Enzo Maresca has lots of talent at his disposal and one of those is Enzo Fernandez. This week Chelsea's head coach has been discussing the important role our World Cup winner is currently performing.
Enzo has started and captained the Blues in each of our three league fixtures so far. He was positioned ahead of Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo against Manchester City on the opening day, and then lined up alongside the Ecuadorian for the games against Wolves and Crystal Palace.
Having played through the pain barrier last season as he awaited surgery on a hernia, Enzo will be hoping he hits top gear this term now he is fully fit again. His head coach is pleased with the midfielder's start to the new campaign and on Friday explained how he sees his role in the team.
‘I think it’s very difficult in the way we play to find a midfielder that can attack like an attacking midfielder and defend like a holding midfielder,’ Maresca said.
‘For instance, Arsenal are using Declan Rice as an attacking midfielder on the ball and as a holding midfielder when defending. Man City, in the past, have done this with Ilkay Gundogan.
‘In our case, we are trying to find the balance and find the players who can give us this kind of solution. At the moment, Enzo is the only one. When we have the ball, he is playing like an attacking midfielder, and is dropping next to Moi when we don’t have the ball to help us and give us defensive balance.'
Maresca added: ‘In the first game, we used Romeo and Moi as holding midfielders, but Enzo in this moment is playing on the ball as an attacking midfielder and off the ball as a holding midfielder.
‘He is doing very good with us and the idea is to continue with that.’