Enzo Fernández’s debut at Chelsea: the praise of his manager and the little contemplative position of the English media

The first 90 minutes of Enzo Fernández with the shirt of Chelseajust 48 hours after their arrival in London, they were at modest invitation to illusion for the supporters of a team that can’t find its way despite the millionaire investment its new owner is making. The work of the midfielder of the Argentina national team in the 0-0 draw with fulham Friday was highlighted by the coach Graham Potter and also by the British media, which they were rather less contemplative with the performance of the London ensemble.

After the draw at Stamford Bridge which left the Blues ninth in the Premier League table and out of qualifying for next season’s European Cup, Potter judged Fernández’s task had been “very good, considering it’s been in the countryside for a short time”. “He doesn’t know us and we don’t know him, but I think you can see glimpses of his quality and personality. He’ll be better”predicted the DT.

The coach also tried to redeem the positive aspects of his team’s performance, far from the top in the Premier League, already eliminated from the FA Cup and League Cup, and whose only goal is the Champions League (he will play in the round of 16 with Borussia Dortmund). “Sometimes we did well, sometimes it was the lack of connection you would expect with some guys coming back from injury or joining the team. It’s where we are right now, but there are things to work on and things to improve.” analysed.

The English media coincided in highlighting Enzo’s debut and questioning Chelsea’s performance. Ruthless was The Guardian, who felt the West London set had shown “bland, aimless and leaden” and that he had starred in “a abject failure when it comes to producing the kind of football that costs more than that 500 million pounds in new purchases”.

Among many questions, the newspaper highlighted how “The Positive” of the team to the former player of River, Defensa y Justicia and Benfica, “was ordered in the center of the field, even if without actually showing why it cost £106.8m”. He pulled the strings at Chelsea in midfield, was immediately involved, turned heads with his game changes and even showed a fighting mood when he refused to be intimidated by Aleksandar Mitrovic early in the game “. And he underlined that he was the manager of one of the best attacking plays of the duel, which the German could not capitalize on Kai Havertz.

For its part, the Daily Mirror underlined that the Argentine midfielder “was the undisputed starter just two days after his contract was confirmed on transfer market day and showed why Chelsea have struggled all month to sign him.” “The world champion was about to complete a successful debut with a great goal, but his shot in the second half went just wide,” he added.

Meanwhile, The Sun weighed in on the one between Fernández, the Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk AND Noni Madueke (the three reinforcements who played against Fulham on Friday), the Argentine had been the most outstanding. “Solid and very timely in entrancesHe also has a good eye for forward passes and has on several occasions cleared the markers from his forwards with deep balls,” he assessed, although he added that “it faded in the second half, beyond a shot that went side”.

Unlike Fernandez, Chelsea’s tenure has been heavily criticized by The Sun. expensive in history” he asked, noting that “more than 500 million pounds for two shots on goal The whole night was not what I expected” the American millionaire Todd Boehly, who acquired the club in May last year .