Enzo Fernandez: What should Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca do with £100m midfielder? | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has something of a midfield problem to solve.

In 2023 Chelsea spent over £200million on two central midfielders, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. While Caicedo started slowly, he has quickly become Chelsea’s best central midfielder. And arguably their best player not named Cole Palmer.

Fernandez has gone the other way. He had a bright start to life at Chelsea but tailed off last season. Under Maresca, Fernandez lost his place at the base of Chelsea’s midfield.

It started in the opening weekend when Fernandez was played as a No.10 when Chelsea lost 2-0 to Manchester City. He then dropped deeper as part of the double pivot, partnering Caicedo in the Premier League as he had last season.

But after the October international break, Fernandez lost his place in the starting XI to Romeo Lavia. This was made clear by the fact that Fernandez was captaining the ‘B team’ in the Europa Conference League and EFL Cup.

“It’s very difficult to see, because there was a period of time where he was stuck up top and it was suggested they thought he was going to be a No.10 sort of player. And I can’t see that,” former Chelsea midfielder Pat Nevin told Squawka of Fernandez.

“He’s not pacey enough, there’s not enough passing for that position. Not in comparison to Cole Palmer, not in comparison to Joao Felix, not in comparison to (Kiernan) Dewsbury-Hall, absolutely not. They are really brilliant in that position.

“So the position is that kind of No.6, or the more defensive midfielder. The problem is you’ve got (Moises) Caicedo playing well and Lavia, and it’s kind of tough to get into that team. I don’t think his position in the squad is in doubt. I suspect he’ll be there for quite some time, again for a number of reasons.”

In the Premier League, Fernandez had to make do with substitute appearances against Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Arsenal. For their toughest run of the season so far, 20-year-old Lavia was favoured. But against Arsenal, Lavia struggled to get hold of the midfield.

Fernandez was brought on with just over 20 minutes left to play, also due to Lavia picking up an injury. Within two minutes, Fernandez had registered an assist, setting up Pedro Neto for Chelsea’s equaliser.

The Argentine created the joint-most chances for Chelsea with two, and also won the joint-most tackles (three alongside Caicedo who played the full match). It was only a short burst against a tired Arsenal, but this was a good moment for Fernandez. It came just a few days after he had provided a hat-trick of assists against Noah in the Europa Conference League.

The main problem for Maresca is that Fernandez and Lavia are two different players. Although Fernandez beats Lavia on tackles per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, at 3.1 to 2.9, the Belgian comes out on top for a lot of defensive metrics.

Lavia has committed fewer fouls (0.79 to 0.89) per 90 than Fernandez, made more interceptions (1.85 to 0.3), lost fewer challenges (1.58 to 2.21) and won more aerial duels (1.32 to 0.44). In fact, Lavia is yet to lose an aerial duel in the Premier League this season.

Lavia is also better at winning possession in the attacking third, at 1.06 per 90 to Fernandez’s 0.3. But, in the first two thirds of the pitch, Fernandez is king. He has averaged 2.95 possessions won per 90 in the Premier League this season compared to Lavia’s 1.58, and 2.07 in the defensive third to 1.58. When Fernandez is on the pitch, he is more involved on the ball than Lavia, and the Argentine has a bigger impact on the final third.

When you throw Caicedo into the mix, Fernandez does complement him more in terms of a double pivot than Lavia. But Lavia works when you want protection, as Chelsea will have in their past four league games. But now that the fixture list eases off ever so slightly — there are still tough games to come — is it time for Fernandez to get back into the first XI?