“Don’t drop them again” “They will deliver – Enzo Maresca warned against dropping these two Chelsea stars – not Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson
In their 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, Chelsea played brilliantly. The Blues, who have been dominant from the beginning to the end, are currently third in the Premier League standings and have surprised many this season.
Several performers stood out for the hosts at Stamford Bridge in such a stunning display. Although Chelsea players like Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson both had fantastic goal-scoring outings, just two of them were selected for Alan Shearer’s Premier League Team of the Week.
Writing about his left-back, Shearer spoke about the display of Marc Cucurella. He wrote: “Produced a great cross to set up Nicolas Jackson’s opener and contributed to a clean sheet.”
Then, a bit afterwards, Shearer said this about Enzo Fernandez and his recent resurgence under Enzo Maresca: “Took his goal really well and is playing some of his best football under Enzo Maresca.”
There is a lot to be said about both of their performances on the day – and their general improvement over time. With Cucurella, you have a man that was very much under huge pressure at Chelsea. Someone whose future was the subject of heavy speculation but someone that has turned his career at Stamford Bridge around.
Cucurella is now one of the Premier League’s strongest left-backs and has become very much a staple under Maresca. Meanwhile, Fernandez’s redemption is very much more recent. In the last few games, since the 8-0 win over FC Noah, the 23-year-old midfielder has scored or assisted in every single match.
Sunday afternoon saw Fernandez score his second in as many matches. He is getting into those dangerous positions more and more – which is exactly what Maresca wants from the Argentine midfielder.
“It is very difficult to score goals from outside of the box. Usually all the goals happen from inside the box, so we need the two wingers, the No.9 inside the box. We need players inside the box to try and score goals.”
A few games ago, it looked as if Romeo Lavia had moved above Fernandez in the midfield pecking order but the Argentina international’s recent form has made him virtually undroppable. Plenty of players are performing well for the Blues this season but the continued improvement from Cucurella and the more recent resurgence of Fernandez has been particularly impressive to see.