"Conte was a big shock. Everything was different." That's how Cesc Fabregas remembers the two years that arguably shaped his understanding of football more than any other. Now managing Como in Serie A at 39, he's still processing the lessons.
Speaking to Telegraph Sport, Fabregas was unusually candid about the influences that built him as a coach — and the philosophy he refuses to compromise. The weekend's 0-0 draw with Napoli brought him back face-to-face with Conte, now in charge of the Neapolitans. Two very different football minds in the same dugout again, albeit on opposite sides.
The black book that started at Arsenal
Fabregas kept a notebook throughout his playing career — started around age 22, before his move to Barcelona, updated at every club. Wenger fills the biggest chapters. Conte is close behind.
"The first time someone was telling me where I need to pass the ball" — that was Conte at Chelsea. Precise. Demanding. Transformative for a player used to operating on instinct. Guardiola and Mourinho also feature, but it's those two poles — the visionary idealist and the tactical authoritarian — that seem to have shaped Fabregas most completely.
He's come down firmly on Wenger's side of the fence. In Italian football's ongoing debate between Giochisti (play beautiful) and Risultatisti (win at all costs), Fabregas isn't hedging.
"If I coach only to get results, I will not do it. I don't have the necessity to do it." That's not false modesty — he means it structurally. Long ball, second ball? "I'm sorry, I'm not your guy." A manager who doesn't believe in his own system can't sell it to his players. Fabregas knows that. He's watched it fail from the inside.
Wenger still watching from the stands
The more touching detail is the ongoing relationship with his old Arsenal mentor. Wenger has been in the stands at Como — alongside Thierry Henry and David Dein — and sends messages after matches regardless of the result.
"He gives me a lot of courage," Fabregas said.
For a 39-year-old manager still building credibility in one of Europe's most skeptical football cultures, having Wenger in your corner isn't nothing. Como are a club with serious financial backing and genuine ambitions in Serie A. Fabregas's idealism will be tested if the results dry up — and the betting markets on relegation will reflect that pressure long before the board does.
"Arsene sends me messages after games, even when we lose." The apprentice became the manager. The teacher hasn't stopped teaching.
