Cesc Fabregas' work rate continues to let him down

The ‘luxury players’ in the Premier League are a breed that seem to be diminishing of late, with the harder working players more likely to make the team sheet first.

The best example of a luxury player is Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas. He is incredibly talented on the ball, intelligent with his reading of the game in an offensive sense and he can unlock a defence with a perfectly weighted through ball. However, where he struggles is in his defensive duties and work rate, or lack thereof.

Against Middlesbrough, Fabregas was chosen ahead of N’Golo Kante, who was taking a well deserved rest. 

Against the Premier League’s 19th placed team, Fabregas was in his element. He was given a huge amount of the ball in the opposition half with the visitors preferring to drop deep to defend. This allowed the midfielder to take his time on the ball and pick up some very intelligent positions which ultimately allowed the Spaniard to notch two assists.

However, Fabregas has only started 11 games this season, which is almost entirely down to the work rates of Kante and Nemanja Matic in comparison to his own. The two defensive midfielders have been awesome this year and their willing to defend and attack has driven Chelsea to the brink of another title.

For Fabregas, being a technically superb player without having a real defensive element to his game has seen him relegated to the bench and, unfortunately for the midfielder, his tag of being a luxury player means it is unlikely he will ever be as important to the team as Kante is.