Mauricio Pochettino has his own James Maddison at Chelsea and it's not Cole Palmer
As the power of Joelinton and trickery surprise of Lewis Miley carved and out-muscled Chelsea, battering them into indignent surrender at St James' Park last week eyes rolled and swords were sharpened. Anchored by the all-round quality of Bruno Guimaraes but still missing last year's matchwinner in this fixture, Joe Willock, and star summer shining Sandro Tonali, Newcastle did a job on Mauricio Pochettino's men.
A competitive but struggle of a half for the Blues was the best it got as a suffocating pressing blanket saw them hardly get out of their own half following the break. For a team that cost much more to assemble than even Eddie Howe's Saudi-backed starting XI — which was stronger than most imagined with the injury issues on hand — Chelsea didn't look it.
At the centre of this was Enzo Fernandez. Not figuratively or particularly literally, he just sort of existed in the moment. The 22-year-old is approaching 12 months since he arrived in England as the most expensive player the league had ever seen at the time and many still aren't sure what he is.
Most Chelsea fans might suggest he's been one of the better performers over the disappointment of 2023. Given that he arrived into an entirely dysfunctional squad, a crumbling team and still played games under three managers before Pochettino came in is evidence of just how tricky things have been.
Regardless, Fernandez has been a bit of a gem. He is already up to 37 games having missed one due to illness this season but other than that featuring in every single match between January 31 and now. His senior top flight match tally has nearly doubled in that time, yet his transfer price still preceeds him.
«When Fernandez went to Chelsea, I thought it was madness,» Gary Neville
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