Mauricio Pochettino told one undroppable Chelsea star after miserable Bournemouth draw

Andoni Iraola and Lewis Cook have heaped tremendous praise on Enzo Fernandez following Bournemouth's clash with Chelsea. Despite the 22-year-old midfielder's best efforts, the Cherries held Mauricio Pochettino's side to a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Contrary to the Blues' poor form, Fernandez has continued to impress since his arrival from Benfica in January for an eye-watering fee. The Argentina international caught the eye again this weekend – and it turns out that Bournemouth executed a specialised plan in a bid to suppress him.

«It was real tough,» Lewis Cook told Sky Sports, as quoted by BBC Sport. «Chelsea are a top, top team and we know that. We know in this league we'll have to suffer sometimes but I think we defended really well. We limited them to a few chances and [we were] unlucky not to get the three points.»

«I really enjoyed it,» the former Leeds United ace said. «It's the best league in the world and we all love playing in it. We know we're going to come up against some tough players and some tough teams but we relish that and work hard every day on the training game. These are the games you want to be involved in.»

Then, on how he felt coming up against Fernandez, Cook added: «I felt I did good. I had quite a big job to mark him. He's a top, top player and we all know that. It's good.»

Speaking to BBC Sport, Iraola provide some extra detail on Cook's role and how the midfielder dealt with Fernandez. The Bournemouth boss said: «Lewis was amazing. He had a tough job covering Enzo [Fernandez] who is an amazing player.

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»Without the ball he was very aggressive and on the ball he was