Vicente del Bosque

Yet, Fabregas brings his own fascinating tactical identity to the technical area as Como continues its breathtaking ascent.

Having absorbed the philosophies of legendary mentors like Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola, and Vicente del Bosque during a storied playing career, Fabregas has translated those lessons into a Como side characterized by calculated bravery, technical security, and an unwillingness to compromise on playing out from the back, even under extreme pressure.

His tactical blueprint relies on manipulating opposition pressing schemes, drawing opponents into deep traps before slicing through vertical passing lanes with laser-guided precision.

Preparing a squad of Como's relative European stature to face a juggernaut like Flick's Barcelona is the ultimate chess match, one that requires an exquisite balance of pragmatic defensive discipline and audacious tactical self-belief.

Yeah.

They got rid of Del Bosque, didn't they, after they won the-

It might have been a bit different if it was Real Madrid.

[laughs]

are you saying that because... you know, your players, but you're also analysing what fixtures you'll have coming up.

Not just the fixtures, because I knew I was working for Real Madrid for years and I was assistant of Del Bosque.

So I knew the way that they were trained.

So when you have in your team, you have Zidane, Figo, Raul, Roberto Carlos, they don't train very hard.

81.

81.

So then Del Bosque, Agustin, that was the keeper, was my keeper when I was in the academy.

So these players, I was coaching or training with them a lot of times.

... to 2004, you will enjoy that football or look at the flaws of the football?

I'm, I'm saying I would look at the flow of that football, and I would say, "I think I have a better grasp of what Mourinho is asking this team to do, what Sir Alex is asking this team to do, what Wenger is asking this team to do, what Del Bosque is asking this team."

I, I, I-

I think I would look at it and I'd be like, "Oh, that makes more sense."

You know, for, for years we've had so many Premier League clubs and so many Liverpool fans who are projecting, "We really want, you know, Xabi to be the guy who replaces Jürgen Klopp or replaces Arne Slot." Um, a lot of people have this image of Xabi Alonso in their head as being, uh, not only this great-looking, elegant former football player, but someone whose coaching tree, if you like, is unmatched.

You know, working with Ancelotti, Pep, Mourinho, Del Bosque, all of these greats.

The work he did at Bayer Leverkusen, being quite patient in his development as a coach, doing what many po- thought was unthinkable, ending Bayern's run of dominance there, undefeated season.

Um, but then Real Madrid, you would've thought he would be almost the perfect person to go in there and take an extremely talented group of players and mold them into a team, and instead we saw he struggled unexpectedly there.