“Oh, there is no doubt he is the kind of player who can drive Chelsea into the top four,” Gus Poyet says, still impressed by seeing Moises Caicedo boss the midfield at Old Trafford. A performance he even capped off by equalising Bruno Fernandes’ opener.
“When you play a game of that characteristics away from home, and even scores, which is not his responsibility, it can give you an extra bit,” continues Poyet, when speaking with Tribalfootball.com, who knows all about roaming the Chelsea midfield himself. Playing more than 100 games for the Blues, he also offers an explanation as to why Caicedo is finally starting to look like the player that more than one club was willing to pay more than £100m for.
“I don’t wish to be rude, but it was difficult for him to play with Enzo Fernandez. Now that he’s not playing with Enzo, he’s a little bit better, so it’s not a coincidence,” says Poyet, drawing parallels to his own playing days.
“If I played on the left, I needed a full-back with certain characteristics behind me for me to be better. One who played like Roberto Carlos would be fantastic for me because he would like to go up and I would be able to go in the middle. If I had a defensive full back that didn’t come up and I needed to stay wide, I would be rubbish. It’s not all on you, it’s also a matter of the people around you, the characteristics of the game, the system, the style of the manager. It all affects your performances.”
Amazing Palmer draws in the crowds
Does that explain why Enzo Fernandez seem to seem to be struggling in a way he doesn’t seem to be struggling when winning trophies for Argentina?
“It’s not an easy answer because as I said, sometimes it’s not only you. It’s the way the team plays and what the team needs. In the beginning, he was playing a certain position and then when Caicedo arrived, they were both fighting for the same position and it was difficult for them to share that number six position.
“They were trying all kinds of systems, but it looks to me that the team is kind of settled now. They’ve got an understanding, a certain shape, and Enzo is not in it. I don’t think it’s a matter of the qualities of the player. It is more a matter of how the team plays and the position that you use to get the best of you,” Poyet says, before making a comparison to the England team that recently were beaten by Greece.
“That was a clear example of a manager, Lee Carsley, wanting to try and play all those offensive players together. The ones that people think, ‘sure, they should all play’, the likes of Saka, Palmer, Bellingham, Foden etc. Well, how did that work? Football is not about all the best players playing. There are certain responsibilities.
“So, going back to Enzo Fernandez, in the national team, he has certain responsibilities and a positioning that allows him to express himself. At Chelsea, at the moment, there is someone better, so he needs to reinvent himself. It’s not easy and it’s a situation that he needs to think about,” says Poyet who nevertheless still believes the Argentina World Champion has a future at Chelsea. Just like a certain Cole Palmer.
“I knew he was good, but I didn’t know he was that good. I mean, it’s unbelievable! He’s really amazing. He’s the kind of player people will pay to see doing certain things in games. It’s that level now and luckily, Chelsea are all about football people. It’s really amazing.
“I remember the first season Harry Kane scored 20+ goals, and people said, “let’s see if he can score next year”. And then he went on and on and on. It’s the same with Palmer, and he’s going to be a Chelsea player for many, many years.”
