P302Rivals Football - Chelsea FC
Cesc
by upthechels @, 23/01, 09:38

You know I'm a massive Fabregas fan but I can see why he struggles to get a starting spot.

When a game starts everyone is fit (allegedly!) and raring to go and I think Conte thinks he has a weakness in meeting the demands that brings. Fabregas works his socks off when on the pitch and puts in as much (often more than anyone else) but it's at his pace which isn't as fast and gritty as others. If I'm a manager wanting to match the bite of opponents I'm going for Matic and Kante every time. When the game falls off the pace I'm looking to Cesc to exploit tiredness and that's exactly what I see Conte doing. Going toe to toe early doors then looking for the magician to pull something from his magic hat. It happens more often than not. I'd like to see the stats on when Cesc's assists are created, I'd bet the majority are when tiredness has set in and the gaps have appeared.

Like Conte, I use Cesc when the moment is right I'm afraid. I don't think he has what it takes to be an all guns blazing starter in most games. He has more than enough to enter a game and change it though.