Maresca on Fernandez: “My confidence is 100 per cent with Enzo” | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has claimed he has not lost faith in Enzo Fernandez after the midfielder lost his place in the Blues starting eleven.

Chelsea manager Maresca was seen getting frustrated with Fernandez during the Blues’ 2-0 defeat in the Carabao Cup in midweek, after the Argentine gave the ball away.

Fernandez was at fault for Newcastle’s first goal of the evening, and has not started the last two Premier League matches for the west Londoners, with Maresca favouring Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo.

When asked if he had lost faith in his vice captain, the Italian came to the defence of his midfielder:

“I showed frustration with Enzo? I show frustration with all of them,” Maresca said. “Don’t only look at Enzo. I still trust Enzo; there is not one reason in the world to lose confidence in him.

“The reason why he is not playing in the Premier League is because in this moment, I take different decisions. But my confidence is 100% with Enzo.

“I like to say that we have, as I said, we don’t have an ‘A team’ or ‘B team’. There are players that are fantastic players but for me, we don’t have indispensable players. If Cole, for whatever reason, is not playing, then we have Joao [Felix]. If Nico [Jackson] is not playing, we have Christo [Nkunku].

“The reason we change players is because we think all the players are good. Some of them, for sure, are better than the rest but it doesn’t mean they are always going to play. In this moment, I know you are looking for some different reasons for Enzo.

“But for Enzo, it’s very simple; he is not playing in this moment but we have so many games in the future. He is not playing but it doesn’t mean he is not going to play tomorrow or in two days or that Romeo [Lavia] and Moi [Caicedo] are going to.”