Cesc Fabregas has hit back at Chelsea supporters who have criticised his recent performances, as his failure to maintain his remarkable early season form culminated in subtle jeers and murmurs of frustration after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton.
Fabregas has been the key to unlock much of Chelsea’s success this season, with a staggering 18 assists in the 35 games the Spaniard has featured in this season.
But Fabregas’ form has dried up in recent weeks, perhaps noteably as the team have struggled for goals and particulalry results.
However, the the 27 year-old, in an interview, suggested that fans should not judge him based on his number of assists since the turn of the year.
‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t even know if it’s been eight games, five or 10, there are so many more aspects.’ [London Evening Standard]
‘I don’t expect from midfield, from nearly getting the ball off John Terry, to get an assist per game.’
‘If I was playing next to Diego Costa, Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard every game, then I’d say maybe [I could do that].
But for me, now, it’s about making the team play, making the team click, passing the ball to Hazard, to Oscar, Willian and Juan Cuadrado, all these players. I try to make the team move forward and make runs when I can.
Fabregas, who joined the club this summer for £30m, has been the target for a lot of criticism in recent weeks, but the midfielder insists that when he’s playing in a more defensive role – as he has done for much of the season – assists are not a crucial aspect of his game, and that perhaps fans have heightened their expectations of him, despite it being unrealistic to maintain the level he started the season with.
‘If I was playing regularly as a No10, I’d say judge me on my assists. But in a midfield pivot like we play at Chelsea, where I’m much more behind the strikers — I’m 10 metres behind the No10 and 20 metres behind the striker — of course I’m not going to get in the same position as many times as when you’re No10. It’s more difficult to get assists.
That’s why the number of assists I have is a little more impressive. But I’m happy in the position I’m playing and, hopefully, I can learn a lot more from Jose Mourinho.
Fabregas is one yellow card away from a two-game suspension, but argues it’s all part of a role that he used to play as a youngster.
‘This season I’m going back to where I started. Between 16-20, I played in the role I am now, but since 20 till 27, I was playing No10 and sometimes as a striker. It’s like I’m going back to where everything started, which is midfield, where I can conduct the team from the bottom of the pitch to the attacker.
It doesn’t matter to me if I assist five games in a row or don’t because what I see from myself right now, when I watch videos of games, is I contribute much more in the build-up play, in all of the areas, which I was not doing in the past few years.
‘That’s where I see I’m improving, especially in defence, getting in the right position, staying more disciplined.’ [London Evening Standard]
The Spaniard is evidently, with the rest of the team, suffering from fatigue, but with the Premier League being the only focus from now until the end of the season, the Blues need his influence more than ever if they are to continue their title surge.
A reminder of Fabregas’ ability:
