Chelsea have 2 of the 3 most dribbled past players in Premier League – Maresca must fix this | OneFootball

The international break arrived just as we were about to hit the quarter mark in the Premier League. It’s very dull to now have two weeks without a Chelsea game, but enough of the season has now passed for us to be able to make draw some conclusions from the stats and the data floating around.

Most of it is good, considering where Chelsea are in the table and the performances they’ve been putting in. But there are some worrying things in there too, especially on an individual level.

There is growing concern among fans about Enzo Fernandez, and that’s really reflected in the numbers. Nobody questions his passing ability, but increasingly his inability to defend, especially when used in a midfield two, is becoming a talking point.

He’s never been quick, and he’s never going to be N’Golo Kante. But you’d still like to see him do more to stop opposition transitions that he does. A particularly egregious example comes to mind from the Nottingham Forest game on Sunday when he gave the ball away close to the opposition box, and then chugged back very slowly to try and stop the counter, not really looking like he was exerting himself too much at all.

Enzo Fernandez in action for Chelsea.

Stats back up the eye test

Fans in the stadium and watching around the world are not starting to grow frustrated for no reason either. The stats back it up. According to WhoScored, Enzo has been dribbled past 13 times in the Premier League this season. That’s more than any other player, at a rate of 2.2 per game.

What’s even more worrying is that Malo Gusto, who has been inverting into midfield specifically to help in situations like this when Enzo loses the ball, is third in the league in the same stat.

Between them they’re getting run past 4.2 times a game, and that’s something Enzo Maresca desperately needs to fix with coaching or a new shape.