian establishment on
00:38the pitch,
00:39swimming in highly lucrative brand deals offered, constantly attended by some of the most famous people you've ever seen at
00:46a game of football,
00:47and through to a first ever Coppa Italia final, is what I would have said had they not conceded an
00:5789th minute goal last night, which was obviously quite annoying.
01:00But while this is obviously a story rooted in the ownership situation and how they've invested,
01:05you do not finish 10th in your first season back in the top flight and then jump straight back into
01:11the nosebleeds of the league
01:12without something absolutely miraculous happening in the dugout and on the pitch.
01:19And it is not an exaggeration to say that most of the credit for that lies squarely with Cesc Fabregas.
01:27This, by and large, has been his Como team this season and they are a fascinating football side full of
01:36contradictions.
01:36They work and they win in a lot of ways you're not really supposed to be able to.
01:42And as such, both the team itself and its manager are regarded as amongst the most exciting things in European
01:50football right now.
01:52So why don't you and me have a little look at why?
01:59Now, speaking of investment, a reminder that ACFC is proudly brought to you by our pals at Trading212,
02:05who we will hear more from in a little bit.
02:08But first off, I just want you to look at this.
02:12Como almost always set up in a 4-2-3-1, which is in itself, honestly, really interesting
02:20because Italian football right now is absolutely dominated by old men who play some version of a 3-5-2.
02:30Inter play it, Juventus play it, Milan play it, Roma play it, Napoli play it, Atlanta play it,
02:37Fiorentina did play it up until Christmas and then they changed it and they started winning.
02:43And obviously it varies massively between all these different teams.
02:45But yes, the principle in Italian football right now is to make sure that when you lose the ball,
02:51you have a back five.
02:53So the whole division can get a little bit stagnant.
02:57So even just being committed to only having a back four actually makes Como feel quite fresh.
03:04Like the system itself almost feels like an act of defiance.
03:08And on top of that, this system, which currently has them like fifth in the league at the point of
03:13me recording this,
03:15is based on high possession controlled football on the ball and really high intensity work rate off the ball,
03:24which are two things that normally don't quite go together very well, but here they do.
03:29They will quite routinely blow teams away with their pressing, taking the ball back off them absolutely anywhere on the
03:36pitch
03:36and throwing together really slick, really fast counterattacks.
03:40But likewise, they have some of the most patient, well-structured possession play in the league.
03:46Like they use really well-rehearsed, clever rotations to move their key players into space and break teams down that
03:53way.
03:54And that makes them, and this might honestly be the first time I've ever seen this particular combination of stats,
04:01right?
04:01It's Serie A's highest possession side, topping the league with 61%, but they also have the lowest passes per defensive
04:10action.
04:11Which is, of course, the statistical measure of just how aggressive are you off the ball.
04:16Like on average, how many passes will the opposition get before you physically go and try and get it back
04:22off them?
04:22Como give teams the least amount of time and the least amount of the ball.
04:26And we're going to look at both of those things, right?
04:29Because obviously it's very fun as a combination, and also it's just the entire point of the channel, isn't it?
04:36Stuff like that.
04:37So this is the Lecce game from last month.
04:40The forward pressures the goalkeeper into a long kick, and look how congested Como have made the centre of that
04:47pitch.
04:47The defence, first of all, they have pushed right the way up.
04:51But the rest of the team, they are all sitting man-to-man, and one bad touch, and they all
04:57react collectively.
04:58They pinch the ball, and then they're in.
05:00And that looks great, but I would say this chance they manufacture against Milan is more typical of their play
05:06style.
05:07You see, what they absolutely love to do is force the opposition into these wide spaces in their build-up,
05:12right?
05:12And then pounce on those situations collectively to basically use the touchline as one extra and also enormously long defender.
05:22From there, it closes down all the options the opposition have got.
05:25They've got to play low percentage, long passes, or risky ones back into the centre.
05:30That's how they prefer to try and press you.
05:32And in this example, you can see it here.
05:34They force the ball towards the touchline.
05:36They press from multiple different angles, get the ball back, and then nearly score from a chance at the back
05:43post as a result.
05:44And they're really, really good at this.
05:46They've got eight goals this season.
05:48Again, top of Serie A in that category for goals scored from high turnovers.
05:53And that wouldn't even count this absolutely unbelievable box-to-box three-pass breakaway
05:59they scored against Juventus this season, which is one of the best goals I've ever seen.
06:04Like from defending a set piece to the back of the net in like three perfectly weighted passes.
06:09You would think watching this, you were looking at one of Europe's absolute, typically elite sides.
06:15Not a team who were in the second division just two seasons ago.
06:19And also, for some reason, Juventus are dressed like the Hamburglar from McDonald's, which is weird.
06:25And just moments and moves like this where they win the ball back really high up and then really neatly
06:30create a chance out of it.
06:32That has become the really exciting part of Como's game, right?
06:37But just like you have seen in the Premier League with Iriola's Bournemouth, with Eddie Howe when he first took
06:43over at Newcastle,
06:44this high-pressing style, this aggressive play, has basically become the blueprint for how you overachieve.
06:54If nothing else, if you can outwork and outrun the rest of the division, then with a little bit of
06:58quality in the final third,
07:00you will exceed both your wage bill and thus by extension, your expectations.
07:05So it's absolutely no surprise that Fabregas, being very young, very progressive, very modern,
07:11has decided to take Como down that route.
07:14But what makes him such a fascinating manager, and the reason he's so highly rated at the minute,
07:20is the other side of what he's getting them to do.
07:23Because this is a man who developed playing under Guardiola at Barcelona, under Wenger at Arsenal,
07:29and was part of that Spain team who managed to win the Euros final by playing like six central midfielders.
07:37So you would assume that positional play, as it's known, which, how do I explain this?
07:42Basically, it's a philosophy that divides the pitch up into loads of different sections,
07:47and then everybody within it has very, sort of, quite rigid, specific jobs they do,
07:51depending on where the ball is.
07:53So you can create overloads and keep the ball.
07:55It's a gross oversimplification of it, right?
07:58But it'll do for now.
07:59You would assume that is what Cesc Fabregas would be all about.
08:04And you can see it, like when Como build out from the back, you do see those principles.
08:08The ball's the centre-back, split really wide, the central midfielders come short,
08:12the full-backs push up and out.
08:13There are tweaks within it, based on the opponent,
08:16but by and large, what they do at the back is very well-practiced,
08:21it's very well-structured, it's very difficult for the opposition to stop.
08:24It's why, when they got promoted, they really wanted Sergio Roberto and Maxi Peroni,
08:29because they're athletic, technical players who look after the ball really, really well,
08:34even when they're under pressure, and even when they're facing their own goal.
08:38They're the exact kind of footballers you need to play this sort of system.
08:42But rather than continue that approach as they get further up the pitch,
08:46where, I don't know, for example, you might always want a wide player to stay wide
08:50to allow other players to get into sort of the channel in between,
08:53or you might always want your forward to drop deep to allow runs in beyond,
08:57stuff like that, right?
08:58You very rarely see the same approach in the final third from Como two games in a row.
09:06Nico Paz, for example, who is a mercurial talent and far too good to be stuck in one position,
09:11starts as the number 10, but roams from there into both the channels,
09:15where he can link up with the forward or the full-back.
09:18He also drops deeper if Como need to match 3v3 in the middle,
09:22and he absolutely loves going beyond the forward when the space is there.
09:26He is the second top scorer in Serie A this season,
09:30and I think, like, joint fifth or something for assists,
09:34despite only being 21 years old.
09:37And you are going to hear his name an awful lot this summer,
09:41because he is capable of little moments like this.
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10:55It's sort of like how Rodri would do hundreds of passes per game.
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11:41And there are absolutely loads of ways I could demonstrate Como sort of final third flexibility to you,
11:48but I think the easiest one, maybe the best one, might be the fullbacks, right?
11:53Because in theory, it's not actually that different from what Arteta does with Arsenal's fullbacks.
11:59It's just a lot more dynamic and a bit more fun.
12:03And as we've already said, in the build-up, the idea is that they stretch,
12:06they go high, they go wide,
12:08because the objective is to get the ball into the central midfielders
12:10in some sort of way that allows them to then either pass or run forwards with it.
12:16Now, interestingly, what Como actually quite like to do is whatever side the ball is on,
12:20if the fullback does move up to get involved,
12:22the central midfielder will actually drop into the space behind them to cover for their run,
12:27sort of keeping them with a backfall at all times.
12:30And it's obviously to help keep them solid,
12:32but it's also a really important part of their counterpress,
12:35because if they lose the ball on that side,
12:38then the player who's covering behind can then try and win it from the front,
12:42rather than just mindlessly having to chase back and get a foot in.
12:46But anyway, yes, back to the fullback.
12:47So they then move up the pitch,
12:49and what they do from there is entirely dictated by who the forward player is
12:55and what they like to do.
12:57They can offer an overlap to put crosses in, which is obviously pretty standard,
13:00but they can also make really direct, underlapping runs,
13:04either to take a defender away or to just attack the space properly themselves.
13:09And it's these combinations that they end up forming with the winger or the number 10,
13:13or even sometimes the centre-forward,
13:15that gives Como the numerical advantages you would think they'd lose
13:19by having a defensive midfielder keep them in a back four.
13:23It's not that they're trying to outnumber the opposition across the entire pitch.
13:27They just find ways to do it in really localized small spaces
13:32where players have to rely on their ingenuity and on their ability.
13:37And their manager really does encourage them to get close together,
13:41to link up, to interchange, to rotate.
13:43And that sort of philosophy feels almost directly at odds
13:47with the very concept of positional play,
13:51which they do clearly do in their own third.
13:54Just the way Fabregas has coached them to go from one philosophy to another
13:58almost the moment they cross the halfway line
14:00is genuinely very innovative.
14:03Combine that with the fact they try and play wingers
14:05who genuinely love taking opposition defenders on,
14:09either on the outside or the inside,
14:10and they are a really, really exciting team to watch.
14:14So you take this explosiveness, this flexibility,
14:17this desire to really get at the opposition,
14:21both with and without the ball,
14:22and you play it just slightly up the pitch
14:25from defenders and midfielders
14:27who are a little bit more considered,
14:28a little bit more patient,
14:29who will wait for the movement in front of them to open doors
14:33rather than trying to force it themselves.
14:35And you end up with the highest possession team in the league,
14:40who also happen to be the best pressing team in the league.
14:45To have somehow combined these two principles,
14:48while also bringing together the concepts of positional play
14:51with rotational football,
14:53and while combining lots of youth with lots of experience,
14:57is a frankly staggering achievement for a coach in his very first job.
15:03And you are just going to have to forgive me here
15:05because there was nowhere to naturally put it in the video,
15:08but I went to see them
15:08when they were trying to get promoted.
15:10They had a six-pointer at the top of the table against Venezia,
15:13where in the pouring rain,
15:15in the last minute,
15:16I was standing on the side of the pitch
15:18when this happened.
15:33Yeah, I know, really good.
15:35It might actually be the single greatest footballing moment
15:37I've ever seen that close-up.
15:40So I absolutely adore Como,
15:42and I think Fabregas is a fantastic manager,
15:44and what he's done with this team
15:45and some of these players is unbelievable.
15:47And if you've not watched them play yet this season,
15:50you should,
15:52because it is not beyond the realms of possibility
15:54they get into the Champions League,
15:56never mind Europe.
15:57But yes, that is a roundabout way of telling you
15:59how Fabregas and Como
16:00are pretty much like broken Italian football.
16:03But before we go,
16:04all the housekeeping.
16:06First off, it's the Hackney Half soon.
16:08I'm running a half marathon
16:08for Calm,
16:09the Campaign Against Living Miserably,
16:11a mental health charity here in the UK.
16:13And if you have mental health,
16:15which we all do,
16:16you'll know services here are not great,
16:19and charities like Calm
16:20have to do such important, amazing work
16:22to make up the shortfall.
16:23So if we could raise a bit of money for them,
16:24that would be fantastic.
16:25The link is in the description below.
16:26Thanks as ever to our investment pals
16:28at Trading212
16:29for sponsoring us here at ACFC.
16:31You can begin your investment journey,
16:33the link down below.
16:34And if you enjoyed the graphs and stats
16:36and whatnot we've had up on screen,
16:37most of those come from Votmob,
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16:57But that's the end.
16:58Hope you enjoyed it.
16:59I meant to speak some Italian in this
17:01and I forgot to write any of it down.
17:03Forgive me.
17:05Bella.
17:06That'll do.
17:07Bye.
17:11Who's that?
17:13Oh, you timed that well.
17:14That's about the best time thing.
17:15That's the best time thing that's ever happened.
17:17Hey, it's Archie, everyone.
17:18Hi, it's Archie, everyone.
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