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
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?
Santos will be vital for CFC next season , he should be given a clear chance to play alongside caceido and Enzo . Essugo will be caceido deputy and Santos will be Lavia cover . All Chelsea FC needs is get a new manager that can coach this team successfully . This squad is good enough for competing to championship run but the current manager has a limited in tactical twix . He is not the right one to manage this team , the confidence of the players are not good . Palmer should switch back to the wing . CFc should play 3 central midfield when playing 4 man CB . When Santos back he should partner caceido and Enzo will marauding the midfield . Those 3 will be good . Loic bade as center back , keep chalobah . Chalo is versatile player . And get a world class striker that can partner Jackson upfront . Palmer / Neto be the winger . I prefer Neto as number 10 . I hope new manager will manage this team before CWc or else no trophy again . This club should be on the top competitively and champion of all champions that this team should be .
The issue is that you can’t have Palmer AND Enzo in the midfield and expect to maintain any sort of solidity out of possession. Palmer provides nothing in terms of ball-winning and Enzo wants to get into the attack leaving Caicedo too much ground to cover and too many fires to put out when we lose the ball. There’s no doubt Caicedo has been fantastic as the heir apparent to Kante, but, whereas Kante defended like two players, Caicedo is only 1.5. Lavia provides him a real partner in doing all the dirty work, whereas Enzo just isn’t positionally disciplined enough and leaves Caicedo and the back line too often exposed when the ball turns over.
It’s been ages now since Palmer showed the influence he did earlier in the season and I think it’s high time Maresca shook things up. Put Palmer back on the right wing and let him drift inside to get on the ball and play Gusto or James out wide to bomb down the wing. Play Enzo at the 10 and partner Cucurella (or James) alongside Caicedo in midfield (until/unless Lavia gets healthy) to ensure we recover possession quickly and minimize vulnerability on the counter.