Enzo – Caicedo partnership fails Chelsea in 2 crucial games; doubts about midfield future | OneFootball

Moises Caicedo is likely to be Chelsea’s player of the season this year after a great campaign, and Enzo Fernandez has been widely praised for his improved form, especially in the second half of the season.

Both of them were rested against Legia Warsaw in midweek, neither of them featuring for even a minute. They should have been rested, fresh and ready to go against Ipswich, with a full strength attacking force featuring an equally fresh Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto lining up ahead of them.

Yet this central midfield partnership we’ve all started to finally get excited about couldn’t control the game, just as they couldn’t against Brentford the week before.

Caicedo played well against Brentford, despite the result, and we thought Enzo was good against Ipswich. But the pairing still didn’t have enough to get the job done against teams they should be swatting aside if we want to start winning major trophies.

Is this just a question of the whole team failing, or is there a fundamental lack of strength and dominance in the middle when those two play together?

Lavia absence has left Chelsea squad planners with so many question marks

Romeo Lavia on the sidelines. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

A big “what if” of this season must surely be around Romeo Lavia’s fitness. The team had a whole different balance with him in there earlier in the campaign, and it allowed Enzo Maresca to do a lot of different things tactically, including Caicedo playing at right back when out of possession.

The alternatives in midfield can’t do what Lavia does, and it will be very interesting to see how summer arrivals Andrey Santos and Dario Essugo fit into our plans long term. Surely a third midfielder will be introduced to the mix on a regular basis next season?