Cesc Fabregas’ excellent performance against Manchester City raised the question of whether the Spaniard might have supplanted Nemanja Matic in Antonio Conte’s starting lineup.
This idea was quickly put to bed by the return of the Serb to the starting lineup yesterday, with Fabregas relegated to the bench. With West Brom proving extremely stubborn, many Chelsea fans were calling for Fabregas as early as half time however. Conte resisted until much later, but it was indeed Fabregas who provided the long pass to Diego Costa to score a wonderful solo goal.
The pass itself was not as special as the one that dissected the Manchester City defence, but it still required a player of Fabregas’ ambition and vision to play it long when a player more similar to Matic might have looked for a safer option. With West Brom not looking to leave their area if at all possible, a player like Fabregas was essential to pick the lock. With Chelsea looking stronger every week, teams are only going to sit deeper, and the former Barcelona man’s skills will only become more useful.
Fabregas has been linked with moves away, some as soon as January. Today’s papers add AS Roma to the mix of Serie A teams already linked with the playmaker.
Matic’s absence last week gave Cesc a chance to show us he’s still commited to this team and still has an important part to play in the second half of the season. Let’s hope that Sunday provided a timely reinforcement of this reminder that letting a player of Fabregas’ quality – and his specific qualities – would be catastrophic.
