Fàbregas versus Gasperini: here’s what the bosses have to say

The first Italian LP to sell over a million copies had a cryptic yet universally accessible title: “La voce del padrone”, by Franco Battiato, 1981. The title had been bestowed upon it by the very same man who, a year earlier, had reluctantly agreed not to call the album “I telegrafi del martedì grasso”, an album that would eventually be titled “Patriots”. Behind a simple title lay some obvious references and others more complex, but the formula remained straightforward and successful. We are borrowing it from the maestro’s collection – who, in his youth, dabbled in the old-school role of libero – to pair it with the two most interesting projects in top-flight Italian football: Cesc Fàbregas’s Como and Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma, set to face off on Sunday in a lunchtime fixture that promises to be a cracker.

It is the voices of the managers that make the difference. Two managers with strong identities, holding opposing yet equally effective views, who have taken charge of their respective teams and transformed them into something different from what they were in the recent past. When Fàbregas took charge at Como, there was an outcry: the Larian side were sixth in Serie B in mid-November 2023, and the club decided to sack Moreno Longo – despite a victory at Ascoli. The Catalan had retired from playing the previous year and had moved from Como’s midfield to coaching their Primavera side: the owners had seen the fire in his eyes and had brought things forward. A decision described by commentators at the time as somewhere between the absurd and a marketing ploy, with the former Arsenal and Barcelona player coming under fire partly for not holding a coaching licence. Within three years, the situation had changed – and not just a little.

These were the months when Gian Piero Gasperini was already firmly at the helm of Atalanta, having steered the team from a battle for survival to one for league titles and Champions League qualification as if it were nothing, introducing his style of play characterised by aggressive man-to-man marking, rapid ball recovery and lightning-fast moves from one flank to the other. Upon his arrival in Rome, he had to win over a fanbase that was ready to hold him to account for every verbal excess of the previous decade, from a few protests too many right up to his infamous outburst about Evan Ndicka: with Atalanta still waiting to find out the date of the rescheduled match against Fiorentina and the then Roma manager Daniele De Rossi being rather controversial about what to do, Gasp came out and said it wasn’t Atalanta’s fault that the match had been postponed due to the death of Joe Barone. “What happened was tragic; we must realise it wasn’t a ‘code yellow’ situation,” he said, in a clear reference to the suspension of the Udinese v Roma match following the Giallorossi centre-back’s hospitalisation after falling ill on the pitch. Gasperini has swept away the scepticism through the strength of his work; he has taken the Giallorossi back to the Champions League after years of failed attempts, and is now at the forefront of efforts to throw a spanner in the works of league leaders Inter: he has achieved this in less than a year and a half on the job. It’s the stuff of wizards.

On closer inspection, however, this clash between the ‘fathers and masters’ of two highly ambitious clubs conceals the outline of an ideological conflict. Fàbregas and Gasperini’s footballing philosophies are polar opposites, as are the characters of the two men. It is no coincidence that, last season, they provoked one another on several occasions. “Como rely heavily on their goalkeeper; unfortunately, this trend is becoming rife in football: it’s not spectacular to have a goalkeeper spending more minutes with the ball at his feet just to waste time. It’s tiresome; it’s not in the spirit of football,” said Gasperini immediately after dominating the match at the Olimpico, a performance that far exceeded the final 1–0 scoreline. He had also seemed particularly annoyed at the end of the return fixture, especially over Wesley’s red card: “I’ve already commented on this on other occasions; there’s no point going back over this trend in football regarding diving. Como often seek out this sort of situation.” Gasp refused to shake hands with his counterpart, echoing an outburst by Antonio Conte a few months earlier: the Napoli manager told the Spaniard that one of his players was diving, taking a dig at him with “You set that up, didn’t you?”. After the Como v Roma match, in response, Fàbregas went on the counter-attack: “Whether I’m angry, sent off or think the referee has wronged me, at the end of the match I always go over to shake the other manager’s hand. It’s a matter of respect and sportsmanship. It saddens me when a fellow manager walks off without saying goodbye. You battle it out during the match, but then you shake hands. I, too, have recently done things I’m not proud of, but I think we need to set an example. Let’s remember that the lads look up to us. I found it unsportsmanlike.”

Fàbregas has tried to reach out to him in recent days (“I have great respect for him; there have been heated clashes with some colleagues, but I make mistakes a lot – I’m young and often still get carried away by my emotions”) but when he found himself facing a Subbuteo model, he tried to explain how to tackle Roma: a fleeting remark, enough to stir up a row over nothing. Gasperini responded to the controversy with trademark biting sarcasm: “I know he’s shown how we play; now I’ll study it too and see how to come up with some counter-measures. I saw that on the Subbuteo he stopped me and Como won – let’s hope it ends differently on Sunday. But above all, anyone who follows football appreciates the evolution of Fàbregas’s Como.” This can be taken as an appetiser for the main course that will be served – not coincidentally – at Sunday lunch. We will be hearing more about this philosophical war, which adds a bit more spice to a league that, for once, we can confidently describe as on the up.