The runaway champions of last season are already nine points adrift of Manchester City and the 3-0 embarrassment against Roma was their third defeat in seven games.
Heading into tomorrow’s showdown with Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, parallels are already being drawn with the capitulation that led to the sacking two seasons ago of the Special One six months after winning the title.
And Fabregas, one of the main targets for the fans’ frustration, is still at pains to work out what went wrong that time.
“I still wonder myself because it was such a shame,” he said. “You go to bed sometimes and you think of many things and sometimes you cannot sleep.
“Still sometimes it bothers me because I could look from the outside as a fan and think, ‘These guys are not even trying’. But we just forgot to play football.
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“You felt that those six months we were nowhere close to what we really were just a few months before. But it happened and I felt bad for it.”
Fingers have been pointed this time round at the harsh training regime implemented by Antonio Conte, and while Fabregas used his interview on BBC’s Premier League Show to refute that point blank, he did admit the “Italian” fixation with fitness is draining with a congested fixture schedule.
“When you have the whole week to train, his methods and those of the fitness coach have a [certain] mentality,” Fabregas said. “It is a very Italian mentality – we have to run and be fit and recover well.
“But this year, because of the Champions League, we are not having that much time because every three days you are playing.
“You cannot play on the Wednesday and the Saturday and then the Thursday. You cannot run – it’s impossible. You need to recover and get back well for the weekend.”
Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge is hardly likely to soothe tensions around the current regime, especially as Fabregas freely admits his best times as a player came under the Portuguese.
“With Mourinho I had an incredible year in my first season – it was one of the best seasons of my career,” he said.
“We still talk today. He is probably the manager that I have had the best feeling and connection for. Apart from Arsene Wenger, the one I have the most contact with is Jose.”