Cesc Fabregas Named Coach of the Year as Como Thrives
On a night built to celebrate Italy’s footballing elite, it was a coach from “a small reality” who stole the spotlight.
Cesc Fabregas, barely into his late thirties and still more readily associated with the midfields of Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea, walked onto the Gran Gala del Calcio stage as the architect of Como’s resurgence. He walked off as Coach of the Year.
The award carried extra weight given the company. Inter were named Club of the Year. Federico Dimarco collected Player of the Year. Yet the room paused when Roberto Mancini, head coach of the Italy national team, stepped forward to hand Fabregas his trophy. One era of European midfield craft saluting another, now reborn on the touchline.
Fabregas did not turn the moment into a personal coronation. He turned it back to his players.
“We made history with very young lads,” he said, summing up Como’s project in a single line. Youth, risk, and a refusal to play small simply because the club’s profile once suggested they should.
His Como side have earned a reputation for proactive, front-foot football, a style that has drawn praise across the continent and marked Fabregas as one of Europe’s most promising young tacticians. The 37-year-old has built an attacking identity that feels bold rather than reckless, modern without losing its Italian tactical edge.
The recognition has arrived quickly. Expectations, even quicker.
Fabregas knows it. He addressed it head-on, not as a burden but as part of the job description.
“We are Como, a small reality, we go slowly,” he said, underlining the gap between the glamour of the gala and the daily grind at the club. “We must go step by step, every year the pressure rises and it is a pleasure. We take the pressure naturally.”
That line revealed as much as the silverware. Pressure as pleasure. Growth as a deliberate, methodical climb rather than a sprint.
The Spanish coach spoke with clear pride, but also with the restraint of someone who has seen how quickly football turns.
“This award pleases me, it is an honour to be here,” he added, careful to frame the night as a milestone, not a destination. The focus, he insisted, remains on sustainable development: a squad that matures together, a style of play that survives beyond one good season, a club that grows without losing its identity.
As the lights of the gala faded and the applause gave way to planning boards and training pitches, Fabregas’ task sharpened again. Individual acclaim secured, the work now returns to Como’s domestic campaign, where every point matters more than any podium.
The challenge is clear. Keep nurturing those “very young lads.” Keep playing with the same technical bravery that earned this award. Keep walking that thin line between ambition and patience in Serie A.
The trophy goes in the cabinet. The real statement will be what Como look like when the season’s pressure reaches its peak.
