🚨 Cesc Fabregas on Nico Paz after Como’s 4–1 win against Manchester United: “I was a little bit angry with Nico at half-time. People might find that strange because he’d already scored, and we were winning against Manchester United. But there were two or three situations where he received the ball and stayed in possession longer than I wanted. Before the match, we’d spoken about their midfield. I told him, ‘Nico, these are experienced players. Bruno Fernandes, Tielemans, Mount. You cannot expect to have five or six seconds on the ball. Play quickly.’ Then during the first half, I kept seeing him turn with the ball, look around and take another touch. So at half-time, I asked him, ‘Nico, why are you not releasing the ball?’ He said, ‘Mister, I’m waiting.’ I said, ‘Waiting for what?’ He said, ‘For the sort of press that makes me release the ball quickly.’ I told him, ‘Nico, that’s not your responsibility. You play the football. Don’t wait for the opponents.’ He said, ‘Okay, Mister.’ Then we went out for the second half, and he created another goal before scoring again. After the game, he came over to me smiling. I said, ‘What are you smiling about?’ He said, ‘Mister, I tried what you told me. I stopped waiting for them.’ I asked him what he meant. He said, ‘I realised if I kept waiting for Manchester United to press me, we might still be playing tomorrow.’ I couldn’t even be angry with him. But seriously, I’m very happy for Nico. He’s a young player who listens, works hard and wants to improve. He has incredible quality, but the most important thing is that he understands how to use it. And tonight, I think he understood something else. Sometimes you prepare your players for a very difficult opponent, and the match gives them a completely different problem to solve.”