Goonerholics Forever

Our final pre-season warm-up match is against Como 1907. It’s a club that has suddenly appeared in the upper reaches of Serie A, seemingly from nowhere. Como’s rise to prominence is probably not unrelated to having the richest owners in Italian football, the Hartono brothers, who have a combined wealth of over $40b, and own one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates. The club can also boast a couple of Arsenal links with current head coach Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry, both minority shareholders since 2022, perhaps, giving an element of football romance to the project.

Given Como’s mysterious and rapid rise from the depths, I think it’s worth exploring the details behind the scenes. If you have no interest in that background, and want to stick to the forthcoming match, simply scroll down to the horizontal separator and begin reading there.

Apparently, the club president, Mirwan Suwarso, a longterm employee of the owners, was instrumental in persuading the brothers to purchase Como 1907 from the wife of Michael Essien, as a project for a television programme. At the time, he was managing one of their TV stations in Indonesia. According to Suwarso, the owners have no interest whatsoever in the club or in football in general and prefer to watch badminton. The TV project appears to have changed soon after the club was purchased.

Ryan Shelton, the Chief Business Officer, describes Como 1907 as ‘the hub of a wheel of other commercial interests’: a tourism division, a private members’ club in a nearby lakeside villa, ‘The Club on the Lake’, an international retail division that, as well as marketing expensive products related to Como 1907, has a fashion line called ‘Lago di Como‘ and paraphernalia for Como Hiking Club and Como Running Club. The club has been carefully aligning itself with upmarket sponsors but has also actively engaged with its local community to build the fan base. Impressively, to reward their loyalty, Como 1907 has maintained the Serie D price point for 644 surviving fans who were season ticket holders when the Hartono brothers bought the club.

Como 1907 claims to be more than a football club in a beautiful destination. The Como brand is now said to stand for something. According to Suharto, the brand is being ‘modelled on Disney’ with the aim of becoming a ‘premium global football destination’ with a ‘football experience equivalent to the Disneyland experience:

“Our aim is to build an attractive team so that when people come to watch us, they enjoy the experience. If we do things the right way, 60% of our new audience will come from tourists who suddenly discover there’s a football club here. If they visit for the first time and we play with a low block and in a boring way, they will never be interested in Como. Our goal as a company is to become the world’s leading football tourism destination. If you want to be a premium football tourism destination, then the football itself needs to be fun and exciting”……….”Our goal is to position Como 1907 as the heartbeat of luxury football travel. We’re not just hosting fans – we’re inviting the world to live football through the lens off Como: stylish, soulful and uniquely Italian”.

VIP packages started at 490 Euros in 2025.

On the other hand, Thierry Henry praised the club’s focus on the local community, stating “a club is nothing if commercial goals break that heart”.

Some of the aims expressed appear fanciful and others appear contradictory.

For a glimpse of how this club has been going about its business check out this piece on YouTube with the Como Chief Business Officer, Ryan Shelton (it’s quite long). Despite Jake Humphries being his inquisitor, it’s an insight into the club’s professed philosophy though it has more than hint of ‘motherhood and apple pie’.

Although over a year old, this YouTube piece provides a different perspective on Como 1907 and also reveals where the money comes from (also rather long).

Before its renaissance, Como had been a yo-yo club throughout its history. It also has the distinction of having been re-founded twice. Originally, a group of Como locals were inspired to found a football club after playing a game on the shore of Lake Como against members of the Buffalo Bill Circus in Spring 1906. That match was apparently refereed by Cody himself and ended in a draw.  

The club’s first incarnation in 1907 was as ‘Como Foot-Ball Club‘. It was promoted to Serie B in 1931, then, for the first time in its history, to Serie A in 1949. Como preserved its Serie A status for 4 seasons but then dropped as far as Serie C1. After promotion to Serie A for a second time in the early 1970s, Como again descended to Serie C1 then rose again to Serie A in 1980 and enjoyed 5 years in the top flight – its most successful period to date. By the 1990s, the club was back in Serie C1 then returned to Serie A for a single season in 2002. However, due to financial difficulties the club experienced consecutive relegations and was declared bankrupt in 2004. 

Refounded as ‘Calcio Como‘ in 2005, the club was admitted to Serie D, the top level of non-professional football in Italy, and in 2007, achieved promotion to Serie C2 but a further bankruptcy followed in 2016.

A new club, ‘Como 1907‘ was founded in 2017 and admitted to Serie D. This club was subsequently bought from Mrs Essien by the Hartono brothers in April 2019 while it was still in Serie D. Como was promoted to Serie C in the same month with a record-breaking points total, then won the Serie C trophy and promotion to Serie B in 2021, and to Serie A in 2024, after 21 years’ absence.

Cesc Fabregas ended his playing career at Como in 2023, moved into coaching as an assistant, stepped in as interim manager during the 2023-24 season and became head coach in 2024. In 2025-26, under Cesc Fabregas, Como finished 4th in Serie A and qualified for the Champions League, their first ever qualification for a European competition. Como finished with the second highest goals tally in Serie A (65 goals in 38 matches), also conceding the fewest goals (29) and with the highest ball possession throughout the season.

The wealthy owners have clearly facilitated the club’s success as much as Fabregas’ genius. The ownership are said to be building revenue that doesn’t depend on the football because the football currently earns very little: match-day income is capped by their small, 12,000 capacity stadium – about to be redeveloped into a community hub (but, according to Suharto, “the football is secondary” in the redevelopment!) – and TV income is relatively low. Como 1907 spent over $100m each summer after promotion to Serie A in 2024. This was bankrolled by the owners. The wage bill has also rocketed since the club reached Serie B. Allegedly, the Italian Football Federation enforces financial criteria aligned with UEFA’s framework but has not raised any issues with Como as it “operates debt-free and is backed by wealthy owners”. Nevertheless, the club’s annual loss of over 105m Euros in recent seasons will surely be an issue for UEFA’s financial sustainability rules, now that it has qualified for European competition.

I’ll allow you to decide for yourself, dear reader, whether Como 1907 is a heartwarming fairy tale in the style of Cinderella or represents yet another example of mega-wealth distorting the game. Well done, if you’ve waded through all this waffle.

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I have to confess that I recognise only a few names in the Como first team squad. England international Trevor Chalobah was signed last weekend from Chelsea, German forward Nicolas Kühn was signed from Celtic last season and much-travelled Àlvaro Morata is another listed forward. That’s it! The other 26 look to be a mixture of fit looking young men (oo er, matron!) and a sprinkling of experience. The club’s philosophy has been to use data analysis to build a team of internationally sourced, talented, young players and the squad is the youngest and most international in Serie A.

Nico Paz, the current star player is an attacking midfielder bought from Real Madrid, with a propensity to shoot and score; he played 71 minutes for Argentina in the recent World Cup – Real Madrid hold a punitive £8m buy-back clause. Baturina, a creative midfielder, played 324 minutes for Croatia in the World Cup and scored one goal and Diao, a tricky forward, played all of 9 minutes for Senegal. A young Greek attacker, Anastasios Douvikas was last season’s top goalscorer with 14 goals. Maximo Perrone came through the C115y academy and plays a ‘Cesc-like’ role, setting the tempo in midfield. Maxence Caqueret is a young defensive midfielder who quietly makes Como’s system tick. Jesùs Rodrìguez is a talented Spanish international winger acquired from Betis.

Under Fabregas, Como plays possession-dominant football blending Spanish positional play with fluid rotations, aggressive pressing and vertical transitions. Nominally starting in a 4-2-3-1, the shape shifts constantly with centre-backs widely splitting while full-backs or midfielders form a temporary back three or diamond shaped midfield. The players generally adopt a technical build-up from the back, using short combinations and third-man movements to bypass opponent presses. However, goalkeeper Jean Butez, who looks very comfortable with the ball at his feet, will occasionally shake things up with a vertical pass to Morata at the halfway line, who will lay the ball off to a runner, leaving the opposition press behind. In possession, midfielders and inverted wingers drift into half-spaces to create central overloads while strikers often drop deep allowing runners from deep or wide areas to exploit space behind centre-backs who have been dragged out of position. Without the ball, Como morphs into a 4-4-2 using a high-intensity press to regain possession quickly and spring rapid transitions.

What of the Arsenal? All our English and Spanish World Cup participants returned to training on Monday. The only players now missing are Timber, who is “weeks away from returning” and Saliba who is “on compulsory rest”. I can’t imagine any of the returnees will get more than 30 minutes game-time against Como but that may be enough to get them match-fit enough to play 45-60 minutes in the Community Shield on Sunday. I expect Bruno Guimarães to get at least half an hour to help him build new midfield partnerships and Ødegaard, who had a very good 30 minutes against BVB, to play for up to an hour in this game.

I would start with the following XI though Mikel will certainly have other ideas:

Raya

White Mosquera Gabriel Calafiori

Ødegaard MLS Guimarães

Dowman Gyökeres Tzolis

I expect most of Saka, Rice, Eze, Martinelli, Havertz, Merino, Zubimendi, Hincapié, Nwanerii, Salmon and Kepa to join the fray at half-time or during the second half unless they have played the first 30-45 minutes.

After two consecutive defeats, albeit in unimportant friendlies, it would be nice to get a victory and a clean sheet under our belts before facing the Creative Accountants on Sunday. How about 2-0 to the Arsenal?

One more thing, Holics ….

Firstly, it’s time to sharpen your pencil, get your thinking cap on and enter the new season’s Predictathon ….

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Predictathon 2026-27

Enjoy our fourth season playing the Goonerholicsforever Prediction Contest, in aid of the Willow Foundation!

Again, the contest’s purpose is twofold. First, to enhance the enjoyment of the upcoming season by providing a degree of light-hearted competitive rivalry as the season progresses. Second, to support Bob Wilson’s Willow Foundation with another generous collective donation. 

The rules of the game are straightforward:

1. The object of the contest is to predict the final 2026-27 Premier League table.

2. The winner will be the player whose predictions are closest to the table at the end of Matchweek 38.

3. This will be determined by a points score using the Difference Squared system. The lowest total score wins. The reward for winning is a full year’s bragging rights as the bar’s top know-it-all.

For full details and how the scoring works, check out the GHF Predictathon tab at the top of this page.

To enter, download the entry blank (be sure the entry blank you download is for 26-27!). Email your completed entry form to ghfpredict@yahoo.com. We must receive your completed entry no later than one hour before the new season kicks off, i.e., by 1900 UK time on Friday, August 21.  No changes to entries or new players are permitted after that deadline.

Contestants are honour-bound to donate to the Willow Foundation (link here) at least £25. This covers entry into the League Positions contest and the three bonus predictions (first manager to get the tin tack, and the winners of the two domestic cups). You can donate more to Willow — we encourage you to do so — but it will not guarantee a higher placing!