Fabregas on Como gut feeling, Conte change from Wenger, focus on ideas

COMO, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 10: Cesc Fabregas, Manager of Como 1907, celebrates after the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Como 1907 and RB Leipzig at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on September 10, 2026 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

Cesc Fabregas ‘followed my gut’ on Como, hails Lucas Da Cunha, reveals Antonio Conte at Chelsea ‘made me realise football was changing,’ and wants to ‘lose with my ideas.’

The Spaniard was already a star player with Barcelona, Chelsea and Arsenal, but ended his playing career at Como and went on to a coaching role just months after hanging up his boots.

“The Como project started in quite a strange way, because I had a few proposals, but I just felt this was the right decision. Sometimes you’ve just got to follow your gut,” said Fabregas at the Festival dello Sport event in Trento.

“Funnily enough, I’d been to Como a few times on vacation, but I didn’t even know there was a football team here.”

Fabregas transformed Como history

They’re certainly famous now, as Fabregas took them from Serie B all the way to qualifying for the Champions League, the first European experience of the club’s entire history.

Among the only players who shared the entire journey with him is Lucas Da Cunha, who has just earned his senior France debut as a result of those performances.

“Da Cunha has an incredible mentality and hunger, so he deserves all the credit. I prefer a player with less talent, but more hunger, who wants to have an incredible career, more than someone who has already earned his money and done his dues.”

Fabregas has one specific watchword for his football, and that is a focus on identity at all costs.

“The question I ask myself before every game is, how do I want to lose? I want to lose with my ideas. Because if you lose when having changed your identity and ideas, then the defeat is double. Sometimes the opponent is better than you, but meanwhile you learn some lessons, and you play with your philosophy.”

Fabregas started his coaching career in 2023, but admits the work was being done long before then during his playing days, and an Italian was behind a specific revelation.

“The first time I saw that football was changing it was when I met Conte at Chelsea. I was already 29, I had won a lot, but for example Arsene Wenger didn’t work much on tactics at Arsenal, even if he was one of the best in the world. The same is true of Del Bosque.

“With Conte, I saw this change. He was focused on the details. It was surprising and weighed on me at first, because I couldn’t understand why someone had to tell me where to pass the ball, nobody had ever done that before.

“After 10 days of training, the full-back passed me the ball, I immediately sent it to Diego Costa and he scored. I thought I’d done well, but at the end of the match, Conte was screaming that things needed to be done differently.”

Fabregas is still raising the ire of some coaches now that he is a colleague on the touchline, most notably clashing with Max Allegri at Milan.

“There have been some tense exchanges with colleagues, it’s true. I am young and still quite emotional. I hope that when I get it wrong, a more experienced coach will tell me. For example, Gian Piero Gasperini, who I have great respect for. I like to listen to people who know more than me.”