'Really strange': Don Hutchison left baffled by Enzo Maresca tactic in Chelsea's defeat to Fulham
Fulham’s Marco Silva became just the third manager this season to beat Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea side in the Premier League.
The Blues suffered a 2-1 league defeat on Boxing Day at home to local rivals Fulham.
Chelsea’s three losses in the Premier League during the first half of the season have come against Manchester City, Liverpool, and now Fulham. Overall, Enzo Maresca should be delighted with his start at Chelsea manager because his team currently sits second in the division table.
Alan Shearer is tipping Chelsea for a top-four finish after watching them lose yesterday. It’s a result that may put a lid on those talking about a potential title bid.
Don Hutchison baffled by Enzo Maresca tactic
ESPN pundit Don Hutchison has been left with a burning question for Chelsea boss Maresca after the Fulham result. He’s been left stunned at the tactics involving Blues captain Enzo Fernandez, 23, in the Boxing Day defeat.
Hutchison noticed that Fernandez was in the middle of the park alongside Moises Caicedo for the first half, but the central midfielder spent large spells of the second period drifting over towards the right wing vacating plenty of space.
Eventually, Fulham’s running power and energy came into play as they snatched three points with two late goals.
“The biggest glaring thing for me in the second half, I’d love to ask Enzo Maresca where was Enzo Fernandez playing,” Hutchison told ESPN.
“On paper, the first 45 minutes he was playing as a pair alongside [Moises] Caicedo. They were pretty close together. In the second half, it was really strange that Enzo Fernandez was really wandering away to the right-hand side…
“Caicedo had to do an awful lot of work on his own in the middle of the park when they’re winning 1-0. When it went 1-1, I’m still thinking at some point the manager has got to bring Enzo Fernandez a bit tighter, or the players on the pitch have got to do that themselves. But they didn’t. So the question I’d love to ask the manager is, where was he actually playing?”
While we can’t answer the Fernandez question about his second-half positioning, we can say that he was one of Chelsea’s better performers in the Fulham match.
Fernandez pulled the strings, especially in the first half, with some great passing and vision. He was denied a goal when goalkeeper Bernd Leno made a fingertip save from his shot outside the box, too.
| Match rating | Minutes played | Total shots | Successful dribbles | Touches | Accurate passes | Chances created | Tackles won |
| 7.0 | 90 | 1 | 2/4 (50%) | 83 | 57/69 (83%) | 3 | 2/2 (100%) |
Fernandez admitted he felt his price tag when he joined Chelsea for £107m nearly two years, but it’s great to now see him confident an influential in midfield.
What happens when Romeo Lavia is fit again?
Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia has missed a few games recently through injury, but he’s going to be knocking on the door to start when he’s available again.
Maresca claimed Lavia’s fitness is much better despite the fact he couldn’t play the Fulham defeat. Hopefully, the 20-year-old defensive midfielder is on the verge of returning.
It wouldn’t be fair to drop Caicedo or Fernandez right now from the centre of the park given their current form, but the inclusion of Lavia gives Chelsea more stability in and out of possession.
As we’ve seen already this season, Chelsea can fit the aforementioned trio in the same starting XI. The logical scenario is Lavia and Fernandez starting as the central midfielders, which leaves Caicedo as the right-back who inverts in possession.
Incidentally, the inclusion of Caicedo and Lavia in the team definitely frees up Fernandez to contribute even more in attack.
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