Life looked rather good for Cesc Fabregas on Saturday. He marked his 300th Premier League appearance by covering every blade of Stamford Bridge grass, in the process scoring Chelsea’s opening goal in a victory over Swansea that leaves them so far ahead of the chasing pack, the rest of the Premier League is in need of binoculars to keep them in sight.
But here was the odd thing about his magnificent, central, match-winning contribution: this was only his sixth start of the season. And while other players of his status might have agitated for a January get-out in search of more regular first-team selection, Fabregas has preferred patiently to wait his chance.
“Experience and maturity gives you this,” he explained. “Because in the beginning [of my career] when I didn’t play, I told people not even to speak to me because I was really upset. Experience helps you understand that the most important thing is always the team. Don’t get me wrong, I want to play. Every football player wants to play every single minute but sometimes you have to fight for it. The easy way is to escape, to run away, to sulk and to want to leave, to create a drama.”
It is statements like this as much as Chelsea’s 12th home win on the bounce (a feat which equalled the club record) that must depress their increasingly nominal title rivals. Fabregas was brought into the starting line-up because the Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, anticipated that Swansea would sit back, and he needed someone to propel the attack forward. The Catalan carried out his instructions to the letter, ghosting into the box to score the opening goal, rattling the crossbar, constantly prompting his team-mates. For an understudy he looked entirely central. And when your bit-part players put in man-of-the-match performances like this, it is the mark of champions elect.
In the week that Claudio Ranieri was sacked for apparently losing the dressing room, Fabregas gave telling insight into the ability of another Italian manager to keep all his playing resources onside, even when they spend most of their matchdays on the bench. Conte, he said, has given him a new lease of footballing life.
Chelsea 1 – 0 Swansea (Cesc Fàbregas, 19 min)“I’m learning new things, new situations, new manners, new football, new philosophy which makes a difference, it makes it entertaining,” he said. “I know sometimes I didn’t play as much but even in training I’m learning, and sometimes you think if you’ve been playing for a long time, won a lot, you’ve done everything and then you realise that in football you can never know everything.
“I’m in a good moment, a good situation, and hopefully I’ve reversed the situation from the beginning of the season to now and hopefully I can keep playing like that to keep my place.”
So much so that he dismissed any suggestion he might pursue lucrative avenues elsewhere in the summer. He wants to hang around the Bridge for some time to come, savouring the competitive spirit Conte has generated in the dressing room.
“In my mind, I decided I want to challenge myself,” he said. “Not everything comes easy in life, sometimes you have to fight certain situations you are not used to. But hopefully I have shown the manager he can trust me.” There is no doubt about that.
The first of four Spain internationals to score in this game – the others were Pedro and Diego Costa for Chelsea, while Fernando Llorente gave Swansea unlikely parity with a fine equalising header just before half-time – Fabregas gave an exemplary performance. In short, he spent the afternoon doing a fine impression of Frank Lampard, the club’s record goalscorer who was paraded round the pitch at half-time in a suit so sharp he was in danger of severing a limb with every stride. As hearty as the reception for the old hero was, the allure of the past is less pressing when the present looks this good. As Conte himself acknowledged.
“When you have in your squad this kind of player, that puts himself in the team and doesn’t think of himself, it’s great,” he said of his match-winner. “I think when you have this type of player you can sleep easy.”
