21 hours ago, True Blue23 said:

There were rumours that Enzo's father spoke to Pochettino and asked if Enzo could play further forward... Not saying this is a 100% true, but do you have any evidence that being DM is Enzo's favourite position?

He came to play for us and naturally settled in that role. If he wasn't happy, he wouldn't need his father to tell anyone that he would have said it himself. Also he still hasn't played a single minute for Pochettino, so let's see.

13 hours ago, Bob stark said:

This is interesting. It is the 1st time I heard somebody prefer to play as sitting midifelder rather than in free role. 

I am not talking just PL, I am talking about all level of football. 

Enzo literally runs our midifeld, from day 1 he came. That's to many players, even better than having a free role.

7 hours ago, Sheva said:

https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/enzo-fernandez-chelsea-scout-report/

This is quite a good article that shows his versatility but he's very much a player that likes to drop deep and collect the ball. He's not a number 10 or a pure 6. He's like a 6/8 depending on the formation we use.

For me he's in the similar mold as someone like Toni Kroos, if we are playing a low defensive block then he will have more freedom to push higher and pick out those passes we saw against West Ham when Felix scored.

He's by all means a well-rounded and a complete central midfielder.

I'm sorry for those that are convinced that he has been mismanaged or that he didn't play in his prefered position, he has proven that he can play where he, plays.

However Pochettino uses him, Enzo won't change his style of play significantly from what everyone has already seen him play during the World Cup and for us and sure enough, even if he is a mix of a 6 and 8, he's not like Kovacic that simply couldn't play at the base of the midfield alone, Enzo can do it and he has done it.

 

18 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Mismanaged? If you honestly believe in that... That Enzo has been, mismanaged out of all things... Wow.

Yes. Having Enzo Ferandnez as the last line of defense in midfield, is mismanaging him. 

33 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Yes. Having Enzo Ferandnez as the last line of defense in midfield, is mismanaging him. 

If that was the truth, how come he could still play really well?

Here's one example:

Won every tackle, every duel, got an assist. Where did he play?

https://www.transfermarkt.com/poland_argentina/index/spielbericht/3788889

Look how mismanaged he is...

Your view is far too extreme and sadly, not objective. Enzo isn't and wasn't mismanaged by Lampard, nor by Argentina, nor by Benfica...

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Yes. Having Enzo Ferandnez as the last line of defense in midfield, is mismanaging him. 

I honestly feel the way to properly get the best out of him is have him dictating from deep with a box to box player doing the running, ala Pirlo/Gattuso esque.

Such bad timing with Kante's injuries and now him leaving, the one game Enzo had next to a fully fit and on his A game Kante (Liverpool at home) he totally ran the show from the deep lying area.

1 hour ago, Argo said:

I honestly feel the way to properly get the best out of him is have him dictating from deep with a box to box player doing the running, ala Pirlo/Gattuso esque.

Such bad timing with Kante's injuries and now him leaving, the one game Enzo had next to a fully fit and on his A game Kante (Liverpool at home) he totally ran the show from the deep lying area.

I don't think Enzo gave the back four anywhere near enough protection last season. At this rate I'd be happy with Granit Xhaka or Thomas Partey, both rumoured to be out the door this summer.

Enzo is the present and future of Chelsea.  He is fun to watch, and hopefully with some healthy and good new midfield partners we can get more out of him.

We do need some midfielders though - what if Enzo got injured.

 

Edited June 29, 20233 yr by PhilH930

7 hours ago, Argo said:

I honestly feel the way to properly get the best out of him is have him dictating from deep with a box to box player doing the running, ala Pirlo/Gattuso esque.

Such bad timing with Kante's injuries and now him leaving, the one game Enzo had next to a fully fit and on his A game Kante (Liverpool at home) he totally ran the show from the deep lying area.

Yep there is no issue with his position, just his role. He is a great tackler and tenacious presser, which is wasted and can even be seen as a weakness when he's asked to "mop-up"; Adeyemi's goal against us at Dortmund is a perfect example. Enzo did pretty much everything he could do being matched up against a much quicker player, knowing a late tackle or bad ref call has him sent off, but Mudryk lost his marker, made little effort to return, and instead relied on a 38 year old Thiago to sprint back to try make the goalline.

The only issue with him being instructed or compelled to stay deep is that his attacking ability is then restricted to the counter-attack while in possession he's limited to recycling possession. He's our best passer in possession too so i'd want a role that allows him to be the origin of attack in both phases.

Edited June 29, 20233 yr by SydneyChelsea

17 hours ago, Gol15 said:

If that was the truth, how come he could still play really well?

Here's one example:

Won every tackle, every duel, got an assist. Where did he play?

https://www.transfermarkt.com/poland_argentina/index/spielbericht/3788889

Look how mismanaged he is...

Your view is far too extreme and sadly, not objective. Enzo isn't and wasn't mismanaged by Lampard, nor by Argentina, nor by Benfica...

One match in the WC against Poland isn't indicative to how to Enzo should be managed. Declan Rice had a great game against Senegal at the WC as a lone DM and Southgate was still mismanaging him. I base my view of him on his performances at his prior clubs as well as the weakness we see in midfield which corresponds to what we are doing differently with him compared to Benfica and River. 

There have been enough instances this 2nd half of the season where Enzo has been completely caught out whilst being that last man in defense from midfield. The only thing that is extreme is to deny such notion. 

 

16 hours ago, Argo said:

I honestly feel the way to properly get the best out of him is have him dictating from deep with a box to box player doing the running, ala Pirlo/Gattuso esque.

Such bad timing with Kante's injuries and now him leaving, the one game Enzo had next to a fully fit and on his A game Kante (Liverpool at home) he totally ran the show from the deep lying area.

Who is the Seedorf/Ambrosini then? 

Kante was fit against Bournemouth and our midfield was still getting run through. There is just too much space for Enzo to cover and he doesn't have the legs for it. This is why I am not in the opinion we should go into next season with a Caicedo-Enzo base. There needs to be a third midfielder whilst Nkunku can be an inside forward. 

16 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

There have been enough instances this 2nd half of the season where Enzo has been completely caught out whilst being that last man in defense from midfield. The only thing that is extreme is to deny such notion. 

Even in attack, it is such a waste of his obvious talents. Why would you want to restrict him to pinging long passes from inside his own half, when he's the only player in our squad capable of slide rule passes or balls over the top into the box?

The last truly successful DLP we had in the EPL was probably Xabi Alonso, and even he had Mascherano or Lucas Leiva beside him, despite being quite a good defender himself.

Edited June 30, 20233 yr by SydneyChelsea

Anyone heard from Pochettino? He starts tomorrow. Any talk at all, interviews, Quotes etc. Does he really exist? 

I think with Caicedo being his Attack dog, we can have that Verrrati/Cesc like player, a more energetic Jorginho, we saw how Pochettino developed players so look for him to really favour his fellow countryman, future captain??

Pochettino has a no loose situation  as manager no wonder he took the job 

no expectations to win anything 

all young kids in the team great excuse

fans have been told it will be years before we compete again 

gone from serial winners  to turn up and play team  and sell our young players that improve to the contenders  

feeling the pain already

 

 

6 minutes ago, dellaw said:

Pochettino has a no loose situation  as manager no wonder he took the job 

no expectations to win anything 

all young kids in the team great excuse

fans have been told it will be years before we compete again 

gone from serial winners  to turn up and play team  and sell our young players that improve to the contenders  

feeling the pain already

 

 

What other scenario is there? I don't even think we can get a Tuchel 2.0 here to come in and get some short-term success, because the players right now just don't have it in them. This needs to happen, we need to restart the building blocks, we've been playing the same weak football for years, and it's time for a severe change up. 

It's going to take time, and I would say Pochettino is the best we can do right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Pochettino doesn't win anything here, but I do think he's capable of at least putting us in the right direction for someone else to take over. But despite all that, this NEEDS to happen, the players need a new system and way of playing, and we need to start the build process. 

No wonder Tuchel got sacked. 

TB: Hey, Tommy, can my bros pop in at halftime? They fancy a few lines in the changing room. 

TT: No. 

TB: Hey, Tommy, what do you make of the likes of Mount, Havertz, Kante, Kovacic? We're paying them a lot. What if we sold them all to bring down the wage bill?

TT: No, no, we need experienced players. 

TB: Hey, Tommy, about that 4-4-3 formation we discussed. I was counting the players just now and we seem to be missing one. Isn't that a handicap?  

It is very interesting to see how similar football Vieira is going to utilize at Strasbourg than Pochettino at Chelsea. The Red Bull multiclub model is using that between clubs very well. They all have that same high octane high pressing football which helps managers to switch teams under that multiclub umbrella. When a manager is worn out switch between teams and make it a culture. 

Reports this morning of a planned two weeks of intense physical conditioning at Cobham before we start our pre-season tour.

Just what we need in my opinion, injury record past few seasons has been ridiculous, whip the squad into shape Pochettino!

2 hours ago, cfr95 said:

Reports this morning of a planned two weeks of intense physical conditioning at Cobham before we start our pre-season tour.

Just what we need in my opinion, injury record past few seasons has been ridiculous, whip the squad into shape Pochettino!

Good they need to run till they puke after training. They shouldn’t be able to walk after!!

If the intention is a 4231 with Caicdeo + Enzo at the base then one of the wing backs may need to be inverted. There is where Pochettino needs to change a bit of his management I reckon. This will allow Sterling, Jackson, Nkunku, Chilwell, and Madueke options in attack. whilst being defensively strong in midfield. 

So is tomorow finally the day we hear from him or see him holding a Chelsea shirt?

51 minutes ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

So is tomorow finally the day we hear from him or see him holding a Chelsea shirt?

Trouble is, there's no Chelsea shirt to hold 😬

5 hours ago, cfr95 said:

Reports this morning of a planned two weeks of intense physical conditioning at Cobham before we start our pre-season tour.

Just what we need in my opinion, injury record past few seasons has been ridiculous, whip the squad into shape Pochettino!

Wonder if Ziyech will suddenly find a way to agree his financial package with the Saudi's now. 

6 hours ago, cfr95 said:

Reports this morning of a planned two weeks of intense physical conditioning at Cobham before we start our pre-season tour.

Just what we need in my opinion, injury record past few seasons has been ridiculous, whip the squad into shape Pochettino!

Reportedly Lukaku has sh*t himself and gone into hiding. 

30 minutes ago, Kev56 said:

Reportedly Lukaku has sh*t himself and gone into hiding. 

They've found him. He was hiding in a bin at the back of a KFC in Milan.