Como coach Cesc Fabregas has revealed how his former coach Antonio Conte influenced his development as a player and later as a coach. The Spaniard spoke about his experience under Conte at Chelsea and compared it to his time with Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.
„I was already 29 when Conte was at Chelsea. Before that, I had Wenger. "With him, we didn't focus so much on tactics and we didn't work so much on psychology, but he was very good at attracting players with the same football ideas and giving them a lot of freedom," Fabregas said at the Trento Sports Festival, quoted by Calciomercato.
The Spaniard admitted that at first it was difficult for him to adapt to Conte's exceptional attention to detail. "Conte paid attention to detail, structure and movement. For me, it was even difficult at first. Nobody had told me where to pass the ball before," he recalled.
Fabregas also told a curious incident from a Chelsea training session. "One of the full-backs passed the ball to me and from the first touch I gave it to Diego Costa, who scored. I thought everything was fine because we scored a goal, but at the end of the training session Conte said: "No, no, football is not like that!" and explained to me where I should have passed, the Spaniard added.
Today, Fabregas combines the influence of his two former coaches in his own philosophy. His system at Como has a clear structure and tactical principles, but at the same time allows the players to move freely and use their strengths. This balance has helped the Spaniard lead Como to the Champions League.