CESC FABREGAS has been slammed by fans after FC Como’s 4-0 thrashing by Inter Milan on Sunday, with some calling him “the Spanish Ange”.
The Arsenal legend’s side were stunned by the Serie A giants in only their second defeat of the season as Cristian Chivu’s men ran riot.
Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring just 11 minutes in before Marcus Thuram, Hakan Calhanoglu and Carlos Augusto got in on the act later on.
Como’s heavy defeat came despite having more possession than Inter and more shots, but their bid to outplay their opponents at the San Siro backfired badly.
Fabregas defended his tactics and said he would rather play expansive, high-pressing football and lose rather than defend.
He said: “Honestly, I find it hard to speak, people don’t like what I say, but from a footballing perspective, I haven’t seen a huge difference between the two teams.
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“I even thought about changing the pressing compared to how we usually do it, but my head said no. I’m pleased with this, but then maybe I look stupid and a loser.
“I think we’ve grown today, that doesn’t happen when you win and they tell you you’re a phenomenon. After a heavy defeat, you learn more, you appreciate everything better.
“Today we lost against a team [that was] very strong. We can go 6-3-1, 5-4-1, defend… But I’d rather lose even with this deserved result.”
And it led to Fabregas being compared to ex-Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou due to his tendency of trying to keep the ball and press high no matter the opposition or circumstance.
One fan simply wrote on Reddit: “Spanish Ange,” as another replied: “Catal-Ange.”
Another called him “Wenger’s son”, while a third claimed Fabregas was “still traumatised from Conte” during his time at Chelsea.
One said Fabregas had shown “immaturity” by sticking to his guns.
They added: “When you’re in a losing/underdog position, you need to change things up, adapt to the challenge at hand. This isn’t a football manga.”
Another post read: “Fabregas is not playing football manager here. Against the leader of the league a more defensive approach could have gotten him a point.”
Fabregas did receive support from some fans, as one wrote: “Being able to coach that way gets you to the top clubs, like Vincent Kompany.”
And one Barcelona fan said: “Well I’ve heard enough, he is ready to manage Barca.”
Como have produced strong performances under the former Spain international and World Cup winner.
The team are currently sixth in the Serie A table after six wins, six draws and two defeats – scoring 19 and conceding 11.
Last season they finished 10th in the table, a respectable finish during their first year in the top flight.
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