“I’d love to ask the manager” – ESPN pundit baffled by Maresca’s use of Chelsea ace in defeat to Fulham | OneFootball

Former Premier League footballer Don Hutchinson was left baffled by how Enzo Maresca used Enzo Fernandez in the defeat to Fulham.

Chelsea slumped to just their third league defeat of the season, and first since October as Fulham scored twice in the last ten minutes, with Maresca unhappy with the second half performance.

The defeat meant Chelsea dropped to third, a point behind Arsenal, although they are now just a point clear of surprise package Nottingham Forest in fourth.

Hutchinson confused by how Maresca used Fernandez against Fulham

Maresca restored Marc Cucurella to the starting line-up against Marco Silva’s side in what was the only change to the team that drew against Everton last weekend.

The Blues made a good start as Cole Palmer gave them the lead with his 12th league goal of the season, but that’s as good as it got for Chelsea on a frustrating afternoon.

Maresca’s men seemed to lack control in the game and Hutchinson can’t understand what the Italian was doing with Fernandez during the game.

Fernandez has been in good form for Chelsea in recent weeks. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“The biggest glaring thing for me in the second half, I’d love to ask Enzo Maresca where was Enzo Fernandez playing,” he told ESPN.

“On paper, the first 45 minutes he was playing as a pair alongside [Moises] Caicedo. They were pretty close together. In the second half, it was really strange that Enzo Fernandez was really wandering away to the right-hand side.

“Caicedo had to do an awful lot of work on his own in the middle of the park when they’re winning 1-0. When it went 1-1, I’m still thinking at some point the manager has got to bring Enzo Fernandez a bit tighter, or the players on the pitch have got to do that themselves.

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“But they didn’t. So the question I’d love to ask the manager is, where was he actually playing?”

There was a lot of space at times between Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, which Fulham exploited to their advantage, although the 23-year-old was certainly one of the better performers for Chelsea, and he will be looking to bounce back against Ipswich on Monday night.