Fabregas: ‘Venezia will be difficult for Como, Kean injury happened with Italy’
Cesc Fabregas insists that his Como side will not be in for an easy afternoon despite facing bottom-of-the-table Venezia in Serie A on Sunday evening, and maintains his stance that Moise Kean’s injury happened while he was on duty with the Italy national team: ‘I’m not here to make a controversy …’
Fabregas sat down for his customary pre-match press conference on Saturday afternoon, ahead of Sunday’s visit from Venezia in Serie A at 11.30 GMT (12.30 CET) on Sunday.
Como have won their last four matches in a row across all competitions and began the weekend in fourth place with 20 points to their name after nine league matches. Their visitors Venezia have won one and lost eight so far in Serie A this season, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the league table on three points.
Fabregas press conference ahead of Como vs. Venezia
Fabregas’s press conference began with questions about Como’s mentality, especially when they have had so many injury issues to contend with.
“I honestly don’t know, I hope it counts for something,” Fabregas replied (via lariosport.it) “Sometimes it’s difficult to evaluate things because you have so many games coming up and there’s no time to stop and think. You have to make decisions constantly and everyone has to step up when the moment requires it.
“I think the team is doing well, they’re working hard. We have a very united team, everyone feels important and knows that there will be opportunities.”
Fabregas gave a philosophical response when asked how much cups, European football and injuries can affect a team’s season.
He said: “There are no surprises in football now. Teams that play in Europe always experience a different kind of season. There are more games, more travel and less time. When I played in the Champions League 20 years ago, there were certain games where you’d go out and know you were going to win two or three-nil. Today, it’s impossible to predict.
“The intensity of football, the speed of the ball, the physique of the players have all changed. Everything is much quicker. This means more injuries, more rotations and therefore probably less continuity and less solid relationships between the players. The squads have had to become bigger, but if you have more players then you also have more people who want to play and less space for everyone. Football is changing a lot.”
The Como head coach was asked for an update on Moise Kean, who will be sidelined for another five weeks as he undergoes specialist treatment on a shin injury that Fabregas insists he suffered while on international duty with Italy.
He said: “Moise has been and is a great player and will be in the future. It’s not a really long injury. We did very thorough tests when he first came here, more than we normally do, because we knew he had some problems in the past. We analysed everything and the medical department gave it the green light.
“What’s happened here is something new. It happened after going off with the national team. He had a knock against Belgium, he wasn’t feeling great and communicated that, but continued to play. When he came back, we did tests and found something that he didn’t have before.
“Initially, we tried a more conservative treatment, then we tried to get him back out on the pitch. But he didn’t feel great and we’ve decided to do something different to find a solution.
“We didn’t buy an injured player. It’s a new situation that’s come up during the season. I don’t want to blame anyone, everyone can interpret it as they want. I have my opinion, I’m not here to make controversy. Now we have to manage what’s happened and we have to do what’s best for him as a club, that’s the most important thing.”
Fabregas brushed off suggestions that Como could hunt for a new option at centre-forward in the January transfer window, though.
“They’ve mentioned five weeks and we think it will be around then. We have to stay calm, it’s not the end of the world, we have other situations to prepare for and we have to adapt to everything that comes our way.”
As for the rest of the team news, Fabregas confirmed: “Mattia Liberali will be back and that’s great, great news.
“As for Addai, the situation is a bit different. He’s a young guy who’s just come back from a really big injury. It’s normal that after coming back from an injury like that, you might get a few small things here and there. I feel for him. We have to stay together, work with these guys, not just physically but also mentally, and try to lead them towards a positive outcome.”
On Assane Diao, Fabregas said: “Let’s see. He’s not training with us yet, he’s working alone. Things can change very quickly, we’ll see how it goes, but today we’re unable to count on him. Things are going well, though.”
Fabregas was asked what he wants to see from Sunday’s game against Venezia.
He replied: “I hope for a victory as always. We want to go and win games. Venezia is a team whose points in the standings don’t represent what we’ve seen on the pitch. They’ve given teams like Lazio, Fiorentina, Napoli and Inter a lot of trouble. Those big teams have gone to Venezia and suffered.
“They create chances, maybe they’ve not been able to convert them into goals, but they’re a very dangerous team, especially on the counter. I think it will be a game where we have to do lots of things excellently to bring home the points.
It was put to Fabregas that Como appear to be a better team in the second half. They have scored nine and conceded only once in the second half in their nine Serie A matches so far this season.
“I’ve always tried to give something to the team over these last three years. Now we have less and less time to make changes and talk to the players, so half-time becomes essential for you to convey your ideas and change the game,” Fabregas replied.
“I remember a lot of times last year, the opposite was happening. I remember a lot of games where we started the second half badly, we’d concede from a corner, a counter attack, somebody misplacing a pass. We seemed to be asleep. This year we have always tried to send the right message: Pay attention, start strong. Right now it’s working and we hope to continue like that. It would be even better to start strongly from the very start, of course.”
