In recent times, the Chelsea board have faced heavy criticism, both from the supporters and the media. It is not hard to understand why that has been the case. Over the past four seasons under BlueCo, the club have made very little progress despite spending north of a billion pounds on new signings.
While the club’s transfer model has been under the microscope, their handling of managers has not been much better either. Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca have already come and gone. Liam Rosenior’s future might be in doubt as well if things don’t improve in the near future.
The decision to replace Maresca with Rosenior has clearly not paid off. The Italian manager guided the club to two trophies and Champions League qualification last season. But after a short poor run of form this season, he was shown the exit door. Differences with the board behind the scenes might have been the catalyst.
It is not just the media or the supporters that do not agree with the club’s decision to sack Maresca though. It looks like some of the players could not make sense of it either. Enzo Fernandez is one of them.
Chelsea board’s decision publicly criticised by Enzo Fernandez
As reported by Metro, Fernandez was asked in an interview with Mexican broadcaster TUDN about the club’s decision to approve Maresca’s departure. The Argentine said:
‘I don’t understand it either.
‘Sometimes there are things that we as players don’t understand, how and in what way they try to manage things.
‘Obviously, it was a departure that hurt us a lot because we had an identity. He gave us an order, even though, as is the way of football, sometimes it’s good and bad.
‘But he always had a very clear identity when it came to training and playing, and obviously his departure hurt us a lot, especially in the middle of the season, it cuts everything short.’
Maresca played a significant role in changing Fernandez’s role at Chelsea. The Argentine went from struggling to contribute with goals and assists to one of the club’s most consistent contributors, transforming from a midfield orchestrator to a box-crasher. Naturally, the Italian manager’s exit would have come as a blow to him.
Fernandez’s own future remains up in the air?
The managerial instability is not good when it comes to the club’s chances of holding on to their best performers. Players like some continuity as well and won’t be happy to have to constantly prove themselves whenever a new manager is brought in.
Fernandez might turn out to be the prime example of this. Questions surround his future at Chelsea. Reports in Argentina suggested that there are chances of him leaving and the player himself did not rule out that possibility when asked about it after the second leg defeat to PSG.
Of course, Rosenior has come out and cleared up the situation, suggesting Fernandez is fully committed to Chelsea and his comments were misconstrued. It is hard to not wonder about his future though when speaks like this to the media.
Sourav Mahanty
Sourav Mahanty has covered teams like Chelsea, Celtic, Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG and more over a career that has now lasted a decade. His work has been featured on Sports Illustrated, Athlon Sports, SB Nation, FanSided, The Sportster and aggregated through Bleacher Report and NewsNow. Outside of football, he is also interested in basketball, cricket and professional wrestling.
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