Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas criticised for lack of 'tactical intelligence'

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has been criticised for his lack of “tactical intelligence” in the wake of his side’s heavy defeat to Manchester City at the weekend.

The reigning Premier League champions were put to the sword by City, who ultimately romped to a 3-0 victory at the Etihad stadium to open up an early five-point advantage on their rivals in the fledgling title race.

After the game it was Blues boss Jose Mourinho’s decision to substitute John Terry that attracted much of the attention, but former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes Fabregas created significant problems for his side with his inability to concentrate defensively.

The 37-year-old believes that the presence of Ramires for big games, like the one in Manchester, is an acknowledgement from Mourinho that Fabregas – while a brilliant threat when in possession - needs additional cover to cope in games against the best attacking players.

"Why do you play Ramires?" Carragher said, speaking on Sky Sports. "Because you've got someone in Cesc Fabregas who is a fantastic footballer, creates goals, scores goals, but he can't defend - as we saw in the first 10 seconds when David Silva turns him and puts Sergio Aguero through.

"He lacks tactical intelligence, especially defensively. That's one of the reasons Barcelona let Chelsea take him."

However, the former England international acknowledged that Chelsea’s issues against City did not stem from Fabregas’s defensive problems alone - adding that Ramires did not fulfill his role as Mourinho will have wanted.

"If you play him in there [central midfield], Fabregas needs protection from Matic and Ramires and he didn't get that, especially from Ramires,” he added. "The problems they had down that left side came from Ramires and Fabregas together."

Despite the result, after the match Mourinho refused to read too much into it – branding the final scoreline “fake”.

"If the 1-0 was a doubtful result at minute 70, 3-0 is completely fake," the Portuguese said. "At 1-0 Chelsea were the best team for the whole second half. After our second half a 1-0 result would be unfair, so imagine the 2-0 or the 3-0.”