With Fabregas, Chelsea can mix it up more.
He gives them a lot because he can score goals as well as make them.
He can play keep-ball but also find Diego Costa beautifully with a 50-yard pass.
Antonio Conte plays my kind of football.
Chelsea can win the ball back and break fast in a very controlled manner, using deadly one-touch passes that usually find the runs of the blue shirts.
Kaka would say: Chelsea have a lot of automatic.
So do Arsenal but their style is much more about possession, so they take far too long to get there and use seven or eight players to do it.
And Mesut Ozil would never have got a start for Mourinho’s Chelsea, or Conte’s current team. Too lazy.
Swansea gave Chelsea a game, as I expected, but the league leaders beat them 3-1.
Fabregas scored in 19 but a flashing header by Fernando Llorente made it 1-1 at half-time.
Then Pedro’s bouncing shot went through Fabianski’s dive for 2-1 in 72 and, eventually Diego Costa volleyed home after a wicked little cross from his mate Hazard.
Never underestimate the determination of Cesc Fabregas.
Fabianski made two good saves from him.
Goalmaker Fabregas is the first Spanish player to play 300 Premier League games and he’s scored 46 goals.
He has 102 assists, the same as Lampard,who played 609 games.
Only Ryan Giggs has more assists, with 162 in 632 games.
Southampton gave Manchester United a good game in the EFL Cup Final.
Goals by Zlatan and Lingard put United 2-0 up but Gabbiadini, having had a nice goal wrongly disallowed, managed to score just before half-time and again soon after the re-start to make it 2-2.
This final was a compelling contest.
Then Ander Herrera got forward on the right and crossed from perfectly from inside the box and Zlatan headed the winner from six yards.
With his unique range of skills and vast experience, the giant Swedish gladiator made it all look so simple.
Big clubs need big players to score big goals in big games and finals.
On this showing, Claude Puel’s Southampton would have beaten most Premier League sides at Wembley.
And Manolo Gabbiadini, a £14 million signing from Napoli in January, is fantastic.
His instant success makes a mockery of the recruitment by one manager I could name.
Right now Man United only have 49 points but they’re on a roll, while Chelsea are top with 63 and a 10-point lead over Spurs.
MY PREDICTION :
Next season Chelsea and Man United will both be in the Champions League. Both have speed, defensive disciplines, and squads of men from whom kids like Rashford and Zouma can learn.