Como manager Cesc Fabregas provided insights into his team’s preparations and player availability before their upcoming match against Udinese. The former Barcelona and Arsenal midfielder addressed various topics, including potential transfers, injury updates, and tactical considerations.
Regarding Raphael Varane, Fabregas stated, “We’ll see what happens with Varane, it’s his decision. We need to understand how he’s doing and how he feels. At the moment, he hasn’t fully recovered yet, and we need to wait a bit longer. I can’t decide for them; I have to wait and respect any decision of the individuals.”
On Sergi Roberto, Fabregas explained, “Sergi Roberto can’t play 90 minutes, I need to manage him well, and we need to evaluate with the staff and the player. I always think that whoever deserves to play should play, even compared to the champions, but Sergi came to Como to give a very important hand to the midfield with his experience and quality. He has a great mentality; let’s not forget that last year he was Barcelona’s captain, he will help the team a lot.”
Regarding Audero, he said, “He’s almost ready, we’ll see if it’s Sunday or after the break. As I said last week, he’s working very well. On Thursday, we’ll play a friendly, those who haven’t played much will be ready to come in.”
Fabregas also discussed Nico Paz: “Nico is a player of great talent, with great personality and courage, as we saw in those 20 minutes of play in Cagliari. He needs to learn a lot and have the right mindset and attitude, he needs to understand what professional football is, it’s not the same as playing for Real Madrid Castilla, he needs to prove a lot every week. We need to take it slow with him and the other young players we have, but if we brought him here it’s because we have faith in them. Starting or as a substitute? I see him ready to start if needed, age won’t be a problem, we need to understand when to exploit his characteristics, maybe he’ll play on Sunday. I personally requested him and I believe in him a lot.”
On Da Cunha, Fabregas commented, “He can start, he’s never been on the bench with me. He’s a very important player, at the moment I’ve talked to him and he’s not at his best, he told me that he always struggles more at the beginning of the season and that he always improves physically during the season.”
Fabregas praised Dossena: “I have to give him credit, in his first official match with us he did a great job and managed all the aerial plays well, we hope he does the same on Sunday against Udinese.”
The manager concluded by discussing Cerri: “Can he be a solution besides Cutrone and Belotti? Possible, last year after his head injury I talked to him sincerely because I didn’t see him with us anymore. He went to Empoli last year and this year he had a good pre-season, now he does things calmly that were difficult for him 6 months ago. Cerri is a player who doesn’t show much outside the box but becomes important inside the box, there he can help a lot and can be an interesting solution. He made me change my mind, I was sorry to make that decision but we are professionals, he came back with great desire and I give him great credit.”
