The Welshman who influenced Europe's coaching elite

ByAndrew Richards

BBC Sport Wales

Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas and Mikel Arteta.

This is not the beginnings of a fantasy Arsenal five-a-side team.

It's a list of players turned coaches whose latter careers have all been influenced by a Welshman.

Osian Roberts was the Football Association of Wales' (FAW) technical director when Henry, Vieira and Arteta stepped through the gates of Dragon Park in Newport to earn their coaching badges.

After a stint as assistant to Vieira at Crystal Palace, Roberts was recommended by Henry to join Italian club Como as interim manager in December 2023.

He led the side in promotion to Serie A that season, before handing the reins to his assistant Fabregas while staying on as head of development at the club.

"He's an amazing man, a very intelligent young man," Roberts said of Fabregas, speaking to the BBC World Service's Sportsworld programme.

"He's made this step from a player to a coach in a relatively short period of time, in as natural a way as you can.

"We all know how much of a top player he was and he's showing that he has the same mindset, intelligence, the drive and the hunger to succeed as the manager as well."

Fabregas' side currently sit fifth in Serie A, two points away from a Champions League spot with five games left of the season.

They are also 90 minutes away from a first ever Coppa Italia final, as they resume 0-0 on aggregate against Inter Milan on Tuesday.

"It would mean everything to the club," said Roberts.

"The fans here haven't had much to cheer about in recent times but now to be competing at the top level in Serie A, it's a dream come true for everybody involved with Como 1907."

Roberts is keen to stress Como have "a very strong team behind the team".

"A lot of hard work, humility led by example by Cesc himself," he adds.

"There is no right way to play football and for us we have our way which is specific to Como, which we are trying to build based on Cesc's game idea and influence.

"I'd like to think that we're a very exciting team to watch. We have to be because we're in Como and we are, by definition, in a city that needs to entertain and attract the tourists into the stadium."

Roberts, who was assistant to Chris Coleman during Wales' run to the semi-finals at Euro 2016, sees a comparison between Fabregas and Arsenal boss Arteta.

"I would put Cesc and Mikel in the same category because both of them were making that transition from playing to coaching whilst they were still playing. They had that mindset," Roberts said.

"It's not always easy, because most of these former players had a long, successful 20-year career. So to continue with that fire in the belly and be able to go again in a different career where it takes even more out of you, it's time consuming.

"I know many top, top players who just didn't have the batteries left to go into a coaching career and that's fine.

"It's fantastic to have these type of profiles continue in the game, because fans I'm sure love them as players and have another opportunity to see a different dimension and their idea of the game, based on these wonderful experiences that they had."

Having once held a seemingly insurmountable lead in this season's Premier League title race, Arsenal now sit just six points clear of Manchester City, who have a game in hand, before they face each other at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Despite the pressure, Roberts has been impressed with Arteta's demeanour.

"I think he's managing the situation in a very impressive way," the 60-year-old said.

"Every manager has doubts. I'm sure when he's alone he's thinking about the worst case scenarios, it's inevitable.

"But you know that he will be conveying only positive vibes on the pitch, off the pitch, how he conducts himself, his body language."

Roberts believes you can see Arteta's strengths in his media conferences.

"He knows that the players will be listening to his messages and you can see that they're strong. He's talking about fire, not fear," he said.

"I think most players and coaches that I've spoken to over the decades would say that that first trophy is the hardest one to win.

"Of course, I know he's won the FA Cup but now we're talking about Champions League and Premier League.

"If they can just about get themselves over the line, I'm sure we'll see them go from strength to strength over the next few years."