Cesc Fabregas shares what he’s copied from Arsene Wenger as a manager

Cesc Fabregas is making a serious case to be considered Europe’s most exciting manager.

His Como side dispatched RB Leipzig 4-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday night. It’s impressive stuff from a coach who only took his first senior management role three years ago. Sound like someone familiar?

Fabregas has played under some of the greatest managers of his generation — Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte.

Speaking to CBS Sports before the Leipzig game, Jamie Carragher asked him which of those coaches his football most resembles.

“I think definitely Arsene. Because Arsene, even though we were not used to work a lot tactically, I work a little bit more probably nowadays. But he was so smart in picking up the players that he knew, understood that were perfect for his football. Intelligent players, players in the pocket, players that attack the space, that see the game in a different way.

“And I think that’s what was the most successful moment and attribute of Arsene during his time there — that he was really understanding the players that he wanted to bring to the club, and made them better, and put them together on one pitch to make the difference.

“I think the identity that we had at Arsenal was very clear.”

Fabregas, by some — and it should be stressed that this is not an opinion the whole fanbase shares — has been touted as a future Arsenal manager.

That is of course, whenever the day comes that Mikel Arteta eventually moves on. Thankfully that won’t be any time soon as the Arsenal manager is close to signing a new contract.

But watching Fabregas articulate so clearly what made Wenger special, in terms of the identity and the idea of how the game should be played, it’s easy to see why his name keeps coming up in those conversations.