Chelsea have a problem now that their star player Cole Palmer and their £100m midfielder Enzo Fernandez are both fit.
They can’t both fit as a number 10 in Enzo Maresca’s team, but playing Enzo deeper weakens the team defensively. This exact point was picked up on the ESPN Gab and Juls show this week after the defeat to Aston Villa.
Chelsea have major creative issue with two key players
Enzo Fernandez thinking he's a fashion icon on Saudi TV.
Enzo Fernandez thinking he’s a fashion icon on Saudi TV.
“You’ve always said he cannot play [in the pivot against big teams] I’m on the same page. I think Enzo Maresca is too… you have a serious problem. Unless you want to drop Cole Palmer or turn him into a winger or centre forward,” Gab Marcotti said.
Julien Laurens explained his point in a little more detail:
“In games like those last 30 minutes against Villa, games against Arsenal, City – Enzo is just not mobile enough. He’s just not hard working enough. He’s not physical enough to be able to win that fight in midfield against players like Rice and Zubimendi or Rodri. I just think you have to carry Enzo in midfield in games like that and I think Maresca agrees with us, hence why you’ve seen Reece James in midfield in these games.”
These guys aren’t Chelsea fans, but they’re coming to the same conclusions that many of us already have. Enzo is too expensive to drop, but playing him either limits Palmer or compromises the team defensively.
You can see them discussing Enzo in the clip embedded here, with this chat coming after 6 minutes:
In other news…
Gabs and Juls also discussed the general construction of this squad and how it has limited Enzo Maresca’s options in general.
Marc Cucurella has spoken about our recent tough patch, and claimed that actually Chelsea fans and players should be proud of a positive year overall.
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Enzo Fernandez labours in midfield.