Cesc Fabregas was ‘angry’ that Como failed to hurt Inter more in a 2-0 defeat, warning he realised ‘who has my style of football in their blood and who does not.’
The coach had his first ever match as an opponent at San Siro and opted to change his tactics to a three-man defence, mirroring Simone Inzaghi’s formation.
It did help neutralise them for long periods, but they were undone by a towering Carlos Augusto header on Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner and in stoppages Marcus Thuram bent back Pepe Reina’s gloves with a screamer at the near post.
His players had chances too, most notably Nico Paz forcing a save and the desperate Carlos Augusto interception to prevent an Edoardo Goldaniga tap-in.
Fabregas ‘angry’ at Como lack of character
“It all goes down to small details, they had to break the deadlock from a set play and I don’t think Inter expected Como to be so positive without the ball,” Fabregas told Sky Sport Italia.
“We need to do a lot better with the ball, though, and today I got a great idea of who has my style of football in their blood and who does not.
“I don’t remember Inter doing anything in the first half. We had situations, like Strefezza should’ve put in the cross quickly and not taken an extra touch, Nico Paz on his own, Fadera twice was two against one…
“Quite a few others too didn’t have the right character to go there, be aggressive and get the ball into the box quickly. Da Cunha, however, I take my hat off to him, because this is what I want, a team that plays without fear.
“I am angry because we felt the sensation in the stadium that we could’ve hurt them and we didn’t do it. I want players with character.”
While Inter dominated possession, the number of shots on target was remarkably even considering Como were in Serie B last season.
“We saw Arsenal struggle and lose here, we saw Atalanta concede four goals here, so this is one of the three best teams in Europe right now,” continued Fabregas.
“With that in mind, I expected us to be more effective and not give the ball away so cheaply. After this performance and the one against Roma, these are two positive games and we can only build on them.”
The Sky Sport Italia pundits inevitably pounced on that phrase from Fabregas, ‘who has my style of football in their blood and who does not.’ Is this a sign that he wants some of them replaced in January?
“I prefer not to talk about the transfer market, I have faith in my players who got us here. These are 25 soldiers who train hard all week, they come here and put in a great performance, so I don’t want to discuss replacing them.
“It’s true, we deserve more points than we have, but we don’t have those points. I don’t like to feel sorry for myself, we just have to keep working in training and improving,” concluded Fabregas.
