🇦🇷 8. Enzo Fernandez

[Mário César 1,274]

7 minutes ago, Fernando said:

They are definitely doing amazing job. 

Summer was a noob transfer, but they learned and what they did this winter showed me that. 

They learned fast and that is what I wanted them to do. 

Really excited with the new owners as we will continue to grow. From Roman to Todd couldn't have been better. 

apart from cucurella, I dont think that summer transfermarket was bad 

koulibaly has been shit. is a fact, but he was rated one of the best centerbacks in the world 

sterling was did ok until world cup and the problem with fofana wasn't is quality but is injurys...

[robsblubot 3,595]

I will just leave my 2 copper pieces here for posterity.

Evidently, it's a great signing and a player who's sought after by a number of clubs. IMO, he shows enough potential to warrant the faith put in him, but it's also a bit of a gamble like almost all signing are, especially at this level.

The sample we have is from the World Cup, which despite being very competitive and physical in most single-elimination matches, is also its own thing. Sometimes what we see in the World Cup does not translate well at club level... while other times it does (Kante for ex).

The Portuguese league is also a notch or two easier than the PL, so it's also something to be taken with a grain of salt.

With that out of the way, and once again, it's still a very exciting signing by the club! 

Edited February 2, 2023 by robsblubot

[NikkiCFC 8,324]

At least Costa found something to defend selling in front of the fans. 

 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

We also have how he has played in the Champions League group stage games.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

3 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

At least Costa found something to defend selling in front of the fans. 

 

They had agreed 100M euros with a summer move from what is being reported.

[James 5,331]

 

[YorkshireBlue 3,277]

It's all bollocks, this was to save face with the benfica fans nothing more nothing less.

[bluesman2610 1,417]

9 hours ago, Tomo said:

Being club captain goes well beyond on the pitch.

Even in worse case with injuries it can work.

I hear you but Reece is not the most vocal player to begin with his leadership shines through when he’s on the pitch. Leads by example and if your doing that it helps to be in the pitch.

[Vesper 30,185]

8 hours ago, Mário César said:

apart from cucurella, I dont think that summer transfermarket was bad 

koulibaly has been shit. is a fact, but he was rated one of the best centerbacks in the world 

sterling was did ok until world cup and the problem with fofana wasn't is quality but is injurys...

come on now m8!

the big 5 (non youth, the youth buys were sparkling) summer 2022 transfers signing were DIRE AF

I am convinced all would never have happened if he had the directors we do now in place then

 

KK WAS, back in 2019-20 still rated as a top 5 in planet CB, but that was the last season he was there

he went into a real decline in the 2020-21 season

was a bit better last year, but was clearly no longer the player of 5 years ago

he came off my lists in late fall 2020 or so due to his age and performance dictating he was not worth then what the poison dwarf would demand

at one times, for 3, 4 years I thought he was perhaps THE best CB in the world, BUT it is no longer 2017 (to pick one of those years)

we literally shit away £95m on him between fees and salary, it is madness, a HORRID transfer

 

Wesley Fofana had been damaged goods since August 2021, with that leg break. It was NOT Chels era injuries (which he still has too!) when a player is that injured, you need to give them at least two years to see what happens

I was a HUGE Fofana fangirl up until threat injury as my 3 top remotely available (so no Dias or Marquinhos, and we did try on Marquinhos and PSG instantly told us to fuck off) right footer CBs were him, Ronald Araújo, and Skriniar i rate all 3 higher than the only other WC right-footed CB under 30yo I have not listed, ie. de Ligt), but as soon as it happened, OFF my lists he went

we never should have bought him, certainly not for that crazy high fee

 

Auba, well it was lowish cost and a shortish contract, and he DID look deadly still at Barca, but that was in pinball game weak La Liga with insane midfielders feeding him, we took a gamble and got assfucked (I feel bad for him as he still is clearly fucked from having his bloody head beat in with a metal pipe during that robbery)

 

CuCu is simple, we paid DOUBLE what he is worth, we pissed away 30m quid, but hej, it is what it is, hopefully he improves as he will have massively better players around him now. There are only 2 (there were 3, but I am off the boil on Theo) LBs to choose from that we need to buy one of, either Alphonso Davies or Nuno Mendes, Saka technically could be a LB, but he is now a full time right winger (a top 5 winger on the planet I might add) and would never accept that, PLUS Arse will never sell him to us unless he is 33yo and well spent.

and that means that either CCu or Chilwell (barring a miracle explosion is form from him that makes it so we do NOT need to buy one of those two above) need to be sold. Chilwell is the most likely to go as he is seemingly ALWAYS injured now, so IF we do that and get one of the two out of Davies or Mendes, then CuCu is the perfect backup, so I will just say forget the £30m overspend

 

Sterling is still up in the air, but it was not a deal I would have done (missing out on Dembele and maybe the meh Raphinha induced a panic buy for Sterling IMHO) Look at my lists of wingers from spring 2022 and before, he was never really near the top, especially as he was untouchable back then. I SO SO wanted Chiesa UNTIL he destroyed his knee, now he is off my lists until summer 2024, as it is too soon to see the extent of damage he sustained. I also talked about Mousa Diaby, Ousame Dembele, and then the 3 Bayern wingers; Sane (the most), Gnabry, and Coman (the least due to injury history), plus Hirving Lozano and Mikel Oyarzabal (until he too blew out his knee), plus, at one point, Sancho, until his price became too high. Rafael Leão (who back then was often played as a SS), and even more so, Mudryk, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were not front line established wants back in the period I am talking about. All three of them are now in my top 15 wingers on the planet, maybe top 10 soon.

My top 15 wingers (no Messi, I never put him or CR7 on any position lists as they play all over the pitch, only list them in terms of best overall players, have done that for ages)

listed in order of T-Markt valuation  

bold are rated possible targets (Dembele would be bold, but now will never leave Barca before he is 30, and he turns 27 at the end of next season, so that is not like 8, 9 years away. Starting in 6 months, he only has 5 years max at peak left, and he seems the type who at 30 years of age (in the 5th of those 5 years he is 30 and then at the end, 31yo) he will either lose pace or get hurt a lot, or both, so maybe he only has 4 peak years left starting in the new season)

top 15 wingers IMHO, atm, listed in order of valuation:

Kylian Mbappé (and best player on the planet now)
Vinicius Junior 
Phil Foden
Bukayo Saka
Rafael Leão (but we do not really need him, as he is a pure right footed LWer, he never plays on the right, and he is not as good in the middle as a SS or a false nine or a CF)  
Rodrygo 
Mohamed Salah
Neymar  
Leroy Sané  lefty 
Gabriel Martinelli  
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ambipedal
Ousmane Dembélé ambipedal
Marcus Rashford 
Moussa Diaby lefty
Mykhaylo Mudryk borderline ambipedal, but deffo likes the LW

Sterling (right footed but can play either wing) is in the top 20 though, same for Luis Díaz, and 3 Bayern boys (so all 4 Bayern wingers are in the top 20 atm), Gnabry, Coman, and Sadio Mane (spudboy Son is in decline too much), and if Chiesa and Oyarzabal FULLY recover they will go back in the top 15, and replace the ageing ones, like Salah and Neymar

All of the following: Felix, Kai, Nkunku, plus Jamal Musiala, Bernardo Silva (the closest on this list part to being one, sort of, but he really is a AMF/CMF at heart), and Florian Wirtz (2nd closest, BUT also he too is still recovering from being massively injured so will not be on any list from me until summer 2024 as well) are NOT wingers

Grealish, Sancho, Antony, and Raphinha, can all fuck off with their massively overrated selves.

Ansu Fati tragically looks atm to be likely perma-wrecked from so many injuries (he would have been right up there with Vini Jr, Foden, Saka and Rafael Leão (Mbappe is just a 1000 miles better than any other winger) if he had never had all those injuries)

[Duppy Conqueror 1,537]

For me  we got to play either Conor or Mason,playing both is gonna hinder Enzo( unless it’s 4-3-3 with mount wide in a front 3)taking that into account i was happy with Enzo’s debut,especially considering we only signed him midweek.most of his passes were the high percentage type but give him even Zakaria and i think he would be a more offensive factor. 
 

 

 

[Costa19 858]

9 minutes ago, Duppy Conqueror said:

For me  we got to play either Conor or Mason,playing both is gonna hinder Enzo( unless it’s 4-3-3 with mount wide in a front 3)taking that into account i was happy with Enzo’s debut,especially considering we only signed him midweek.most of his passes were the high percentage type but give him even Zakaria and i think he would be a more offensive factor. 
 

 

 

And add him a ball transporter like Kovacic who Enzo can stick in the short passes to and make Kova roam forward with it. Giving the ball to Mount/Gallagher in tight spaces is like giving the ball up for free.
 
If we partner Enzo with a defensive MF (Zakaria/Kante) and a transporter (Kovacic) he will threaten with both his short and long balls. 

[Vytis33 1,272]

Really enjoyed his debut.  Barely unpacked his things and seems up for the pace and physicality of the league already.  Welcome to Chelsea, Enzo

[Fernando 6,585]

Yes too me he was worth the money, because he is what we need and he has that tenacity to outlast in this league. 

That style reminds me of verrati, very feisty player but can pick up a pass. I like it a lot, let's build the team around him. 

[TheHulk 2,457]

Give him a good partner in the summer and we're cooking.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

On 11/02/2023 at 17:06, TheHulk said:

Give him a good partner in the summer and we're cooking.

That should not be a problem. Getting Enzo was the hard part. He appears to be the generational player we all hoped he would be. Getting a capable box-to-box midfielder should be straightforward enough. It is a shame Kova and Kante are on their last leg apparently. Both would have been almost ideal partners. I just hope we will not blow 100m on Declan Rice who is way too conservative for a DP with Enzo. If he had not just signed for Bayern Konrad Laimer would have worked well I think. But also household names like Tielemans or Milinkovic Savic would complement Enzo very well. I have not given up hope on Kova making a 100% recovery yet tho, he is still only 28

Edited February 12, 2023 by Magic Lamps

[Vesper 30,185]

1 hour ago, Magic Lamps said:

Getting a capable box-to-box midfielder should be straightforward enough. It is a shame Kova and Kante are on their last leg apparently. Both would have been almost ideal partners. I just hope we will not blow 100m on Declan Rice who is way too conservative for a DP with Enzo. If he had not just signed for Bayern Konrad Laimer would have worked well I think. But also household names like Tielemans or Milinkovic Savic would complement Enzo very well. I have not given up hope on Kova making a 100% recovery yet tho, he is still only 28

Jude Bellingham (likely a pipe dream)
Nicolò Barella (hard AF pull, but more likely than Bellingham TBH)

Manu Koné
Roméo Lavia

Alexis Mac Allister
Moisés Caicedo    (too pricey for what he can do, Barella will cost around the same and is a better player IMHO)

Amadou Onana
Matheus Nunes

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

16 hours ago, Vesper said:

Jude Bellingham (likely a pipe dream)
Nicolò Barella (hard AF pull, but more likely than Bellingham TBH)

Manu Koné
Roméo Lavia

Alexis Mac Allister
Moisés Caicedo    (too pricey for what he can do, Barella will cost around the same and is a better player IMHO)

Amadou Onana
Matheus Nunes

Yeah, Jude is gone but he is more of an AM these days anyway...

Barella is more of a DLP like Enzo, no? Nunes also seems to be developing into that direction.

Kone and Lavia would be fine and given the situation their clubs are in, a more likely pull. Classic box to box midfielders with endless energy and a ton of upside

Not that big a fan of Mac Allister tbh. Defensively not sound enough and quite small. would prefere a dominant physical presence next to Enzo.

Onana is still raw but you can see he will be a beast.

Would love to see Zakaria next to Enzo tho first ( and not given up on Kovacic completely) before deciding if we need a big money signing here or just a capable back up.

[Vesper 30,185]

1 minute ago, Magic Lamps said:

Yeah, Jude is gone but he is more of an AM these days anyway...

Barella is more of a DLP like Enzo, no? Nunes also seems to be developing into that direction.

Kone and Lavia would be fine and given the situation their clubs are in, a more likely pull. Classic box to box midfielders with endless energy and a ton of upside

Not that big a fan of Mac Allister tbh. Defensively not sound enough and quite small. would prefere a dominant physical presence next to Enzo.

Onana is still raw but you can see he will be a beast.

Would love to see Zakaria next to Enzo tho first ( and not given up on Kovacic completely) before deciding if we need a big money signing here or just a capable back up.

Barella to me is the closest atm there is to Kante in terms of a pinball pest/destroyer ball of energy

BUT he will be such a hard and expensive pull

my ideal realistic (as we are going to start to lose CMF/DMFs like crazy soon I think)

would be to grab Kone and Lavia

if not Kone, then buy Zakaria IF he finishes the year strong, and maybe we do both

we need to really start clearing out the dregs and rolling the dice on the young lads

Carney (home grown U21), Santos (U21 and will count as HG eventually), Kone, Enzo, Lavia (homegrown U21), Casadei (U21, just missed being HG eligible), and Zakaria

bye-bye  soon to Kova (I think he will not renew, sad but its a complex situ) and same for many more, likely Mount, RLC, Kante, likely Gallagher (still stunned we turned down 50m, ffs, from NUFC) etc

[Artandur 939]

13 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Barella to me is the closest atm there is to Kante in terms of a pinball pest/destroyer ball of energy

BUT he will be such a hard and expensive pull

my ideal realistic (as we are going to start to lose CMF/DMFs like crazy soon I think)

would be to grab Kone and Lavia

if not Kone, then buy Zakaria IF he finishes the year strong, and maybe we do both

we need to really start clearing out the dregs and rolling the dice on the young lads

Carney (home grown U21), Santos (U21 and will count as HG eventually), Kone, Enzo, Lavia (homegrown U21), Casadei (U21, just missed being HG eligible), and Zakaria

bye-bye  soon to Kova (I think he will not renew, sad but its a complex situ) and same for many more, likely Mount, RLC, Kante, likely Gallagher (still stunned we turned down 50m, ffs, from NUFC) etc

As a M'Gladbach fan i sadly have to report that i kinda feel like Kone has regressed a bit this season and has been inconsistent at best. Tbf the whole team has been shit again this season, which always affects the individual performances as well. But that was the case for large parts of last season too and he still managed to shine then. While i still think he might turn it around again and become a star, i dont think he's as much a sure shot as i thought he was 12 months ago.

[DDA 9,941]

On 11/02/2023 at 16:06, TheHulk said:

Give him a good partner in the summer and we're cooking.

That's the plan with Andrey Santos.... he is going to be a big player fro us, I can just sense it by the way he goes about the game. Enzo will thrive next to another warrior in the center... I can't fucking wait.