Cesc Fabregas Prepares Como for Challenging Match Against Frosinone
Cesc Fabregas insists Como will need “the perfect performance” away to Frosinone on Sunday, brushing aside any talk of a Scudetto race and reminding everyone of one blunt fact.
“I’ve won zero titles.”
Kick-off at the Stadio Benito Stirpe is at 14.00 UK time (15.00 CEST), and the stakes feel very real for a club that has shot from Serie B to the Champions League in just three seasons. That rise has turned Como into one of the most intriguing stories in Italian football, but also one of the most misunderstood.
Are they contenders? Pretenders? A project still in its infancy?
Fabregas is in no mood to let the narrative get away from him.
‘Roma and Inter are the strongest – we’re not in that fight’
On the eve of the trip to Frosinone, the Como coach was asked if he would watch Saturday’s Scudetto showdown between Roma and Inter, and whether he saw his own side creeping into that conversation.
His answer cut through the noise.
“In my view, they are the two strongest teams in Italy. I will watch it because I love football and think it is going to be an incredible game, not because they are our direct competitors for position,” he said in his press conference.
Talk then shifted to the idea that he is building a Cruyff-style revolution on Lake Como, a modern echo of Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona.
Fabregas almost recoiled at the comparison.
“I am a long way from so many, let alone him. Jose Mourinho said there are coaches who have won titles and others who won zero titles, and I am in the latter camp.
“The most important thing is Como, not me. I am within this project and I give it my all. The key for a coach is time to work, and I think this team has improved so much over the last two years. If we can continue with this same side for two, four, five years, then we can really do something, but if we change every six months, it's difficult.”
That is the core of his message: continuity over hype, work over labels.
Frosinone test ‘one of the five most difficult’ of the season
Fabregas kept dragging the conversation back to Frosinone. He knows exactly what awaits him there.
Promoted from Serie B in the summer, Massimiliano Alvini’s side have started their Serie A campaign with intent, taking two wins and a draw from their last three games. Confidence is high. The stadium will be hostile. Como walk into a trap that everyone can see coming.
“It is going to be one of the five most difficult matches of our Serie A season,” Fabregas warned.
“Frosinone are in great form, watching them I can see 11 friends giving their all for each other, they play with courage and on the front foot. We need the perfect performance and I really enjoyed seeing Massimiliano Alvini's team in action.
“They have a fluidity and a very positive mentality, they're a genuine danger for anyone they face, and if we want to win, we need our best performance of the season.”
The words are respectful, but they also sound like a challenge to his own dressing room. Como have climbed fast; this is the kind of away day that proves whether they truly belong at the top table or are just passing through.
Full squad back – and a big call in goal
For the first time this season, Fabregas has a full squad at his disposal.
Jayden Addai is back on the bench after surgery for a torn Achilles tendon, a significant boost in attacking depth and a psychological lift for a group that has had to manage without him.
His return also sharpens the competition for places elsewhere, none more so than in goal.
Fabregas must now choose between long-term No. 1 Jean Butez and new signing Robert Sanchez, on loan from Chelsea. Sanchez arrived with a decorated CV and the experience of living with the constant demand to win.
“Sanchez arrived from a very important club, he won trophies and knows how to deal with constant pressure to win. We didn't expect him to come here, but it's important for every player to get rest, even the goalkeepers. The last game was the first time in a year and a half that Butez didn't start.
“That was a test, we'll take it one game at a time and see what happens.”
It is a rare luxury for a newly established Champions League side: two serious options between the posts, genuine depth across the pitch, and a coach who refuses to let the conversation drift toward titles or dynasties.
On Sunday in Frosinone, Fabregas is not chasing Cruyff’s legacy or Mourinho’s medal count. He is chasing something far simpler, and far harder: 90 minutes as close to perfect as Como can play.
