0:09

Welcome to the Restis football and the

0:12

second half of my conversation with Ses

0:14

Fabregas. Why Chelsea? Why

0:16

Chelsea? Good question. First

0:19

of all, when I was at Arsenal with

0:21

Chelsea, Chelsea and me, Chelsea and Arsenal, you

0:23

know how it is. That's

0:25

why I asked the question. So it

0:27

was always a frustrating

0:29

time playing against Chelsea because they

0:31

were really strong, they were superb

0:34

with Mourinho, with the

0:36

drop-ups, Lamparts, Terris, etc. So

0:38

I always kind of disliked them so much,

0:40

even more for this reason. Yeah, I always

0:43

said it for this reason, it was so

0:45

frustrating playing against them. When I went

0:47

to Barcelona on my third season, after it, I

0:50

kind of finished the season very, very strong

0:52

and Chavi ends up on the bench and

0:54

I start playing and I'm saying, okay, I'm

0:57

doing well and this is my

0:59

time to fix my space, etc. We

1:02

played that game against Atletico Madrid, I

1:04

don't know if you remember the last game of the

1:07

season where if we win, we are champions and they

1:09

needed the win or the draw. So

1:12

that day I start, I

1:14

play a through ball to Messi, Messi lays

1:16

it back to Alexis, we score a goal

1:18

1-0 and I'm buzzing, like I said, this

1:20

is my moment. We win

1:23

this, I play well, I'm here for the

1:25

rest of my career. This type of feeling,

1:27

after football changes and happens where it happens,

1:29

but that was my feeling. Then

1:31

we conceded the goal, we scored a goal

1:33

that disallowed on Leo, that it

1:35

was never off site, etc. And

1:37

then I got substituted that moment for Chavi

1:39

at the 75th minute, I don't know,

1:42

something like that. And we end up drawing the game

1:44

and we don't win the league. Obviously you've

1:46

played at Barcelona, the Camno can be very... Judgmental.

1:51

Yeah, judgmental. Pitos. Yeah,

1:53

whistles, yeah. after

2:00

all the press is going after me, is

2:03

going after Alexis Sanchez, is going after David

2:05

V, a little bit the players that we

2:07

didn't have that power, etc. I

2:10

just felt, you know, I said it's

2:12

enough. Either there you can say mental

2:15

strength, being really strong, etc.

2:17

and continue and suffer, etc.

2:20

But for some reason, I just went through it

2:22

a little bit of periods before during the three

2:24

years and I just thought it

2:26

was time to move on and, you know,

2:28

to be maybe more important somewhere

2:30

else. And then we

2:32

had that week between the World

2:34

Cup and the end of

2:37

the league, that game. So I went to London, took

2:39

a week off, rest a little bit, think about what

2:41

I wanted to do. I

2:43

kind of made my decision already. I wanted to

2:45

move. I called Bartomeo, I called Suizareta, I told

2:48

them my decision. And

2:50

before going to the World Cup, I

2:52

sat down on the same day with

2:54

the three clubs, with Man United, Manchester

2:56

City and Chelsea at the house of

2:59

D'Arrendine, my agent, one

3:01

after the other. After that... Who

3:03

did you talk to from those clubs? I spoke

3:05

to David Moyes on the phone. And

3:07

then I met Chike Vigrystein and then straight

3:09

after I met Jose

3:12

Mourinho. And

3:14

you know, by talking, analysing, you

3:17

also get perceptions, you know, you get

3:19

feelings about who is who and what

3:21

they want from you. I can imagine

3:23

Jose would be quite persuasive. Yeah,

3:25

Jose, no, he convinced me. He brought me

3:27

to Chelsea. He was

3:29

the person that I had doubts, of course,

3:31

for my past at Arsenal. Can

3:34

I be the same player? Can I be

3:36

happy again, you know, playing football? Can I

3:38

be important? And he made me feel that

3:40

there was no other way. It was Chelsea

3:42

or Chelsea, you know, even Manchester

3:45

City obviously had amazing project. It

3:48

was doing a great team, even with Silva, who I

3:50

always had a great connection. Did you worry at all

3:52

about the fact that you'd played for Arsenal, you'd been

3:54

an Arsenal player for what, seven, eight years? And

3:57

then to go to Chelsea, did you worry about what the

3:59

Arsenal... ball.

20:00

And then there are these players that

20:02

wherever they are on the pitch, whatever

20:04

type of ball they get, they make it

20:07

feel like it's easy for them, that they

20:09

are never pressed, they always find a solution.

20:11

They are ahead of the game and definitely,

20:13

I mean, Yamal is one of those. I

20:15

always think the key, the difference that players

20:17

make, it's not just football, but any sport.

20:20

The greats always look like they've got more

20:22

time than everyone else. 100%.

20:25

That's what, and straight away with him

20:27

since day one. And I didn't know

20:29

him because the first day he played,

20:31

they told us, yeah, there is this young guy

20:33

that Chavi is going to play him, he's going

20:35

to give him the debut. We're all going 16

20:37

years old. Even though you think, okay, let's

20:42

see what he can do. But you never expect this

20:45

type of off-level, you know, and to do it

20:47

at such a young age, you know how it

20:49

is. It's very, very tough. Yeah. All

20:51

in the subject of Spain and I

20:54

suspect he might win the golden boy,

20:56

but who's going to win Ballon

20:58

d'Or this year? Everyone's always interested in that. Particularly

21:00

in Spain, they've always been interested in that. I

21:02

think it's now the case, perhaps in England as

21:04

well. But they've always been

21:06

a kind of, particularly around Real Madrid, there's this,

21:09

who's your man? I'd go Rodri, but I don't

21:11

know. Rodri is definitely a great shout. The same

21:13

way you say Rodri, you could say Carvajal. I

21:15

know he's a fullback and nobody really, but he

21:17

wins the Champions League. His course,

21:19

he plays in the Euros. He delivers

21:22

an amazing championship, the consistency, the career

21:24

he's had, you know, many, many things

21:26

that you put together. And he obviously

21:28

went in the Champions League and the

21:31

Euros. And the Euros. Yeah, that's what

21:33

I mean. Both things together. It's

21:35

not bad. So the fullbacks go. Come on,

21:37

Seth. No, no. You're talking about

21:40

the defensive midfielder as well. Maybe

21:43

that's a time where the game shifted a little

21:45

bit. Not necessarily for the good. No, 100%. No,

21:47

but it's true that football is changing. And then

21:49

now we need to adapt to the situation that

21:51

before it was the easiest thing in the world,

21:54

Messi, Cristiano. Now they're gone. So

21:56

now everyone is a little bit, you know, where is

21:58

the full? football going, where

22:00

are we going to choose? You know, Rodri's

22:03

played fantastic. Carvajal, there's always the

22:05

likes of Mbappe, Hollands, you know, that

22:07

everyone will talk about. I'm not really

22:09

capable to say anyone

22:11

specific at the moment, but there is

22:13

always also the shout of

22:16

Vinicius because what he's done,

22:18

you know, and win the Champions League and playing well.

22:20

But yet, your shout is very

22:23

interesting to me because I think

22:25

he deserves it and he brings for

22:28

me, Manchester City is a

22:30

different team with Rodri or without.

22:32

Why do Spain produce

22:35

that kind of player? The six? Busquets,

22:37

Rodri, Gianni Belonzo, just the name that's

22:39

three at the top of my head.

22:42

I look at English football, we don't ever

22:45

seem to create that kind of player. The why?

22:47

I don't want to compare England

22:49

and Spain because I don't really know how obviously

22:51

I do from the Arsenal time and Chelsea,

22:53

etc. but how they really work from a

22:55

very young age. But I told you before

22:57

when I went to La Masea, it's all

22:59

about football education. On and

23:02

off, because off is really important for

23:04

the values of Barcelona identity, etc. But

23:06

on the pitch, it's

23:08

all about technical, technical

23:10

ability, spaces, movement, a little bit of

23:13

tactical as well. So they introduce a

23:15

little bit of everything, but they want

23:17

to make you a better player. It's

23:19

not just like nowadays you see a

23:21

lot of tactical knowledge from a very

23:23

young age, you know, before it's more

23:25

about the game and understanding the game

23:28

and playing a lot of possessions, a

23:30

lot of three-mans, a lot of games,

23:32

for example, 10 against 8 or

23:34

10 against 9, where you always have one

23:36

extra guy and you need to identify, you

23:38

know, and sometimes I remember the coaches a

23:40

lot of times stopping whoever has the ball

23:43

in that moment stop. Who is the free

23:45

man? He starts looking

23:47

that guy said, okay, now by

23:49

being standing, how are

23:51

you going to find him? And he

23:53

needs to give the idea. Okay, now

23:55

I would find him through playing not

23:58

directly indirectly playing through the striker and

24:00

the striker will find him etc. So

24:02

it's all of these things that they make

24:04

you work the mind and

24:07

challenge you inside of the

24:09

pitch and I think this is super

24:11

important for them to understand because football

24:13

is very dynamic. You cannot tell a

24:15

player to do always one thing because

24:17

you move, I move, the other one

24:19

moves and then what it's a 4-3-3

24:21

that we call it 4-3-3, it

24:23

becomes a 3-5-2 all of

24:26

a sudden. So for me, that's

24:28

why I'm very, very conscious that

24:30

the players need to understand the

24:32

game more than us coaches letting

24:34

them say, okay, now

24:36

do this, do that, do this like robots,

24:39

you know, it's about freedom for them to

24:41

understand and you need to coach that on

24:43

the pitch. What's the difference between coaching and

24:45

playing? Well, it's got nothing to do. It's

24:47

totally different. Yeah, totally different. As

24:49

a player, you want to compete, you want to

24:51

train well, you take care of yourself and then

24:54

you just go home, you spend time with the

24:56

family, you rest, you're waiting for the next day,

24:58

you know, to be able to be on the

25:00

pitch and also the fact

25:02

that you are with your teammates every day, the

25:05

dressing room, you know how it is that feeling

25:07

that it's so nice. As a coach, I

25:09

don't think I want to be careful how

25:11

I say that for not to be badly

25:14

understood but you don't really enjoy, you don't

25:16

really have time to enjoy. That's the moment.

25:18

You win a game, in five minutes you

25:20

could say with the stab, okay, a beer,

25:22

you take a beer, five minutes, you're already

25:24

thinking about the next and you will be

25:26

on the way back analyzing the

25:29

game, what could we could have done better,

25:31

etc. Then you are already thinking, analyzing the

25:34

next game, you're playing on the next Saturday

25:36

and you need to be, you know, persistent,

25:39

consistent, it's 24-7

25:42

no matter what. You start very early in

25:44

the morning and you finish the moment you

25:46

put your head on the pillow to

25:48

go back to sleep and this is what I mean.

25:51

As a player, I felt you win a game and

25:53

you have time to enjoy it, you have time to

25:56

go for dinner, you score the goal,

25:58

you feel you are, wow, yeah. I'm so good,

26:00

you know, etc. But as a coach, it's very,

26:02

very tough. Therefore, I ask you the follow up

26:04

question. Do you enjoy it

26:07

as much as you did

26:09

when you were a player? There must be something

26:11

in this game to make people like yourself want

26:13

to do. It's the passion

26:15

for the game. Yeah. Yeah. It's passion and I

26:17

love to do it. And I stopped playing. I

26:19

still had a year contract last year to play

26:21

and I didn't enjoy the game anymore because of

26:23

many reasons. I'm not so I'm not talking about

26:25

the football, football. I'm talking about we were playing

26:27

a different football that I didn't really enjoy. So

26:29

I always said that whenever I wake up in

26:31

the morning, I go to train and I don't

26:33

really feel happy. I would stop and the

26:36

game was taking me to this coaching role. I

26:38

wanted to be part of something that I create,

26:41

you know, not that others are telling me to

26:43

do that I don't believe in. And this is

26:45

this was a little bit the biggest reason. But

26:47

yeah, you feel the passion for the game. 100

26:50

percent you. And for me, in

26:52

this case here in Como, where, you know,

26:54

we are at the very beginning of everything

26:57

three years ago. We were not even professional in

26:59

the club, you know. Yeah. Tell us about the

27:01

project. It's what 20 odd years now, isn't it?

27:04

Since Como last in Stadia. Yeah, 21 years.

27:06

So 21 years and to

27:09

get them back up, that must have been special.

27:11

But, you know, we spent the night

27:13

in Como and we walked around the ground. It's

27:16

tiny, isn't it? Yeah, it's tiny. Isn't it

27:18

like a like a top flight team in

27:20

the club? That's what I mean.

27:22

And also in Italy, there are some stadiums

27:25

like that. They're a bit older. The

27:27

requirements to make new stadiums and to

27:30

to basically make them more modern is

27:32

more difficult than in other countries because

27:34

everything in Italy is very from

27:37

the history, you know, and they believe in this

27:39

so much. So yeah,

27:41

it is a little bit older stadium. We're

27:43

trying to to fix many, many things to

27:45

make it. Actually, we got yesterday

27:48

awarded the permission, you know, to to start

27:50

playing at the stadium as an officially proper

27:52

seriatim because before we didn't have it. So

27:55

we had to play three or four games

27:57

away from home consecutive. So

27:59

now we are very. very happy. And yeah, four or

28:01

five years ago, we started in Serie D,

28:03

the club, and slowly, slowly now we became

28:05

a Serie A time. Well, as I

28:08

said to you, quicker than we would have expected,

28:10

but now we are here and we have to deal with

28:12

it. Yeah. So it must be exciting

28:14

though, playing against all the giants with

28:17

a small club like Kona. Yeah,

28:19

it is very exciting. It's a big challenge.

28:21

Yeah. What's your target decision? Is it to

28:23

stay up? Yeah. That would be it.

28:25

Yeah. Yeah. And

28:28

we know who we are. We're a

28:30

very humble club. Everyone needs to work.

28:32

Everyone needs to be hungry to be

28:34

here to sacrifice themselves for the project.

28:36

And I always say don't get confused

28:39

now because I don't know, Sergio Roberto

28:42

came, et cetera. Don't get confused. Like

28:44

we are who we are, feet on

28:46

the ground, humility, work hard. Even five

28:48

years, we become a top side. Then

28:51

we talk about different things, but now

28:53

it's time to dig and

28:55

work hard to stay up. It's a

28:57

tough start. You got one point from the first

28:59

three games and obviously Mr. Penalty at Houdini is

29:01

he to equal in the last minute. That must

29:03

have been a bit of a blow. Yeah.

29:06

A hundred percent when you miss a penalty, but

29:08

not only for that, for me now, I

29:11

know it can sound a little bit of

29:13

results are results. And this is what makes

29:15

the big difference in football. But if you

29:17

look at our performances and the moment where

29:19

we are after three games having come up

29:21

this year, changing 11 players,

29:23

I cannot be unhappy with the performance because

29:25

when you arrive against Juventus is different. It's

29:27

like a heat of reality. We had a

29:29

good half an hour, but after we conceded

29:32

the first goal and the player midfielder got

29:34

injured and went off, we were not at

29:37

the right level. So, okay, you take

29:39

that one Juventus away. First

29:41

game you'll take it. But then against Cagliari you

29:43

arrive 27 times, you score one goal

29:46

and we should have won the game. A

29:48

hundred percent. We were dominant and I like

29:50

what I saw. And against Houdini, we played

29:53

even better. More with the style

29:55

that I won. I see the personality that I

29:57

won. We arrived 22 times. You miss a penalty

29:59

in the last moment and you're saying, okay, am

30:01

I going to change? No, we're not going to

30:03

change because I believe in football. Sometimes you just

30:05

need a little click for it to

30:07

change the way you want it. It's not going our

30:10

way at the moment for whatever reason it is, but

30:12

the performances if you analyze and the way we do

30:14

it as coaches, we are

30:16

not unhappy. No, so you encourage ring. Exactly.

30:18

You're not being our player either. No, not

30:20

at all. Not at all. Yeah. That's

30:23

good. I want to finish with just a bit of fun

30:25

really, because you've played with so

30:27

many great players in your career. So many

30:29

great players. I want best goalkeeper, best defender,

30:31

best midfielder and best forward that you've played

30:33

with. Okay. It's quite easy. It

30:36

is, but I'm going to take Messi out. You're

30:39

going to play with him. No, not

30:41

for. Goalkeeper that I played with, huh? Yes.

30:45

Goalkeeper. I'm going to go for

30:47

Iker Casillas for the moments

30:50

that we shared. Of course, I

30:52

had great goalkeepers in Barcelona like

30:54

Valdez, Jens Lemann, et cetera. But

30:56

yeah, I think for what we

30:58

shared on and off the

31:00

pitch, the memories, what we want together

31:02

and having played together for many years,

31:04

Iker Casillas. Yeah. Defender. Defender

31:08

is tough. I think I'm going to

31:10

go for Puyol because he

31:13

was not the greatest football player because he'll put you

31:15

to sleep again. If he can't put you to sleep,

31:17

I don't call him. I don't say him. You've

31:20

got me. But I

31:22

miss players that love defending.

31:25

They would go over the line to save

31:27

a goal and they are proper, proper warriors.

31:29

I mean, like John Terry, Sergio Ramos, Pique

31:32

was a bit more special. He's a bit

31:34

more my style. Okay. But

31:36

in terms of defending, being a

31:38

warrior, proper captain, proper team player,

31:41

I'll pick Carlos Puyol. Yeah. Leader.

31:43

Yeah. Metfield. Metfield is very tough. The

31:46

road's tough really. Metfield is very tough. When you play

31:48

right here. You play right here. I

31:50

am going to go with Iniesta. I

31:53

love Chavi. I love David Silva. Patrick

31:57

Vieira. Gilbert O'Silva had some

32:00

great company in there.

32:02

But Iniesta, for me, is the

32:04

most complete. He

32:06

always, what we were talking about

32:08

before, pass him the ball wherever you want, how

32:11

you want it, he will make it always good.

32:13

He will make it look easy. He'll be surrounded

32:15

by seven players and he'll not feel the pressure.

32:17

He will always find the right solution. And in

32:20

the later stages of his career, he

32:22

improved by scoring goals. He was attacking

32:25

more the space, especially when I

32:27

was playing with him as well. We used

32:29

to combine a lot, understand each

32:31

other. So when I go outside, he comes inside,

32:33

I come inside, he goes outside. So I always

32:35

felt amazing with him. Also, he

32:38

was not the greatest in the

32:40

final pass, but he could see a final

32:42

pass. And then individually, in terms of

32:44

dribbling and keeping the ball, I don't think

32:47

I've seen a better player in midfield

32:49

than him. Forward. Forward, I'm

32:51

going to go with Thierry and Rij

32:53

for the reasons that I that

32:56

I said to you before. He was

32:58

so dominant. I mean, you

33:01

didn't play in his time, but you watched him

33:03

obviously the

33:05

whole of his career in England. And you know how

33:08

he was when he was on his day. And

33:10

even when he was not sometimes he was

33:12

unstoppable. I mean, some defenders and

33:14

big defenders and great defenders, they didn't really know

33:16

what to do with him. I

33:19

always think when we think of the

33:21

very best players, and you've mentioned a

33:23

number of them there, that even however

33:26

good they are, they're just the occasional

33:28

individual that kind of transcends even them

33:30

that are comfortably better. Now, in my

33:32

time, it was Diego Maradona and your

33:35

time like messy. I mean, it's just

33:37

football on another level, isn't it? It's

33:39

on another level. And you

33:41

can see that now we talk

33:43

about team, about defending altogether, about structure

33:46

and everything. At the end of the

33:48

day, what makes the big difference are

33:50

the individual players. The individual qualities, what

33:52

makes the difference? 100% the other day,

33:55

we won a lot last year when we were in Serie B

33:57

and many games. And as I said to you, we're very well

33:59

struck. discipline. And we did the

34:01

same against Juventus, but it's another level.

34:03

And then I could see live

34:07

that the first touch, that the first pass,

34:10

that moment that whether last year we were pressing

34:12

and they were kicking it long because they were

34:14

scared. Now we were pressing the same, but they

34:16

didn't feel pressed. They were getting away from the

34:19

players' individual quality, you know? And

34:21

I was like, wow, this is Serie A.

34:23

This is another level. Absolutely. Ceci

34:25

Güne so much time, been so generous

34:28

with it. I feel like I've been a little bit like

34:30

Thierry Omri. I've

34:33

got you trapped in your office and won't let

34:35

you go. I wish you absolute success this season.

34:37

I hope you stay up comfortably.

34:39

It's an amazing setup you've

34:42

created here. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you

34:44

so much, Gary. It's my pleasure. That's it for the rest

34:46

of this football this week. Goodbye from me.