Cesc Fabregas highlighted how Luciano Spalletti and Maurizio Sarri have shown a new side to football in Italy and reflected on his time with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.
The 2010 World Cup winner is currently playing in Serie B with Como, having joined the club on a free transfer last summer. Since his arrival, he’s provided two assists in 15 appearances, clearly enjoying a more relaxed pace in the twilight of his career. The 35-year-old Spaniard is contracted to the club until the summer of 2024.
Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli and Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio have both risen to the top of the Serie A table with an exciting brand of attacking football, using a fluid 4-3-3 formation to stay strong both offensively and defensively.
Speaking to Sky Sports Italia, Fabregas first discussed the evolving nature of Italian football.
“I had an old idea of Italian football because the coaches I had known had a defensive mentality, they never came to play the game or take the ball away from us. Spalletti and Sarri, however, have a different mentality.
“I remember one day, when we had to play against Roma, Emerson and Rudiger confided in me: ‘Spalletti told us that even if we were pressed in our corner by two players, if we threw a long pass he would put us on the bench.
“So, I replied: ‘This is my coach, this is the coach for me’. I’ve seen Sarri, experienced him and appreciated him, while Spalletti was told to me by others.
“As far as Luciano is concerned, now I have the opportunity, playing at Como, to see more closely what he is doing at Napoli, and I recognise that Italian football is growing in other aspects as well.”
He touched on life in Serie B with Como.
“Of Como I like the project, seeing the coach, the team, all this gives me the fire inside. We were in Perugia, I enjoyed it, four days, 17 hours by bus, without playing, but I liked it, I’m with my teammates, I learn.”
Finally, Fabregas remembered life at Arsenal and his relationship with Wenger.
“When I went to Arsenal, I wanted to go to the first team, but I knew I had to play with the youth and reserve teams first. By the second month though I was already in the first team.
“I can’t say I was the typical guy who was homesick, I was playing football with Arsenal and living a dream. I always had clear ideas. Working with Wenger was a great pleasure but also a great fortune.
“He gave me so many possibilities and above all courage, which took me to another level of competitiveness. This made my awareness grow more and more until I felt invincible.”