8. Enzo Fernandez

[King Kante 1,450]

49 minutes ago, Pizy said:

For me, if Enzo plays against the very biggest teams he HAS to play deep or not at all. 

Pretty much this. He has to play in the pivot. At no point should he be played as an AM, despite how much he may want to. 

[IMissEden 16]

He wants to play a way wherein he in a regular midfield is the one who always ends up edge of the box, same as with Argentina and Benfica. He has not pined to be deployed and stay behind the striker. That’s a social media narrative. He wants instructions and system that supports himself being the most advanced midfielder. Essentially Lampard role. 
 

edit to add - key being, the right balanced approach in achieving this, as opposed to the unbalanced approaches so far that leave too much behind him, and thus too much expectation for him to perform defensively / or be more reserved going forward. Either or mounts pressure, which effects his primary output. It’s set up to fail, as so far is the case with Nkunku, will keep tying him to Enzo chat, so it’s seen better. Nkunku looked like Tammy. Explain that. They both suffer here. They are showing glimpses of what’s above them. 

All said, Enzo had the most goal scoring opportunities, while also creating the most goals scoring opportunities, vs City. First game of season, most unstable shoddy club impersonating top clubs today. Half-baked Narratives are easier to go along with than not. Football to politics, the most common input comes from passing the buck and riding the train of others opinions. Which is why most fans are wrong every year when it comes to who’s good and who isn’t. Every few weeks a new Take is cooked up and becomes a “thought” so many share. 

Edited August 20 by IMissEden

[YorkshireBlue 3,118]

58 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Haha good point but you have to see it in context. When he is making a run into the box closely marked  like vs city he has less time and more pressure to make a proper connection. A lose control will be an instant turnover . I don’t think he always miscontrols these kind of balls but he is more likely to when in a more advanced position which he is less experienced at at the top level.
When he receives the ball deeper in midfield he does not necessarily need to touch it towards goal but has more options to divert it away from the opponent. Plus a pass in midfield is more likely to be a straightforward ball without much spin. The flat crosses he miscontrolled vs city were fizzed in. 

I just feel even playing deeper in this league he won't the time he needs.

[robsblubot 3,457]

2 hours ago, YorkshireBlue said:

I just feel even playing deeper in this league he won't the time he needs.

Maybe. Evidence to the contrary was the last Copa America. He played deeper and did very well (winner too); he was just as wasteful closer to the opposition goal too.

The last copa America was played in NFL football fields, which are narrower (and slightly shorter), which made "time on the ball" inexistent. 

Edited August 20 by robsblubot

[Vegetable 829]

Time on ball is one thing, opposition players is another. This seems to be typical problem with people who look great in slow-motion leagues. Suddenly the "easiest" opponent in PL runs faster, thinks faster, acts faster, has twice the muscle mass and twice broader vision, than most difficult opponent from Portugal or WC and has already tactically worked out your next five moves. National Teams, even the top ones, still rely more on freestyle and individual talent because what kind of tactical sophistication can you pull during four training sessions with people you see twice a year. Either keep your head down, work hard and adapt or be forgotten, as I don't thing trying to boss around to make up for the difference is no way to do it. I think almost every player coming to PL have to make significant step up to keep up and not everyone is able to. 

Edited August 20 by Vegetable

[robsblubot 3,457]

I happen to believe it's all about skill and Enzo has plenty, so I still think he's got the tools to deliver at this level.

If you take the CMs in the absolute best teams in the world you will see an abundance of skill; yes, even the energetic mobile players will be excellent on the ball. It's pretty much the same if we focus on the PL. The top clubs have an abundance of skill in midfield as in passing machines. The less good clubs would have more of mix with "fighters" and "physical" players in there.

That's from observation, and not really a completely formed opinion.

Edited August 21 by robsblubot

[IMissEden 16]

2 games in a row now cutting the opposition open and playing passes -nobody in the top 5 leagues- are. Wake up. 

[Mário César 965]

how we paid so much money for him?

what a waste of money

[milka 3,334]

He is a problem - not a number 8 , not a number 6 he cannot be box to box cuz he is lazy very unbalanced middle because of him Caicedo cannot do everything alone that's why Gallagher is much value by the true fans cuz you can see the chemestry he gave to the team last year but these clowns don't give a shit they care only for money . Some fans (football manager specialist) same dont' give a shit about proper Chelsea like Gallagher  , Chalobah (our best defender with Tiago and they replace him with Tosin on free  what a comedy)

Edited September 1 by milka

[Mário César 965]

7 minutes ago, milka said:

He is a problem - not a number 8 , not a number 6 he cannot be box to box cuz he is lazy very unbalanced middle because of him Caicedo cannot do everything alone that's why Gallagher is much value by the true fans cuz you can see the chemestry he gave to the team last year but these clowns don't give a shit they care only for money . Some fans (football manager specialist) same dont' give a shit about proper Chelsea like Gallagher  , Chalobah (our best defender with Tiago and they replace him with Tosin on free  what a comedy)

and add goalkeeper problems

[milka 3,334]

Sanchez was 3th choice  in  Seagulls before we get him with no reason another masterclass decision to put him as 1st choice this season . Petro  win the battle between them last season and they force him out too and like we know this is not a football logical project so everything is possible with clownlake . And the fact speaks for  themselves for the defence and goalkeeper - no clean sheet . For sure we are cooking .

Edited September 1 by milka

[Vesper 28,269]

starting to think he needs to go

he is just not athletic enough and is also lazy

bad bad combo

[robsblubot 3,457]

As I wrote in the Chelsea x Crystal game thread, I disagree.

It's teamwork problem at the moment; clear as day when the opposition always has a 3rd or 4th man available to receive a pass in midfield. Enzo and Caicedo were often the piggy in the middle.

I simply can't see how replacing one or another player would made a whole lot of difference today. The wingers in particular were too focused on beating their man than making the team click. That will have to be adjusted.

One could actually make an argument of making a more possession-able pairing, but I won't suggest that here -- people do love tackles around here.

I honestly don't understand what people expected from a brand new team with way too many changes from last year: both in personal as well as strategy/philosophy.

[Billy. 2,742]

Waste of money for me.

he is far too weak, has no pace at all, 

he only picks out one good pass out of 10.

Lavia walks into his spot when he is fit again. 

 

[dimmas 125]

I have a lot of criticism about his recent performances.
But what I really hope is that Maresca will be ruthless with him. Drop him if necessary, if he continues to perform like that. If Maresca struggles, need too much adjustment or need much longer time, only to integrate Enzo when he’s positioned higher up, he should just put him deeper.

His display yesterday was so poor. Even his passing, which is one of his best attributes, was trully poor. Combining with his lack of mobility, lack of aggression, minimal contribution to the attack, and inability to do much in tight spaces or higher up the pitch, his performance was truly abysmal. Something need to change

Edited September 2 by dimmas

[Fulham Broadway 16,661]

Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez has been banned from driving for six months following two motoring offences in west Wales.

The Argentine footballer had already been found guilty of failing to identify the driver of a Porsche that allegedly drove through a red light in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, in November 2023.

The 23-year-old was also found guilty of a similar offence relating to the same car allegedly caught speeding in Swansea a month later.

The Premier League star already had nine penalty points on his driving licence for previous speeding offences.

BBC