Fabregas: Perfection Needed Against Frosinone

Cesc Fabregas has dragged Como from the shadows of Serie B to the glare of the Champions League in three breathless years. Yet as the hype swirls around Italy’s newest upstarts, their coach is the first to slam on the brakes.

On Sunday afternoon at the Stadio Benito Stirpe, against a fearless Frosinone side riding a hot streak, he wants no talk of Scudetto races, no grand comparisons, no illusions.

He wants, as he puts it, “the perfect performance.”

‘Roma and Inter are on another level’

Fabregas was asked before the trip south whether he would be watching Roma vs Inter, billed as a Scudetto showdown, and whether Como belonged in that same conversation.

His answer was blunt.

“In my view, they are the two strongest teams in Italy. I will watch it because I love football and think it is going to be an incredible game, not because they are our direct competitors for position,” he said.

The question that followed went even further, suggesting he might be building at Como what Johan Cruyff once built at Barcelona.

Fabregas almost recoiled.

“I am a long way from so many, let alone him. Jose Mourinho said there are coaches who have won titles and others who won zero titles, and I am in the latter camp.

The most important thing is Como, not me. I am within this project and I give it my all.”

This is the tightrope he walks. A club that has rocketed from the second tier to Europe in record time, yet a coach determined to strip away the noise and reduce it to work, repetition, and patience.

“The key for a coach is time to work, and I think this team has improved so much over the last two years. If we can continue with this same side for two, four, five years, then we can really do something, but if we change every six months, it’s difficult.”

Frosinone test ‘one of the five most difficult’

The next step in that project is Frosinone, promoted in the summer and now punching well above their weight with two wins and a draw in their last three games.

Fabregas did not dress it up.

“It is going to be one of the five most difficult matches of our Serie A season,” he insisted.

He has clearly studied Massimiliano Alvini’s team closely, and he likes what he sees – perhaps a little too much for his own comfort.

“Frosinone are in great form, watching them I can see 11 friends giving their all for each other, they play with courage and on the front foot. We need the perfect performance and I really enjoyed seeing Massimiliano Alvini’s team in action.

“They have a fluidity and a very positive mentality, they’re a genuine danger for anyone they face, and if we want to win, we need our best performance of the season.”

For a club that has just muscled its way into the Champions League, calling a trip to a newly promoted side one of the toughest five games of the year might sound cautious. In Fabregas’ world, it is simply realistic. The climb has been fast. Staying there will be harder.

Full squad back, big call in goal

For the first time this season, Como travel with a full squad available. There is a significant return on the bench: Jayden Addai, back in the fold after surgery on a torn Achilles tendon.

That boost comes with a selection headache at the other end of the pitch.

Fabregas must choose between long-term No. 1 Jean Butez and new arrival Robert Sanchez, on loan from Chelsea, who brings with him the weight of a big-club education and a cabinet of trophies.

“Sanchez arrived from a very important club, he won trophies and knows how to deal with constant pressure to win. We didn’t expect him to come here, but it’s important for every player to get rest, even the goalkeepers. The last game was the first time in a year and a half that Butez didn’t start.

“That was a test, we’ll take it one game at a time and see what happens.”

It is a revealing line. Rotation, even in goal. Pressure, even for those who helped spark this rise. Nobody, not even the ever-present Butez, is untouchable.

The story of Como’s surge has been told in big arcs – from provincial club to European nights, from Fabregas the world-class midfielder to Fabregas the touchline strategist. On Sunday in Frosinone, it comes down to something far more basic: 11 players, one coach who says he has “won zero titles,” and a demand for perfection in one of the season’s hardest away days.

If they meet that standard, the Scudetto talk he keeps batting away will only grow louder.