Many were calling for Cesc Fàbregas to get the start against Swansea City on Saturday. Even many more were undoubtedly happy with his performance, which included the opening goal and the assist for the winning goal (as academic as that assist may be), as he controlled the play as well as we’ve ever seen him do in a Chelsea shirt.
That assist was the 102nd of his Premier League career, matching Frank Lampard for second all-time behind Ryan Giggs, and it came in his 300th Premier League appearance. David Luiz was on hand when this milestone was revealed, and he reacted to it in true David Luiz fashion.
Fàbregas may be getting old indeed — he will be 30 in a little over a month — but his most obvious skills remain evergreen. With 128 touches, he was at the heart of most things good for Chelsea, orchestrating the play in front of him and arriving late in the box Lampard-style on multiple occasions as well.
Passmaps & xGplot for Chelsea against Swansea. #passmap #xGplot #autotweet pic.twitter.com/30r6D8Py6v
— 11tegen11 (@11tegen11) February 25, 2017
Conte was not getting too carried away with his praise for Cesc after the game, but it sounds like he might be more willing to go back to rotating him with Matić as the opposition might dictate. (Kanté is and should be undroppable.)
“Cesc played a really good game but it’s important for me to have these solutions and also to analyse each game and understand when we need to have a player with more quality.”
“For me, I consider Nemanja, Kante and Fabregas all top players. I’m very pleased to see him in this form, despite the fact he didn’t start the last league game. This is the right way to continue. I’m pleased to have these type of players, to have that is fantastic as a coach.”
-Antonio Conte; source: Chelsea FC
Fàbregas, who recently reaffirmed his 100 per cent commitment to Chelsea this season and beyond took to Instagram to celebrate his milestones and to thank the fans. “More to come”, he says. Looking forward to it!