Cesc Fàbregas, former Arsenal captain and one of the finest midfielders of his generation, has transitioned into coaching with the same meticulous approach that defined his playing career.
As he merges his coaching ambitions with a potential lifeline for Dele Alli, he recently shared insights into the challenges of transforming a club’s culture.
"People have always spoken about me with more affection outside of Spain than inside" ▶Raised in the Farmhouse, Arsenal idol and World and European champion with Spain. The Catalan takes off in Italy a promising technical career ABC (Castilla y León)16 Dec 2024 RUBÉN CAÑIZARES He arrives on time for the appointment and kindly asks us if he can have lunch before we sit face to face in his office. Cesc Fabregas (born May 4, 1997 in Arenys de Mar) is already a former footballer with a promising career on the sidelines. Fresh sap that the Como has chosen for the start of its new journey. About his jump from player to coach, about his successful past, about his project at the Lombard club, about Spain, as a country and as a national team, and about life he talks to ABC for 50 minutes. - How has been your transformation from a footballer to a coach? —In my last years as a player I was always interested in talking a lot with the coaches I had, to see how they worked and how they managed day to day. Since the age of 30, I've been getting the itch to at least try to identify if I could fit in or not. And it was clear to me that I didn't want a sabbatical year, but to just jump in. That's why I trained before finishing my degree. - Are you not interested in the world of sports management? - Nothing right now. I see it more as an office job and I like the smell of grass, everyday life, competing and playing. - What do you miss about your time as a footballer? - Honestly, nothing. I don't miss being a footballer. I know I've made the right decision retiring and going down this path because I don't miss playing football. And he is strong, because if five years ago he told me that I was going to answer this, I would tell him that he was crazy. - Do you think it was valued enough in Spain? - Well, I don't know. It is true that people have always spoken about me with more affection outside of Spain than inside. Here in Italy, for example, but especially in England, where I have done most of my career. And the reality is that my face appears directly in 80-85% of the most important recent moments in the history of the national team: the attendance of the World Cup final, the penalties against Italy, the assists in the semifinal against Russia... And the day I retired, my face did not appear even in a small place on the front page of any newspaper. And I said to myself, ’bah, well, maybe I haven't made it to Spain the way I would have liked.' Wow, it's been twelve years with the national team winning and being the main protagonist. So that day I did feel that the Spanish side was a little lacking. - What a penalty that one against Italy… - I sometimes think about that image. When they focus on me on the TV and I talk to the ball. I tell him that he can't fail me, that it's my time. It was a key situation for me and for Spain. - She has never been a person who loves the limelight. - It depends. On the field I loved being a protagonist. And I've had my moments of ego, of thinking that I deserved to play more, but if you've ever come a little up, they put a shit in you from one side or the other. Football, little by little, always puts you in your place. I've never liked playing smart because this is a team game. I come from a small town, when I was six I played with the eight-year-olds, when I was seven against the nine-year-olds. I have always been in the boat of work, humility, commitment and "The day I retired, my face did not appear even in a small place on the front page of any newspaper" "There is a lack of unity, which is exactly what there is in the national team. Politicians talk a lot and do little." wanting to demonstrate. And I've always had the warm blood to be able to do it. — You, at just 16 years old, opened the way to the Premier League for the Spaniards. - It was a different, bold and brave decision. A 16-year-old boy, who goes to Arsenal, to a country and a league where there were no Spanish players... But no one assured me that he would make it to the Barça first team. I remember the 2006 Champions League final between Barça and Arsenal. Iniesta, at the age of 21, was a substitute. It was difficult for him to settle into the ownership and, for me, he has been the most talented player in La Masía. Xavi was also not the extremely important thing he was until Guardiola arrived. And I was coming up behind both of them. - Does being a great footballer ensure being a good coach? - No. If you have been smart and have taken the message of all your coaches well and analyze well the reason for everything they have done, you have a lot gained. For example, in my case. I read very well who can be a negative impact inside the locker room. Who pulls the wagon and who doesn't, who can be a leader and who can't. I see this very quickly because the experience of twenty years in various locker rooms, with different cultures, personalities and characters, gives you this, but that does not guarantee you to be a good coach. To be a good coach, you first have to know that you are no longer a footballer. There are many coaches who think they are still footballers. You have to know how to cut and understand that the player is the most important thing and you have to help him. - Are you sleeping worse now? - I sleep much less, but I couldn't tell you worse, because the few hours I sleep are decent. Do you now understand better that footballers are selfish? - We're all a little selfish. Okay, my job does not allow me to be selfish because I have to think about 50 people from the ‘staff' plus 25 players and I am responsible for everyone being happy or depressed. That's why I have to share my thoughts, my values, my humility and my work culture, and selfishness does not enter here. Now, it's normal for players not to see this. They are in their world of workouts, gym hours, with the coach, hours with me, then also the work at home... I understand that part one hundred percent. What I don't tolerate is that you get angry or think only about yourself and don't work on training. That's the minimum. If I see an angry player who doesn't greet me, but shows me in every training session and in the match that he works to be the best, I don't mind if he gets angry. I've done the same thing. My anger was always to eat the field and shut the coach's mouth. The players who get pissed off and don't prove anything are the ones you can't trust. -Short at the foot: Wenger, Aragonés, Del Bosque, Guardiola and Mourinho. - Wenger, a teacher and a father. Without him I wouldn't have had the career I had. Luis, the first coach who saw in his eyes that winning was the most important thing. From the Forest, knowing how to be, managing groups and always doing it from the friendly, intelligent, elegant and calm way to make the player see that he is deciding, but really the coach is deciding. Guardiola, very obsessed tactically with the structures and the positioning of the players. Mourinho, knowing how to play with the cabe za of the players. He is very top in that. - How does this project come out of the How? To start his career on the sidelines, he is also brave. -Since I was nine years old, a taxi would come to pick me up at school at five in the afternoon to go to the Farmhouse and would return me home at 11 at night, I would have dinner, do my homework and the next day the same thing. Since the age of nine, I haven't known what it's like to be at home. I've always been very independent. And my kids and my wife are just like me. We are an independent, happy and united family and we do not need other people to be the way we are. By this I want to tell you that I base my life on sensations, on the tingling in the stomach, and when I was proposed to come here, I felt that. In June 2022, the owners of the Como (the Hartono, a billionaire Indonesian family, owner of the Djarum Group conglomerate) tell my agent that they want to talk to me. Sincerely, I didn't even know there was a football club in Como, but they explain the project and the idea they have with me, and I like what they tell me. I signed two years as a player, they let me get my coaching card at the same time and when I left, I would take the Primavera, the subsidiary, and, potentially, without expressly telling me, I would end up coaching the first team. - And in a year and a half it has been a total revolution. —When I arrived, they only had two part-time physios, a doctor who was in training and was leaving, and the technicians, who more or less, did the same. It was a very small club, but in Serie B. They didn't have these training camps that we have now, we didn't have a restaurant, a two-storey gym, a staff of 50 people, some offices... It was a very interesting project then. Starting from scratch, working, growing and dreaming. To be part of this story, to change the mentality of the club, is what motivated me. It's just that when I arrived here there were players who left five minutes late to train. That was unprofessional. There was a very fragile mentality, a lot of fear, no one was talking about growing up, about moving up. After the games, a 12-kilometer running training, the football that was done was very defensive with a 5-4-1, no one wanted the ball ... So I got with Diego Pérez, one of my assistants, who has won Ligue 1 at Monaco and Lille, to work on the tactics, tirelessly. I got strong there and I saw myself ready to catch the Spring. And then, three months later, the first-team opportunity came. - They ascend and, now, it's time to suffer. - As a club we were not yet ready to go up. One more year in Serie B would have been good for us. There have been a lot of changes in a short time and when everything goes so fast you are sure to "Honestly, I say it loud and clear, it's very difficult to be a good father being a coach" making mistakes. Last year was a miraculous campaign, and people think that because we are in Serie A and you play against better teams than you, we have to play a 5-4-1 again. And it's not like that, we have to keep our new identity. We have young guys, who have to adapt, some of them have had to take pills, and that's why I brought experienced people like Reina, Sergi Roberto or Belotti. And this year it is to save oneself in any way, but always with a clear identity. - He lives in Lugano, half an hour from here. His wife and children are there. What is the Cesc father like? -For me now, honestly, and I tell you loud and clear, it is very difficult to be a good father being a coach. It's bad for me to say it, because I love my children, and my wife, like nothing else in the world. We are a pineapple, but I hardly see my children. When I'm at home, I am, but I'm not. It is a very vicious circle that of the football coach, which consumes many hours and energies, and in the end you leave a very important part of life that is the family. You do it for your passion, because you do something you love, and the Como is a big project in which I am the person responsible for this going well or badly. There are many people behind who depend on me, and I can give them the love, the affection, the attention that my children and my wife deserve. For example, going to the park with them on a Sunday afternoon, because I haven't done it for a long time. Studying with them, yes I do, but my head is on that and other things. It is very difficult to give him quality time. I am a young coach, I have to manage a lot of new things... If you say this to Ancelotti, he will tell him that he has time for everything, and I imagine that the same thing will happen to me over time. Luckily, I'm a lucky one because my wife understands what we do here. He knows when I'm tired and when I can give more. She shares my work, helps me, motivates me and is the one who believes in me the most. That's incredibly lucky. - You have been out of Spain for many years, how do you see the country? - All countries have their own things, but in Spain there is a lack of common sense. There is a lack of telling truths and applying them. Politicians talk a lot and either do nothing or do the complete opposite of what was said. I don't see a united country, and this hurts from the outside. - What did you think of Spain's Euro? - Well, unlike the country, I saw a united national team, with young and committed guys. Everyone was one hundred percent. Fabián, Lamine, Nico, Olmo and Pedri... and leaders like Rodri, Carvajal, Morata... and that moment had to be taken advantage of. I was with one of my sons at the Spain-Italy and there I said "oysters, what a great team". They can win the 2026 World Cup perfectly.
ABC 16 December 2024 – “People have always spoken about me with more affection outside of Spain than inside”
Reflecting on his current role, Fàbregas discussed the monumental task of instilling professionalism and ambition at Como, a club that was unrecognisable from the structured environments he experienced at Arsenal and Barcelona.
“When I arrived here, there were players who left five minutes late to train. That was unprofessional. There was a very fragile mentality, a lot of fear, no one was talking about growing up, about moving up,” he revealed. This lack of focus no doubt reminded him of the standards instilled at Arsenal under Arsène Wenger, where attention to detail and a winning mentality were non-negotiable.
In fact, Fàbregas attributed his success to the clear identity Wenger cultivated. He said, “Wenger, a teacher and a father. Without him I wouldn’t have had the career I had.”
Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas (L) and Arsenal's French coach Arsene Wenger (R) arrive for a press conference at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, on March 7, 2011 in Barcelona on the eve of their Champions League football match against FC Barcelona. AFP PHOTO/LLUIS GENE
Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas (L) and Arsenal’s French coach Arsene Wenger (R) arrive for a press conference at the Camp Nou stadium i…
At Como, he has worked tirelessly to shift the mindset, turning a defensive and cautious squad into one with ambition and identity. “When I arrived, they only had two part-time physios, a doctor who was in training and was leaving, and the technicians, who more or less, did the same. It was a very small club, but in Serie B,” he said.
“They didn’t have these training camps that we have now, we didn’t have a restaurant, a two-storey gym, a staff of 50 people, some offices… It was a very interesting project then. Starting from scratch, working, growing and dreaming. To be part of this story, to change the mentality of the club, is what motivated me.”
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Cesc Fabregas takes part in Enterprise Rent-A-Player at Westway Sports Centre on April 22, 2024 in London, England. Enterprise Rent-A-Player, a competition offering five-a-side football teams across Europe the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a European legend join their squad for one night only. The star-studded Enterprise 'Rent-A-Player' line-up is formed of legends Cesc Fabregas, Radamel Falcao and Fabien Barthez. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images for Enterprise Rent-A-Car Rent-A-Player UEFA Europa League Campaign)
Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images for Enterprise Rent-A-Car Rent-A-Player UEFA Europa League Campaign
However, the demands of management come at a cost, as Fàbregas candidly admitted. “It’s very difficult to be a good father being a coach,” he confessed, a sentiment that highlights the sacrifices required in football’s top echelons.
“It’s bad for me to say it, because I love my children, and my wife, like nothing else in the world. We are a pineapple, but I hardly see my children. When I’m at home, I am, but I’m not. It is a very vicious circle, that of the football coach, which consumes many hours and energies, and, in the end, you leave a very important part of life that is the family.
“You do it for your passion, because you do something you love, and Como is a big project in which I am the person responsible for this going well or badly.”
UDINE, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 01: Manager of Como Cesc Fabregas during the Serie A match between Udinese and Como at Stadio Friuli on September 01, 2024 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)
Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images
Como gossip
Cesc Fàbregas has revealed plans to invite free agent Dele Alli to train with his Como squad after Christmas.
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 19: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal clashes with Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur as Petr Cech of Arsenal attempts to calm the pair down during the Carabao Cup Quarter Final match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium on December 19, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Speaking after Como’s victory over Roma, Fàbregas said the move would help the 28-year-old midfielder regain fitness, though he downplayed expectations of anything beyond training.
Dele has struggled with injuries and personal challenges over the past two years, last playing a league match for Besiktas in February 2023.
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 22: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal has a word with Dele Alli of Everton during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on May 22, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
The former England international, who starred at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, is eyeing a return to fitness and hopes to reclaim a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the 2026 World Cup, if he can find a new club.
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