Complete Tactical Profile of Chelsea Midfielder Cesc Fabregas

So underwhelming was Chelsea's 2015/16 campaign, it's difficult to see what can be taken from it. Incoming boss Antonio Conte will be looking at what he needs to change, rather than keep.

If we saw how bad Chelsea were last season, though, we also witnessed just how vital Cesc Fabregas is to the team's style of play and ongoing development. By not being at his best, we saw the problems that gives the Blues.

So what is the Spaniard worth to this Chelsea side? Well, everything.

Fabregas had every reason for feeling aggrieved come the end of the season. He was made to look average at times, and it was all down to the way he was deployed—first by Jose Mourinho and then Guus Hiddink.

Playing in the pivot, too much was asked of him. Fabregas was being dragged into defensive situations that simply aren't his strong point. The reality is that every player has to defend at some stage in a game to win back possession, yet in the first part of the season, Fabregas had become a defensive midfielder. He was defending en masse, worrying about runners and through balls coming from opponents and not him.

Fabregas was occupied trying to mop up after Nemanja Matic, and it simply didn't work. He was too busy facing his own goal and scrapping in front of his own box to be effective.

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Fabregas wasn't signed by Chelsea in 2014 to perform that role. He was brought to west London to do exactly what we saw in his debut campaign when Chelsea won the Premier League title; he was there to dictate the tempo and get Chelsea dominating games through the middle.

The result was Diego Costa being unleashed up front, with Eden Hazard also enjoying his best season in a Chelsea shirt. That attacking pair were unstoppable, and it was largely down to Fabregas playing deeper to unleash them.

Just look at the numbers, which show us a big part of the story. In 2014/15, Fabregas picked up 18 assists in 34 Premier League games, when Chelsea scored 73 times. If we throw in the three times Fabregas scored himself, he was directly involved in over a quarter of Chelsea's goals that season.

The stats last season dropped off dramatically. From 59 goals, Fabregas was involved in a fifth of them and picked up just seven assists all term.

His tactical role was the same, but because Chelsea could no longer control games in the way they had done in that title-winning season, it rendered him surplus.

Fabregas' whole raison d'etre is to be bringing others into play around him. He sits deep to cause problems up front. That requires possession of the ball and not an overreliance on his limited defensive qualities. It's why the potential of Conte revamping Chelsea's system is such an enticing one where Fabregas is concerned.

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If Chelsea are seen playing the 3-5-2 Conte has persisted with at Euro 2016 with Italy, it means a much more congested central area, but more freedom for Fabregas.

Looking at the current personnel—that said, we accept there's surely going to be reinforcements added—it can be pictured working with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Matic grafting, with Fabregas sprinkling the stardust. Then the wide men come into play, with Hazard and Costa a potential front pair.

If he isn't exposed defensively, that's when Fabregas shines. He gets teams playing in the right areas and links up play expertly. Indeed, there are few players better than him in that role across Europe.

When the PFA Team of the Year for 2014/15 was announced in late April that season, Fabregas wasn't included. Instead we saw a host of fine attacking players that would pick up an avalanche of points in fantasy football, yet the reality was that it lacked balance. Why? Because Fabregas wasn't included, which had been a point of consternation for Mourinho.

"The season Fabregas is doing, the number of assists and quality of his game […] not to be there is a bit strange," Mourinho said at the time. "And I think that team wouldn’t win the Premier League. Because that team is four defenders, [Nemanja] Matic and only five to attack. So it’s a team without any balance.

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"The team is missing a midfield player, and I think that midfield player should be Fabregas."

That is Fabregas' tactical profile at Chelsea. He blends the brawn of defence with the beauty of attack. He is the closest thing to a "free" player the Blues have as he needs licence to roam in order to influence.

Everywhere else on the pitch, players are utilised with the opposition in mind. Defenders will cover certain areas to stop the threat of attackers; strikers will play a certain way to encourage teams to sit deeper and thus create more pockets of space.

For Fabregas, he's there to exploit it all.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes