Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has worked out his best starting XI, with Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia providing the perfect platform for Cole Palmer in a 4-2-3-1 formation
Enzo Maresca inherited a lot of problems when he took over as Chelsea manager in the summer, but Enzo Fernandez didn’t appear to be one of them.
Fernandez wore the captain’s armband in the absence of Reece James and has been feted as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders. Chelsea paid £106.8million to sign him from Benfica in February 2023 – a British record – yet he now finds himself out of the team.
At Anfield last weekend and at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Maresca started with Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia in holding midfield. His 4-2-3-1 formation allows star player Cole Palmer the freedom to roam ahead and for wingers Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke to stay high and wide to stretch the opposition.
Having watched Palmer run riot against Newcastle by combining brilliantly with Nicolas Jackson and exploiting the lack of pace in the backline, it was clear that Maresca had found the right balance in his side. Chelsea have an embarrassment of riches in midfield – Caicedo cost £100m and Lavia £55m – but what they really need is the ugly things done efficiently.
Caicedo and Lavia aren’t the most exciting of midfield partnerships – they hunt the ball down, win it back and play it simple. They did that superbly against Newcastle, Caicedo completing four tackles, the most of anyone on the pitch, while he and Lavia boasted pass completion percentages of 94 per cent and 95 per cent respectively.
Maresca was extremely animated on the touchline and was frequently seen urging his players to calm things down. The Italian wants his team to play considered, intricate football, not the blood and thunder fast-paced counter-attacking made popular by Jurgen Klopp.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Maresca explained that he has instructed his side to aim for 25-plus passes per move, in part to avoid being caught on the counter. Lavia and Caicedo fit this brief perfectly.
“There are games, especially today’s one, that if you do a basketball game, they would destroy us,” he said. “Newcastle are strong, they are good, they have some good players in transition. The reason I was saying to calm was because this is the kind of game before you attack you need to make 15, 20 or 25 passes.
“If you want to attack with two passes, you are long distance, they recover the ball and they can cause problems. That is the reason I was shouting all game, ‘calm, calm, calm, make passes’ is because against them if you do up and down game, they destroy us.
“Romeo and Moi, they both did well. Enzo was inside, but overall I’m very happy with the performance today because in some moments on the ball we were unbelievable. Some good combinations. The way we prepared for the game with the plan were exactly there. Off the ball, they fight together, they show the desire to win and to get three points.”
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Enzo Fernandez remain on the Chelsea bench? Comment below.
By contrast, Fernandez is an all-action, forward-thinking midfielder who cannot readily be described as “calm”. He will still be useful for Maresca, but with Reece James and Malo Gusto coming inside to create overloads in the middle of the pitch, his playing style is less needed at Chelsea.
The Blues face Newcastle again on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup. If he wants to make the starting line-up, Fernandez should listen carefully to his manager’s instructions.
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