'He's got more freedom' - Liam Rosenior explains Chelsea star's 'different' role vs Wolves
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Liam Rosenior explained his decision to use Enzo Fernandez as a pseudo-winger in Chelsea's 3-1 win over Wolves on Saturday.
Rosenior came up with an interesting Chelsea line-up at Molineux Stadium, with three midfielders, Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, and Andrey Santos, all starting alongside Cole Palmer.
When the three midfielders are usually on the pitch, Fernandez will play as a number 10 in front of Caicedo and Andrey Santos.
This was not the case against Wolves, because Palmer, instead of playing as a right winger, occupied the number 10 spot.
It was Pedro Neto who started on the right flank, and on the left, it was mostly Fernandez.
However, Rosenior insisted that Fernandez mostly played the way he usually does despite the unusual structure.
"No, it's amazing," Rosenior said when asked whether Fernandez played as a left winger against Wolves.
"Enzo's playing in exactly the same position that he's been played in probably 80 to 90 per cent of the season, which is in the left pocket. That's where he plays.
"Actually, he's got more freedom because we're interchanging a little bit more from our system and from our structure.
"Without the ball, he’s on the left, so that's probably why it looks different today because of the way Wolves played.
"He's not changed his position, to be honest. It looks that way, but his position in possession is the same."
As shown by the heat map provided by SofaScore above, Fernandez operated more as a wide number 10 than a wide forward.
Due to a lack of a conventional left winger, the width on that side of the pitch was mostly provided by left-back Marc Cucurella.
While Fernandez ended up struggling to make a huge impact the way he did in recent weeks, he still made three key passes, including one big chance, in this match.
There is no denying that Chelsea are dealing with issues on the left wing to the point that Rosenior would rather have an extra midfielder on the pitch despite the lack of any midfield back-up on the bench.
Jamie Gittens tore his hamstring, Alejandro Garnacho is struggling with form, whereas both Estevao and Pedro Neto prefer to operate on the right.
While Fernandez is now more comfortable playing closer to the goal, he is clearly not a solution to this problem.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.