32 minutes ago, bluetrooper said:

another 6 months... that'll be 2 1/2 years.... At what point does the club call time on the signing. 

Perhaps I'm just sentimental to the ghosts of Chelsea captains past... he has a lot to live up to... Couldn't put Thiago in there as file size was too big. Anyhow, I think and hope you get my point. 

Absolutely get your point, but I think there is also a modern push towards a group of captains rather than a traditional club captain. 

And in regards to the club calling time on the signing, I think they would be silly to be too rash given that in his 2 1/2 years at the club he has been under 3/4 managers. Conversations have to be had at the end of this year if he hasn't began to progress, as there are already signs of other 'strugglers' kicking on e.g Cucu, Caicedo, Wacko etc

 

14 hours ago, TheCeleryKing said:

And he is often our Captain when Enzo is taken off.

 

If caicedo starts and is capt. even when Enzo jnr then comes on caicedo still keeps the arm band as seen in a few games already.

2 hours ago, bluetrooper said:

 

As I asked... Help me out - what is it he offers that isnt obvious or tangible that you think he brings to the side? 

 

Nobody can truly answer this unless they work at the club and see what maresca sees day in and out. Goes both ways too...unless you are there you can't say he doesn't deserve it compared to others. 

 

39 minutes ago, Niall1905 said:

Absolutely get your point, but I think there is also a modern push towards a group of captains rather than a traditional club captain. 

 

This...100%

As has been mentioned a million times already. The way we used to think what a club captain is, is no more.

Leaders on the pitch may be more appropriate or "the seniors" but hopefully all of them are "leaders" in a way and "seniors" can and will be misleading.

Reece is our "Club Captain", but we have a whole group of "Game Captains" depending on the players of that game.

Like "General Manager" and "Line Managers" for example.

Edited November 26, 20241 yr by Simplymo

7 hours ago, bluetrooper said:

 

Perhaps I'm just sentimental to the ghosts of Chelsea captains past... he has a lot to live up to... Couldn't put Thiago in there as file size was too big. Anyhow, I think and hope you get my point. 

 

1 hour ago, Valerie said:

 

Can we divert Jims swelling Wacko cash pot to research and invent a time machine so we can go kidnap a younger version of this chap and bring him back to today. 

 

11 hours ago, Simplymo said:

As has been mentioned a million times already. The way we used to think what a club captain is, is no more. [?]

Leaders on the pitch may be more appropriate or "the seniors" but hopefully all of them are "leaders" in a way and "seniors" can and will be misleading.

Reece is our "Club Captain", but we have a whole group of "Game Captains" depending on the players of that game.

Like "General Manager" and "Line Managers" for example.

Sort of. Sort of agree with you. But it is much more obvious than that.  We do not have 'seniors' - we have a bunch of kids.  Youngest top level team in the country and Europe. Reece is the club captain and all he has to do is stay fit and healthy and he will be the club Captain. But he hasn't managed to do that and so we are looking at the rest of the team/squad and they are all bunch of kids.  Colwill might be a good club Captain one day - at the moment nope as he can be a little petulant.  Caicedo is very professional, but again he is just a kid - and he is not vocal enough. Slightly older players with a bit more experience?  Well they are not regulars in the team. There are leaders emerging in this team.  But Enzo - who is also a kid - has more life experience it seems [he has 2 kids] and he has footballing experience - winning the World cup, etc.  He is a little more mature than the othe other kids? Gives him an edge in terms of selection and Big Enzo has selected him as Captain [in the absence of James].

13 hours ago, Niall1905 said:

f**k knows what is or isn't obvious or tangible

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/obvious

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tangible

Great goal. Another solid performance. Really found his rhythm the last few weeks. Keep it up. 

Still giving away possession a bit too much for my liking, but no doubt his performance level is trending upwards. Lovely goal today !

He's put in a few good performances in a row now. Let's see if he can keep this going, because I was having serious doubts about him at the start of the season.

Thought he was class today. 

Single life has saved his career. Looks like a different player these days. 

5 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Still giving away possession a bit too much for my liking, but no doubt his performance level is trending upwards. Lovely goal today !

Yep, it is always going to be a bit of trade off. I like the Lavia and Caicedo combo - but neither of them is going to score that many goals or make that insightful forward pass the way little Enzo does. It is good to have midfield players scoring goals.  All we need now is our defenders to score more - particularly from corners and set pieces.

Enzo carrying an injury. His wrist is all bandaged up.

2 hours ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Yep, it is always going to be a bit of trade off. I like the Lavia and Caicedo combo - but neither of them is going to score that many goals or make that insightful forward pass the way little Enzo does. It is good to have midfield players scoring goals.  All we need now is our defenders to score more - particularly from corners and set pieces.

Enzo carrying an injury. His wrist is all bandaged up.

repetative strain injury now the misses has left 

3 hours ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Yep, it is always going to be a bit of trade off. I like the Lavia and Caicedo combo - but neither of them is going to score that many goals or make that insightful forward pass the way little Enzo does. It is good to have midfield players scoring goals.  All we need now is our defenders to score more - particularly from corners and set pieces.

Enzo carrying an injury. His wrist is all bandaged up.

He looks a lot better when he is able to play a more attacking role with Lavia and Caicedo behind him

Quote

Maresca said: "I'm trying to convince Enzo in the same way as I did last year with (Wilfred) Ndidi and Kiernan (Dewsbury-Hall) that attacking midfielders need to arrive in the box. The reason why he scored today was because he was inside the box and if he was outside of the box, he wouldn't have scored the goal. We are happy in the way Enzo is doing."

The difference between Maresca and Pochettino is that the latter just let Fernandez do whatever he wanted. 

Let's see how long Fernandez keeps this up, however. He already has a habit of deciding he knows what's best.

13 hours ago, forbzy said:

He looks a lot better when he is able to play a more attacking role with Lavia and Caicedo behind him

Well, that's what i've always been hoping for, i mean you can clearly see it in the Argentina national squad, playing alongside MacAllister and De Paul.

53 minutes ago, Upb78 said:

Well, that's what i've always been hoping for, i mean you can clearly see it in the Argentina national squad, playing alongside MacAllister and De Paul.

Doesn't he play deeper than either of them for Argentina?

19 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Single life has saved his career. Looks like a different player these days. 

My big unpopular opinion in life as a whole is that not staying together "for the good of the kids" needs to be normalised.

Aslong as they are both still doing right by them they was absolutely correct to split up if one or both of them were unhappy regardless of what the reason was.

15 hours ago, forbzy said:

He looks a lot better when he is able to play a more attacking role with Lavia and Caicedo behind him

Well, yeah, that is very true, but is he an attacking midfielder?  I am not sure. I mean we have Cole Palmer and Mr. Felix and others for that type of thing. I think it is hard to really place him as a player and that is the point I guess. He becomes a bit of a luxury maybe? Also, do we need two defensive midfield players? A lot of these things are often worked out by injuries and the necessity to play certain players. We have been largely injury free and so that has complicated things.

 

41 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Doesn't he play deeper than either of them for Argentina?

Yeah, where is his best position?  where is his 'normal' position?

Been saying for a while Maresca wants to turn him into a Gundogan. 

9 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Doesn't he play deeper than either of them for Argentina?

Yes, he usually plays deeper, but they also switch positions many times, because all three have attacking and passing capabilities. It's all about cohesion.

Edited December 3, 20241 yr by Upb78

Very mixed bag last night which sums up his time with us.

Good going forward and some great passes but don't like seeing him deep as he's just too lightweight. Was at fault for the Saints goal and at times he looks worse than Jorginho in that position (and just as slow) and that's saying something.

Need Lavia in for the big games. 

14 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Very mixed bag last night which sums up his time with us.

Good going forward and some great passes but don't like seeing him deep as he's just too lightweight. Was at fault for the Saints goal and at times he looks worse than Jorginho in that position (and just as slow) and that's saying something.

Need Lavia in for the big games. 

Agree with this, Lavia has to be first choice but I`m less worried about Enzo replacing him now than I was last season as he is playing better, even though his faults are still there at times.

I thought he did very well last night, goal wasn’t his fault, if anything it was Gusto who should have being there. He has improved nicely with the change of position and link up play between midfield and attack is excellent, whilst most of the attacking play goes through him. Also, I think he is a better leader and captain than James and has taken the responsibility seriously. 
 

The assist and cross to Disasi was perfect, although i was a bit disappointed by Disasis reaction, avoiding in celebrating with him.

On 02/12/2024 at 17:11, Ukraine Bolt said:

Doesn't he play deeper than either of them for Argentina?

He plays a hybrid role for Argentina when Messi is playing. Does Messi's defensive work for him. Check out the WC final.