£180k-a-week Chelsea player failed his audition to start against Manchester United last night

Add as preferred source on Google

Chelsea’s B team would have been hoping to impress Enzo Maresca on Wednesday.

Chelsea have a big game against Manchester United at Old Trafford this Sunday. No one is going to want to be on the bench for that.

However, the team that Enzo Maresca put out against Newcastle United last night performed poorly and lost their fourth-round Carabao Cup tie 2-0.

Maresca wanted to see more control from Enzo Fernandez and the midfielder’s teammates. It would now not be a surprise if he was left on the bench for the United game.

• READ MORE: Newcastle United fans not impressed by ‘overrated’ Chelsea player after his display against them

Enzo Fernandez did not do enough against Newcastle United to win spot back

Fernandez has been dropped from Chelsea’s starting XI, being named on the bench in their last two Premier League fixtures.

In games against Newcastle and Liverpool, Maresca opted to go with Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.

They could not prevent Chelsea from losing at Anfield, but they did help them to beat Newcastle in the Premier League last weekend.

“I almost feel like when they’ve got Lavia and Caicedo, it’s more protection,” Darren Bent explained as he discussed Caicedo and Lavia’s impact.

Was the Newcastle game Fernandez’s worst in a blue shirt? Perhaps not, but he did nothing that warrants him coming back into the side at Lavia’s expense.

Enzo Maresca to stick with Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia?

For such a big away game, you would expect Maresca to stick with Caicedo and Lavia, who can run up and down and win the ball back.

It would see Fernandez remain on the bench, but the 23-year-old, who is earning £180,000 a week (via Spotrac), can have no complaints. He is simply not performing at a high level right now.

Going forward, however, you would expect Fernandez to come back into the team, especially when Chelsea are facing weaker opposition who just want to defend.

Costing more than £100m, Maresca can probably not keep the World Cup winner out of his side forever. Interestingly, though, Chelsea are statistically a more successful outfit without Fernandez.