Cesc Fàbregas' Como: tactics and style of play as a head coach
- Mik Van Well
- 5 minutes ago
- 7 min read
After earning promotion to the Serie A for the first time in 21 years in 2024, Como 1907 finished their first season under head coach Cesc Fàbregas in 10th place. This season, they have taken another step, currently ranking 7th in the top flight of Italian football, 5 points away from potential Champions League qualification.
Like most Spanish midfielders-turned-coaches, Fàbregas sets his team up to dominate possession. A quick glimpse at Opta Analyst’s data reveals that he has so far succeeded in that goal - his team has had 62% possession, the highest average in Serie A. His team focuses on short passing to create chances, playing few crosses.
Diving deeper into their chance creation data reveals insights that differentiate Fàbregas from colleagues like Guardiola, Arteta, and Alonso. Como ranks:
- 3rd in through balls played
- 3rd in goals from fast breaks
- 1st in goals from direct attacks
Direct attacks are described as ‘quick vertical attacks’, not necessarily after an opponent turnover - the difference with fast breaks. Como does dominate possession, but not through an extremely patient style of play. They actually show high verticality and directness. This combination might remind regular Football Analysis Hub readers of Roberto De Zerbi’s play style.
The current ex-Marseille head coach is known for his extreme approach to build-up, in which the goal is to attract as much pressure as possible before using third-man combinations to transition into the space behind the press. As many teams nowadays press the opponent’s centre backs with two ‘strikers’, De Zerbi’s teams focus on utilizing their goalkeeper to create a numerical advantage.
Analyzing Como’s last two Serie A games - excluding their recent match against Atalanta, where they played 11v10 for 82 minutes- reveals patterns that justify the comparison between Fàbregas and De Zerbi.
A recurring frame in Como’s games is the one below. The goalkeeper patiently keeps his foot on the ball, inviting a striker to leave his position and initiate the press.
Over the press
As soon as one of the strikers takes the bait, all of Como’s players commit to exploiting the space behind the pressing player. How they exploit that space depends on the compactness of the opponent’s pressing structure. When the space in front of Como’s centre backs is large enough, their goalkeeper is able to play direct, chipped passes to them.
To minimize the risk of this build-up pattern, Fàbregas has used a trick first introduced by PSV’s Peter Bosz. Except, for the goalkeeper and centre backs, every player moves up towards the half-way line. This creates an enormous space behind the opponent’s first defensive line, simplifying the pass from the goalkeeper to a centre back.
If opponents want to prevent the execution of this trick, they have to commit a third pressing player. This leaves the rest of their outfield players in a defensive numerical disadvantage, at risk of a dangerous long ball.
Around the press
Against compact pressing structures, the space behind the first defensive line is too small to play over the press. Therefore, De Zerbi-inspired teams regularly use third-man combinations to play around the press.
Fàbregas’ Como showcased this pattern against Torino, using one of their double pivot players to form a triangle with the goalkeeper and centre back on their side.
Positional rotations
If opponents don’t take Como’s bait and stick to their defensive structure, Fàbregas uses a final principle in his in-possession play style: rotations. None of his players are restricted to their starting position. Despite a structured 4-2-3-1 formation to start the build-up, Como’s formation is extremely flexible once they start an attack.
Below is a perfect example of this pattern. Como start the possession in the familiar De Zerbi build-up frame, with a double pivot in front of their goalkeeper and centre backs. Besides, star player Nico Paz is positioned in his typical number 10 role and both full backs are positioned against the touch line—nothing unusual at first glance.
Torino doesn’t make any defensive moves for a while, which triggers an aggressive forward run by left back Valle.
Two seconds later, left defensive midfielder Da Cunha mimics his teammate.
Goalkeeper Butez times his long pass perfectly and is able to find Da Cunha, suddenly within the final third. With a simple lay-off he allows striker Douvikas to control the ball at the edge of the box.
In settled possession, Como’s positional rotations are more sophisticated than these aggressive forward runs.
Below, Da Cunha moves wide, creating space for his left back to run into.
Valle utilizes the opportunity and inverts into the double pivot. This pattern is common in possession-dominant teams and helps progress the ball centrally—an extensive analysis on the advantage of inverted full backs will be available later this week on the Football Analysis Hub.
What makes Fàbregas’ team unique, is that Valle doesn’t stop within the double pivot but continues his forward momentum and ends up receiving the ball in the zone where you would expect a central attacking midfielder to operate.
In the example below, he even continues this type of run into the opponent’s box, creating a 2v1 situation against the opponent’s centre back. Consequently, Douvikas is able to receive the ball inside the box, with enough time and space to dribble around the goalkeeper and score an easy goal.
Fàbregas’ squad doesn’t limit its rotations to full backs though. Their centre backs are also allowed to leave their position and create overloads elsewhere.
When it goes wrong
For opponents, the frustrating thing about Fàbregas’ build-up style is that even when they fail to beat the press initially, their goal is often already achieved. In the examples below, Como lose the ball within their own half, due to inaccurate passes by their goalkeeper. However, by counter-pressing aggressively, they recover the ball quickly. Their goal of luring the opponent away from their goal is still achieved, creating space for dangerous transitions.
Pressing
Another shared characteristic between Fàbregas and De Zerbi is their preference for high and intense pressing. This season, Como have allowed the fewest opponent passes before making a defensive action of any team in Serie A—and only more than Barcelona and PSG across the top five European leagues.
Como’s press is usually initiated by their centre forward, who aims to force the opponent to either flank. The central attacking midfielder and both wingers form a compact line of three behind the striker who follow the ball, limiting central passing options.
This forces opponents to progress the ball, whilst being trapped against the touch-line. The image below highlights Como’s commitment to move their entire team to one side of the pitch and trap opponents inside their compact pressing block, forcing a turnover.
Because their midfielders and forwards commit to high pressing early, Como’s defenders are required to play a very high defensive line, limiting space behind the press. If opponents are able to find angles to progress the ball forward from the flanks, Como’s defenders can neutralize attackers by playing them offside.
Against formations with wing backs and two strikers, like the example against Torino above, the full back on the ball side will jump towards the opposing wing back. Because Fàbregas wants to keep a numerical advantage within the defensive line at all times, the full back on the weak side then tucks inside to support the centre backs, leaving his opposing wing back unmarked.
That dynamic creates the biggest weakness within Como’s pressing structure. By winning a 1v1 duel or playing a long flank-switch, opponents can find the free man in large spaces on the weak side.
This mechanism might seem worrying and lead to the assumption that Como concedes many transitions themselves as well, from unsuccessful pressing attempts. The opposite is true, however: Como have conceded only one fast break goal this season; tied 2nd best in Serie A.
Fàbregas has drilled his players to drop into a compact 4-4-2 mid block quickly, once opponents evade Como’s press.
This quick transition into an organised defensive structure has allowed Como to develop into one of the best defensive teams in Italy. They have conceded the 2nd least number of goals and 3rd least number of expected goals (xG) this season.
The false nine
A common trait among possession-dominant coaches is their love for midfielders. Many of them have admitted that they wish to play as many midfielders as possible. Away against Lazio Roma, we got a glimpse of how Fàbregas’ team could look like with an extra midfielder.
He lined his team up without any regular strikers. One might’ve expected the versatile winger Baturina to occupy the centre forward position. However, the first minute of the game revealed a different starting striker, at least in terms of pressing structure.
Creative playmaker Caqueret moved into an advanced forward position. For reference, this is the Frenchman’s career position history:
However, it also quickly becomes clear that he is not positioned there because of his capability as a centre forward and plays more as a false nine. In possession, he is allowed to continuously rotate with Como’s left back and left winger, creating difficulties for Lazio.
Within two minutes, this rotation delivers its intended result. Caqueret dropped out of the striker position, Baturina moved inside, and left back Valle made a forward run—he was found with a long pass.
Lazio’s centre backs have continued their run into their own box, marking no-one, whilst Baturina stayed at the edge of the box. He receives a cutback from Valle and finishes clinically.
We consistently see this type of rotation within the left-side triangle.
The main advantage of these rotations is a central overload. Preceding Como’s third goal against Lazio, Fàbregas’ side exhibits exactly how effective such an overload can be.
Conclusion
Cesc Fàbregas’ Como are far more than a possession-heavy Serie A surprise. While their ball dominance aligns him with Guardiola, Arteta, and Alonso, the verticality, rotational freedom, and press-attracting build-up place his ideas closer to Roberto De Zerbi’s school of thought. Through goalkeeper involvement, aggressive positional rotations, and intense counter-pressing, Como consistently manipulates opposition structures to create high-value attacks. Their ability to combine controlled possession with direct penetration and to remain defensively stable despite their ambition - marks Fàbregas as one of the most tactically intriguing young coaches in European football.
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