Como President: Fabregas Exceeds Expectations, Club Foundation Built on Vision

Como president Mirwan Suwarso said Cesc Fabregas has exceeded all the expectations placed on him. Suwarso made the statement in an interview with Cronache di Spogliatoio, as quoted by TuttoMercatoWeb, amid Como's surprising run after being promoted from Serie B and immediately competing in the Champions League this season.

Suwarso sees Fabregas not merely as a coach who implements tactics, but as the architect of the club's direction. According to him, many assumed Como was building the roof first, when the emphasis was actually on the foundation: a broad vision and a clear direction. "Cesc gave us that," Suwarso said, adding that Fabregas's intelligence was already visible when he was still managing the Primavera team.

That approach has shown in results on the pitch. Como opened their Champions League debut with a 4-1 win over RB Leipzig, then won 3-1 at Fiorentina on Sunday before hosting Manchester United on Wednesday. In the span of two and a half seasons, the club based on Lake Como has jumped from the second tier to Europe's elite competition, a trajectory rarely seen for a promoted club.

What sets Como apart, according to Suwarso, is Fabregas's habit of writing pre-match analysis reports for the club owner to read. The practice is considered normal in other companies or different sports, but is rarely found in football. Suwarso wonders why the habit has not spread, since such reports put everyone on the same frequency and allow results to be judged more objectively.

"We don't consider ourselves revolutionary. We just do things that people have already seen in other countries or other sports. At the end of the day this is a business and it has to be sustainable," Suwarso said.

Although the current squad is heavily stocked with foreign players, Suwarso has set an ambitious long-term identity target. He stressed that Como is an Italian club and wants to develop as many young talents for the national team as possible. Gradually, Como plans to build a team made up entirely of Italian players, ideally from Lombardy, mirroring Athletic Bilbao's approach that is identified with Basque players.

Suwarso also highlighted the role of minority shareholders Thierry Henry and Raphaël Varane. Henry was described as fundamental to the club's growth, while Varane has contributed greatly to the youth sector. The presence of those two big names strengthens Como's appeal, both to sponsors and to prospective young players.

For Italian football, the Como model offers an alternative to the big-spending patterns of top clubs. If the approach based on vision, data reports, and development can be sustained, other promoted clubs may well follow suit. However, the model's sustainability will be tested as expectations rise and the pressure for results in the Champions League and Serie A demands consistency. Can Como keep the foundation they have built without getting caught up in the euphoria?