Cesc Fabregas reveals he changed Como specifically to target former Chelsea teammate Nemanja Matic in a 2-0 win over Sassuolo. ‘I underestimated his quality. Here’s what he told me…’
The Lariani have had difficulty this season balancing the highs of Champions League nights with keeping their focus in the following Serie A fixtures.
It is therefore a big step forward in terms of maturity to see them follow up the 4-1 victory over Manchester United with this comfortable 2-0 win against Sassuolo.
Fabregas had to target Matic
“We changed a few things during the break, as I think I had underestimated the quality of Matic, just as I did last season when we lost to Sassuolo,” explained Fabregas to DAZN Italia.
The first half performance ended 0-0 and did not satisfy the Como coach, who made three changes during the break, specifically to target his former Chelsea teammate.
“Matic needs to be pressed constantly for the whole match. We cannot let him play. After that, we started to play better, and they lost both confidence and control. We were lacking something in that first half, so I really liked the reaction.”
What did Fabregas say to Matic when they shook hands and hugged after the final whistle?
“He is my friend, I told him sorry, but we had to press you, otherwise you’d be running the game. He replied: ‘Remember you played your best football with me!’”
Despite the massive squad rotation, leaving Nico Paz on the bench throughout, Tasos Douvikas still snatched another two goals this afternoon.
“We cannot always go at full speed, but if we want to be this team, then we’ve got to find the energy from somewhere,” continued Fabregas.
“That is only possible if the coach trusts every member of the squad, knowing he can change and give everyone an opportunity. There are thousands of moments in a season, we are learning every day and the team is going through a growth process.”
The pressure keeps going for Como, who have a Serie A midweek round coming up away to Torino on Tuesday evening.
“Sassuolo had eight days to prepare for this match, now we’ve got Torino coming up, who played yesterday and have 24 hours of added rest. This is a big difference this season and we’re still getting used to it.”