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Cesc Fabregas looked up. He took a touch to roll the ball off his feet. He saw the race.
With a clip from his right boot, Fabregas sent the ball over helpless defenders. He fell just over Olivier Giroud's shoulder and the Chelsea striker opened the goal.
So, c & # 39; what Maurizio Sarri meant. That's what the Chelsea boss said when he told a room full of journalists that he wanted a "very technical" player in the defensive center of his midfielder three.
Cesc Fabregas was at the heart of everything Chelsea did in the PAOK win
The Spanish midfielder has repeatedly opened the Greek defense static Thursday night
When he said, unbelievably, that he did not want N & # 39; Golo Kante – a consecutive Premier League champion and a World Cup defensive midfielder at £ 290,000 a week – at this position.
Sarri had named two that he wanted to find there. The first was Jorginho, the £ 50m summer rookie, who filled that role at the start of every Premier League game this season.
A recorder already for passes and keys. The key to what is called Sarri-ball. Sit in front of the last four. Pass it, pass it and iron it. Start reading, dictate the tempo.
The other name was Fabregas. And that is Fabregas who debuted at Stamford Bridge in the penultimate group match of Chelsea in the Europa League against PAOK. As for central midfielders, few of them are as technical as he is.
He showed exactly the values of Maurizio Sarri to a "very technical" midfielder.
The Italian said this week that he did not want N & # 039; Golo Kane playing in this position
And in this simple and comfortable walk in the park against the Greek group, it's Fabregas who has been the heart of everything Chelsea has done. The quarterback par excellence. The more keys, the more passes.
Passes that opened a static PAOK defense. A perfect ball of weight in the trajectory of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The sublime pingcross against Pedro who scored Giroud's first goal. The ridiculous attend for the second. Passes, it must be said, that Kante would probably not have been able to do.
There are not many things that Kante can not do. As a defensive midfielder, there is no better player in the world. No.
When the former Leicester City defenseman Robert Huth was recently asked how Wes Morgan, Danny Simpson and Christian Fuchs had won the title on Earth, his answer was simple: "Kante".
Kante also played a crucial role in helping Chelsea take the title the following season. But under Sarri, the new boss wants something different.
Jorginho moved Kante and is the key to Sarri-ball in Chelsea as he was to Napoli
And it is for this reason that Sarri asks Kante to play more widely and to attack more. And, in turn, why Kante was later criticized for his performance against the Spurs while he was unable to do so at the discretion of his manager.
This is in itself strange. It's a bit like Paul Hollywood was hosting a dinner and putting Mary Berry on the fish route. It's still going to taste good, but you sell poor Mary, bless her.
But Fabregas' performance showed that Kante would not come back soon to what many would think to be his legitimate position. If ever.
All of this comes with a heavy warning. Fabregas had more time to play them here. It is unlikely that the architects of Sarri have as much time as this in the Premier League.
Jorginho certainly was not when he was knocked out by Everton Richardson striker and Tottenham's Dele Alli in the first loss of the season at Chelsea.
Results like that of Wembley will give Sarri more worry that he will be delighted to see Fabregas manifest his manager's philosophy in the worst case, facing a team not only at the end of their group of the Europa League, but also to 10 men. the game.
Kante will have to improve his technical side and feel more at ease
It is rather the question of how he manages to escape this new conviction that Chelsea has suddenly gone from an unstoppable Sarri-ball to a softer center.
Stop Jorginho, stop Chelsea. That's what Tottenham did. It was out of the question for PAOK to stop Fabregas. Man City will be very interested in it next weekend.
Maybe Sarri will answer by playing Kante alongside Jorginho. A change of system to two complementary midfielders.
His boundless energy and ability to win baited bullets help ease the pressure on Jorginho's shoulders. This is unlikely. Sarri seems to be so obstinate.
In this case, Kante will have to improve his technical side and adapt his game to be more comfortable and a little wider.
If he does not, Kante may have to endure the unthinkable and watch a few more games as he did here, having not been named in any of the following. team of the day. And next time, they may not be just mortars.
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