Cesc Fabregas has revealed that the ruthlessness of Jose Mourinho’s team is what set them apart after he joined the Portuguese manager at Chelsea in 2014 and he has urged Arsenal to add that to their game as they prepare to face Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
Fabregas was poached from the Barcelona academy when he was still a teenager and he developed his game in England with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.
Fabregas did leave the Gunners in 2011 and return to Barcelona, however, he wanted a return to Arsenal just three years later but that never happened and he instead joined Chelsea in 2014.
He played an important role in the Blue’s success under Mourinho and he has opened up at the difference that he saw that set the Blues apart from the underperforming Arsenal of that time.
He claimed that the Blues were just ruthless and they didn’t care if they didn’t have possession, they simply did all they could to win their games.
Fabregas said via Sun Sports: “The difference I felt straightaway is that we were ruthless.
“At Arsenal and it was maybe my fault at some point as the captain that I was, I loved the beautiful game.
“I was not very experienced like I was when I went back to Chelsea.
“I always liked to have the ball and demand the ball in difficult areas, even when winning 1-0 and playing for the league, you still want to do the same thing, because you are young and, in this case, a bit stupid in certain situations.
“But every player felt the same, that this was the only way to win.
“Sometimes we forgot that to win leagues, you need to win ugly.
“There are always five or six games a season where you struggle but win.
“At Chelsea, we did that. We were very competitive and very experienced. That’s the main difference.
“In terms of talent, at Arsenal, there were fantastic players.
“But at Chelsea, we didn’t really care if one day we won 1-0 without touching the ball for the whole match.
“It’s just maybe the way we competed was different. You don’t really know why or how.
“I would not forgive myself if I never won the Premier League.
“Winning that first Premier League, I remember when the referee whistled at the end, going on my knees, lifting my two arms up, looking at the sky.
“It’s like I can feel it now, like it was yesterday.”
