John Obi Mikel believes Enzo Maresca taking Enzo Fernandez "out of the firing line" earlier in the season has contributed in his recent rejuvenation.
The 23-year-old midfielder has been in tremendous form for Chelsea recently, scoring three and assisting seven in his last eight matches in all competitions. Fernandez's role within the Blues' setup was being questioned in the early parts of this season and many were beginning to question whether the midfielder, who cost the club £106million almost two years ago, had a future at Stamford Bridge.
Now, however, Fernandez has established himself as one of the first names on Maresca's team sheet at Chelsea. Maresca temporarily dropped the Argentina international from his plans, with Fernandez being dropped to the bench for October's defeat at Anfield against Liverpool.
Then followed three consecutive Premier League games against Newcastle United, Manchester United and Arsenal where Fernandez was used from the bench. Mikel believes Maresca performed a masterclass on that front by taking the midfielder out of the spotlight.
The former Blues midfielder said: "Sometimes you need that kick up your backside to get you to wake up. His performances weren't good at the start of the season and everyone was complaining. I think the manager took him out the firing line to protect him a little bit.
"Now, he's brought him back into the team. You can see his stats there. Absolutely fantastic. He's been absolutely fantastic since coming back into the team, and he is the captain right now. We need him to lead by example on the pitch."
Since returning to the side in the Premier League against Leicester City last month, Fernandez has played every single minute in the top-flight. The £106million signing played a significant role in Chelsea's stunning comeback victory at the weekend at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Fernandez struck to put Chelsea ahead for the first time in the seven-goal thriller. After some nice work from the visitors, Cole Palmer's deflected effort fell into the path of Fernandez, who struck beyond a helpless Fraser Forster.
"Enzo is improving a lot, especially in terms of understanding the game and position," Maresca said on Fernandez last week before he scored at Spurs. "Now he is in the right position, arriving in the box, always there. This is what we need from the attacking players. For sure, he can do things better, but not only Enzo, the whole squad, but he is in the right way."
Fernandez is expected to be rested this week as Chelsea take on the 7000-mile round trip to Kazakhstan to take on Astana in their fifth UEFA Conference League league phase match. Considering the Blues' position in the newly-named group stage, Maresca is expected to leave a fair few of the first-team players at home and name a youthful squad against Astana.