Enzo Fernandez is one of those players at Chelsea that always seems to divide opinion. Some absolutely love him and could not imagine a Blues side without him, while others fail to see what he adds and think the midfielder can do a lot more.
However, what many cannot dispute is how impactful the 24-year-old has been in the last two matches for Chelsea. Fernandez was given more of an advanced role against Aston Villa with Reece James coming into the double pivot in midfield alongside Moises Caicedo. While Fernandez would usually push up with one of the full-backs inverting, having James in midfield from the start allowed the Argentine to adopt a more attacking position in the team – something that suited him down to the ground at Villa Park.
He opened the scoring on that day with a goal he may well not have scored if he was not in an advanced role; breaking into the six-yard box to get on the end of a sublime cross from Pedro Neto. Against Southampton, it was more of a box-to-box role for the Argentina international but he was equally as effective. Fernandez made 65 passes, created three big chances and made six key passes in the 90-plus minutes he was on the pitch at Stamford Bridge.
(Image: Chelsea FC)
“He behaved as a leader and he is doing top, fantastic,” said Enzo Maresca when asked about Fernandez and his performance on Tuesday. “For sure, Enzo has taken a step forward in that sense. He is showing how good a leader he is, how good he is on the ball, how good he is off the ball and we are delighted with him.”
Fernandez, overall, has been really strong for Chelsea this season but in the last two performances in particular, the Argentine midfielder looks to be growing more and more into his role in the side. There is an immense trust from Maresca in his abilities, and that as obvious during the times when he was not doing so well and the head coach jumped to his defence.
He is, and has been all season-long, an integral part of Maresca’s setup at Chelsea – because of his performances but also due to a lack of midfield options. Mathis Amougou made his debut for the Blues on Tuesday night in a brief cameo appearance against the Saints, but Maresca has confirmed the 19-year-old Frenchman is seen more as one for the future rather than this season.
Romeo Lavia is out injured until after the international break and is his season-and-a-half at Stamford Bridge is anything to go by, then he cannot be trusted to stay fit for large parts of the campaign. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is another option but Maresca has used the midfielder sporadically in his debut season with the club after bringing him from Leicester City with him.
It is an area you feel Chelsea have to look at in the summer transfer window because Caicedo and Fernandez have played an awful amount of football this season for the Blues and if something on the injury front, touch wood it won’t, was to happen to them, then their overreliance on the duo is something that will come under the microscope.
Caicedo has 2567 minutes to his name in 30 appearances – in all competitions – this season, with no Chelsea player spending more time on the pitch than the 23-year-old Ecuadorian. Meanwhile, Fernandez is down in fourth-place on that leaderboard with Caicedo, Cole Palmer (2516) and Marc Cucurella (2484) the only players with more minutes than the Argentine.
Andrey Santos, of course, will return to Chelsea in the summer after a very successful loan spell with Strasbourg this season but we do not yet know what the plan will be with the highly-rated Brazilian. Likewise with Lesley Ugochukwu, who is currently on loan at Southampton.
