Danny Murphy says 22-year-old Chelsea player struggled with the physicality against Manchester City

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Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez struggled to deal with the physicality in last weekend’s game against Manchester City.

That is according to Danny Murphy.

It was a very fast-paced contest in Chelsea’s final match before the international break, drawing 4-4 at home to Man City in a Premier League classic.

There’s been a lot of praise showered on several Blues stars for their most recent display, including at the likes of Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling.

However, Enzo Fernandez has now received a small amount of criticism.

A tough physical test

Danny Murphy has now highlighted Fernandez, 22, as someone who couldn’t quite cope with the physicality versus Man City

“He took Enzo off [against Manchester City], who I thought struggled a bit…” Murphy told FIVE’s YouTube channel.

“Gallagher gave them more legs in the middle of the pitch. I thought Enzo was struggling with the physicality of it.”

We think it’s fair to say that the previous game suited midfielders Conor Gallagher and Moises Caicedo a bit better than Fernandez due to the sheer frantic nature.

There’s no doubt that the Argentine star is still integral for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, though, especially as a deep-lying playmaker from the central midfield position.

Enzo Fernandez form

Fernandez was one of the rare positives in Chelsea colours during the second half of last season, quickly finding his feet in English football following his huge £106.8million transfer (Sky Sports) from Benfica.

We concede that he may still be fighting to find his best form this campaign while others around him raise their levels.

Speaking via ESPN this week, Julien Laurens suggested that Fernandez is struggling to play his best football with the current dynamic in Chelsea’s midfield.

In our view, the trio of Fernandez, Caicedo and Gallagher is emerging as a quality unit. They’ll get better the longer they play together, too.

It’s refreshing to see Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino identify his preferred combination and sticking with it for a sustained run of games.