Chelsea went to the Allianz Arena and lost 3-1 against Bayern Munich. One could claim that they were unlucky not to get more out of the game. There was controversy around the first two goals they conceded, while the third was a result of their own error, giving the ball away in a bad position. On the other end of the pitch, a Cole Palmer second was scratched off due to being fractionally offside.
It is now time to get back to the drawing board. And when Enzo Maresca does so, one player's performance on the night will disappoint him and understandably so.
Enzo Fernandez's output has gone significantly up in his new role under Maresca, as he is both scoring and assisting a lot more often. But in the process, he has lost a lot of things as well. One of them seems to be his influence on games.
He only made five passes in the first half against Bayern Munich. This is a player who was supposed to dictate things from midfield not too long ago. He clearly is not doing that now, and as an athlete, he leaves a lot to be desired. And Chelsea fans were clearly not happy with what they saw from the Argentine.
'Looks lost' - Chelsea player slammed for performance vs Bayern Munich
One Chelsea fan wrote about Fernandez's performance against Bayern Munich: "He doesn’t rise to the occasion and I don’t know why Maersca is afraid to put him on the bench and give Santos a chance. Enzo Fernandez is supposed to be playing the role of Michael Ballack for us, but he looks lost every game."
Another Chelsea fan added: "Enzo Fernandez has been poor since the Club World Cup."
Is this role the right fit for someone like Fernandez, that is the question we need to be asking ourselves. He is perhaps at his most effective when dictating play, which we saw in his early months at Chelsea.
Since then, his role at Chelsea has completely changed though. Yes, he scores important goals and has a ton of assists to his name. But how often do you watch a game and think that Fernandez was the best player on the pitch? Rarely, if ever.
On the other hand, Andrey Santos did pretty well when coming on and might be more suited to that role. We are not saying that he needs to be a starter and replace Fernandez immediately. But the least he deserves is a chance to prove that he is capable of doing that.