Cesc Fabregas told the official Italian press that he wished he hadn’t told his players to take it easy after a four goal lead in the UEFA Champions League clash with Como went in on Wednesday. It was another tough defeat for Manchester United, which has put pressure on manager Michael Carrick ahead of a meeting with growing doubts over the club’s form. Former Real Madrid midfielder Nico Paz was the standout performer for Como, helping the team score twice and set up another goal.
Fabregas said that he had instructed his players to put their game on the back burner late in the contest as another game was coming up. But United’s consolation goal did not help the Como manager, who was eager for his side to have kept going with the attacking style until the end. Fabregas said he was sorry for the “final 10 minutes” when he was the one calling the team to cut the tempo down as there was another game. He told forward Tasos Douvikas to curtail his runs and play in the middle, as the four-goal lead should suffice to cope in the closing stages.
That is what I regret, as I am the first one that is always trying to push the fight until the end,” Spaniard said. Along with this, there have been multiple suggestions that Fabregas could replace Carrick at Manchester United. He did not go so far as to have been party to speculations leading up to the match, but he did say that it would lack respect if he talked about another manager leaving. Fabregas spoke at his pre-match press conference: “I don’t think that’s any real respect for a great player and manager like Michael Carrick.”
