After producing the sixth double-digit assist season of his esteemed career, Cesc Fabregas looks like he’s picking up right where he left off.
Chelsea dismantled fellow West London side Fulham in their first preseason match on Saturday, 8-2 (read a full report on the match here). It wasn’t much more than good exercise for both teams as they begin the long preparations for the beginning of the season, but, that didn’t stop Cesc from putting on his Magic Hat and showing off some of his usual passing abilities.
Chelsea released a short video of his best moments from the friendly on Tuesday. Lets go through it an analyze every play as if it were the Champions League final.
Play 1: Collecting a simple pass from Cesar Azpilicueta, Cesc takes one glance at Pedro making a run behind the backline. He lobs a perfect ball into his countryman’s stride. Unfortunately, Pedro’s first touch leads him a bit wide of goal.
Play 2: Again getting a feed from Dave, he takes the briefest of peeks upfield and picks out his target. His ball to Michy Batshuayi is a little ambitious but a fortunate misplay creates an opportunity nonetheless.
Play 3: Cesc is a bit further back and thus has tons of space to essentially be a deep-lying playmaker a la Pirlo. He plays a looping ball to a wide open Batshuayi for a simple goal and an assist. Poor defending? Probably. Amazing vision? Definitely.
Play 4: The aerial attack was becoming old hat for Magic Hat, so Cesc decides to mix up his delivery a bit. taking a simple pass from Dave and playing a first-time, curled ball into space for Michy to run on to. It would have been another assist if the finish had been true.
What have learned from this? Nothing. Nothing that we hadn’t known already, that is. Cesc Fabregas is one of the best passers of the ball in the world and shows no signs of slowing down. It should be another great season for Cesc, now entering his fourth year at Chelsea.