One incident this week has reportedly ‘rocked harmony’ inside the Chelsea camp with insiders saying that an apology is not enough.
It’s a concerning situation right now, with new Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca having to deal with it when really he just wants to be concentrating on setting up for the new season ahead in the first few weeks of his new job.
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Stepping up to manage Chelsea is bad enough on it’s own, especially after the last couple of seasons have bought more turmoil and uncertainty to the club and around the fan base. So the last thing that he and Chelsea on the whole needed right now was another dramatic situation.
And that is exactly what Enzo Fernandez has done with his idiotic video in the week.
The midfielder posted a live stream of himself and some Argentina team-mates singing an offensive song referencing the heritage of France’s players. The song war both homophobic and racist, and it triggered a reaction from Wesley Fofana who called it out as racism online. Enzo was the unfollowed on social media by a number of his Chelsea team mates.
Dressing room divided
Nicolas Jackson came out and backed Enzo with a post of support on his story yesterday, but there seems to be a divide now in the dressing room.
The Sun report CHelsea’s pre-season plans are in total meltdown with a dressing-room rift triggered by Enzo Fernandez’s racist video.
Insiders at Stamford Bridge say the incident has rocked harmony within the camp and it will take a lot to repair the damage.
Enzo has issued an apology but one insider told SunSport: “It’s not enough”.
Chelsea have a big French contingent in their squad including Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Malo Gusto, Malang Sarr, Christopher Nkunku, Lesley Ugochukwu and Fofana. Three other non-French players are believed to be equally upset.
Chelsea and world football’s governing body Fifa have launched investigations into the controversial post.
Well of course it’s not enough! Enzo should have been on the first plane back to London following the incident and meeting with the offended teammates face-to-face the next morning. That way he could at least signal that he understands the seriousness of his actions and that he’s deeply hurt them. This isn’t something that you can fix overnight, and it’s not something that is totally (or even mainly) fixed with a public apology—it’s got to be face-to-face. Enzo has got to put in the work to understand why what he and his Argentinian teammates did was outrageously racist and his teammates have got to see not just contrition but a real effort to learn something from this. That is the ONLY possible way back for Enzo from an incident that showed he’s either DEEPLY racist OR TOTALLY CLUELESS (or a bit of both)!