8. Enzo Fernandez

[NikkiCFC 8,285]

2g 5a last 250 mins!

[TheHulk 2,404]

3 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

2g 5a last 250 mins!

And some actually wanted him sold.

[DH1988 1,346]

Uptick in form, let's see how the season pans out. No fan wants to see him do badly, that's nonsense, my opinion is that Lavia and Caicedo is the preferred partnering in CM, unless we are running with Caicedo at RB'ish.

[LAM09 7,043]

2 hours ago, TheHulk said:

And some actually wanted him sold.

We are only in December. If he continues to deliver the goods, those noises will quiet down. Right now, I still don't see him as a starter, providing everyone is fit.

[Vesper 30,088]

Chelsea unveil their blueprint to weaponise Enzo Fernandez

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5960392/2024/12/02/enzo-fernandez-Chelsea-maresca-caicedo/

It was hard to tell which moment Enzo Fernandez preferred: trapping Cole Palmer’s sharp pass and expertly lacing a low shot beyond Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to double Chelsea’s lead in the 36th minute at Stamford Bridge, or standing in his own half ready for the restart around 60 seconds later, raising the arm that bore the captain’s armband to acknowledge the resounding chants of his name emanating from the Matthew Harding Stand.

For most footballers, nothing beats the feeling of scoring a goal. But that sensation is usually intertwined with the adulation that flows down from the stands in the aftermath. Fernandez had precious little taste of either in a Chelsea shirt for the best part of 10 months before pouncing on Mads Hermansen’s parry with a composed header to wrap up a 2-1 win over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium last weekend.

Now it is two goals in two Premier League starts to follow an assist for Pedro Neto’s equaliser against Arsenal last month, the kind of emphatic response that suggests he took head coach Enzo Maresca’s recent decision to bench him personally in the best possible way. He was also in the right place to set up Nicolas Jackson’s opener against the Foxes.

Signs of an individual revival went beyond the goal. Fernandez’s performance bristled with the kind of energy and positive aggression that Chelsea collectively harnessed in their pressing and passing to overpower and overwhelm Villa. “Chelsea showed that this year is different,” visiting coach Unai Emery admitted afterwards. “They are feeling stronger. They have power and (their) capacity, it is higher.”

 

Maresca has found a way to exploit Fernandez’s talents (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

This is more like the player Chelsea believed they were signing from Benfica in January 2023 when they agreed to meet his £106million ($135m) buyout clause as the transfer deadline loomed. Much like the £115million paid to Brighton for Moises Caicedo the following summer, that fee is and likely always will be ludicrous; a millstone hung around his neck as he has tried and failed to live up to expectations inflated to an unreasonable level.

For much of 2024 he has looked lost, derailed more by the consequences of his own decisions — banned from driving after two speeding offences in Wales; forced to apologise to his own Chelsea team-mates after live streaming an offensive chant on the Argentina team bus following their Copa America triumph in July — than by any opponent. Even the public revelations about his separation from his wife in October contributed to a sense of overwhelming negative noise.

Maresca’s controversial move to make him captain on the pitch only served to intensify the debate about his suitability, turning every appearance into a referendum of sorts. Elevating the fit-again Romeo Lavia above him for the trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool in October felt like a potentially defining moment, the first serious exploration of what a Chelsea midfield might look like absent of one of Clearlake Capital’s marquee signings.

But without Fernandez on the pitch, life became more difficult for Chelsea in the final third. Malo Gusto is simply not respected by Premier League opponents as a scorer or creator in Maresca’s right pocket, meaning Manchester United and Arsenal could focus the bulk of their defensive resources on stopping Palmer. They largely succeeded in shutting him down.

 

Fernandez scores Chelsea’s second against Villa (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Maresca’s experimental 3-1-5-1 alignment in possession against Leicester, with Fernandez and Joao Felix operating either side of Palmer in the creative line, alleviated that problem while reintroducing the broader challenge of balancing Chelsea’s defensive structure. It never seemed viable against more dangerous opposition, but the tweaks made for Villa’s visit to Stamford Bridge absolutely do.

What do you call picking a central midfielder at full-back, then asking him to invert into central midfield? It might be more a question for Tenet director Christopher Nolan than Maresca, but Chelsea’s structure against Villa allowed the Italian to maintain the “physicality” he feels is offered by the Caicedo-Lavia axis while also enjoying the fruits of Fernandez’s goal threat and creation at the top-left corner of his midfield box. It also allows Palmer to operate in the right pocket, the area in which his own spectacular talents are maximised.

Fernandez’s best attribute is his ball progression from deeper midfield areas, but it is easy to forget what first introduced him to the wider football public at the 2022 World Cup: darting into the penalty area from a short Argentina corner kick against Mexico, faking out an opponent with a deft stepover and curling a brilliant shot into the far corner. He has a real eye for goal, and all the technique he needs to find it on a relatively regular basis.

After the Villa win, Maresca confirmed he wants to weaponise that particular skill as often as he can. “More times he was in the right positions, inside the box, and we didn’t contact with him,” he said of Fernandez in his post-match press conference. “In the action that we scored, we contacted with him.

“It is very difficult to see goals from outside the box. Almost all of the goals come from inside the box, so we need the two wingers, the two attacking midfielders and the No 9 inside the box.”

The shot from Fernandez that doubled Chelsea’s lead was unleashed from just inside the Villa penalty area, and Maresca’s point was well made. Chelsea have not had a consistent goal threat from central midfield for several years (though Conor Gallagher made strides in that direction in the second half of last season) and they will need goals from a wide range of positions and personnel if this attack is truly to take off.

It has not always been easy to determine Fernandez’s role in Maresca’s system. But with the level of focus, fitness and form he has showcased in recent weeks, he is too valuable not to include in Chelsea’s strongest side.

GO DEEPER

The Briefing: Chelsea 3 Aston Villa 0 - the Palmer press, Fofana concern... and are Chelsea contenders?

[IMissEden 21]

Would love a chat with the social media morons, the kids, the engagement baiters and the parrots about Enzo right now.  Genuinely not more than a slither of a % of people understand basics. 

[NikkiCFC 8,285]

On 01/12/2024 at 16:57, NikkiCFC said:

2g 5a last 250 mins!

3g 6a last 430 mins! Level he's putting now is prime Lampard. 3x90mins this week. Him and Caicedo only players to play every minute. Essential. Both are now what we wanted from beginning. 

Edited December 8, 2024 by NikkiCFC

[TheHulk 2,404]

4 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

3g 6a last 430 mins! Level he's putting now is prime Lampard.  3x90mins this week. Him and Caicedo only players to play every minute. Essential. Both are now what we wanted from beginning. 

Some actually wanted him sold not so long ago, making him sound like he was some Mount level garbage player. 

Edited December 8, 2024 by TheHulk

[NikkiCFC 8,285]

1 minute ago, TheHulk said:

Some actually wanted him sold not so long ago, making him sound like he was some Mount garbage level player.

 Poch didn't know how to use him.

[IMissEden 21]

20 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

 Poch didn't know how to use him.

Fanbase didn’t know how to see what say ten of us in total it seems across the whole of online maintained from the start and throughout — his profile is like Lampard, Gerrard - and there are x y z factors not worth the time going over again that made clear that short term form was only that - idiots - sincerely — and, further, this is a player with tools physically and mentally beyond the sum of what football usually puts up. People have no idea. Pretty much every consensus the fanbase ever take is categorically completely wrong. 
 

He deserves fans who understand football I’ll say that. Deserves Madrid, the sum is similar but way more people studied in excellency, so recognise it and celebrate it vs look at it like a boogy monster turned chicklet. 

Edited December 9, 2024 by IMissEden

[King Kante 1,643]

2 hours ago, IMissEden said:

Fanbase didn’t know how to see what say ten of us in total it seems across the whole of online maintained from the start and throughout — his profile is like Lampard, Gerrard - and there are x y z factors not worth the time going over again that made clear that short term form was only that - idiots - sincerely — and, further, this is a player with tools physically and mentally beyond the sum of what football usually puts up. People have no idea. Pretty much every consensus the fanbase ever take is categorically completely wrong. 
 

He deserves fans who understand football I’ll say that. Deserves Madrid, the sum is similar but way more people studied in excellency, so recognise it and celebrate it vs look at it like a boogy monster turned chicklet. 

I wouldn't worry most of the fanbase didn't want Lampard to begin/after his first year or so either. Some players take a while for people to get. I have always stuck up for Enzo, Noni and Jackson for instance. Caicedo on the other hand took me a long time to get as his skill on the ball isn't at a level that I like in a CM, which then meant I overlooked his other skills. I would say I am typically quite good at judging players, but some can be harder to judge than others - especially if you're biased on certain traits. 

Edited December 9, 2024 by King Kante

[NikkiCFC 8,285]

 

[robsblubot 3,595]

On 09/12/2024 at 10:32, King Kante said:

I wouldn't worry most of the fanbase didn't want Lampard to begin/after his first year or so either. Some players take a while for people to get. I have always stuck up for Enzo, Noni and Jackson for instance. Caicedo on the other hand took me a long time to get as his skill on the ball isn't at a level that I like in a CM, which then meant I overlooked his other skills. I would say I am typically quite good at judging players, but some can be harder to judge than others - especially if you're biased on certain traits. 

I'd go a bit further: there is no such entity as "the fanbase."

There are no "fickle fans" as some like to address here. Fans are different and think differently about players and way to play, have their own preferences. The club should largely ignore fans and mostly does.

This is the same everywhere.

[Vesper 30,088]

4 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

 

[DH1988 1,346]

I'm sure the decision was made his side pretty suddenly over the last few months, behind her back.