Gary Neville says Enzo Maresca didn’t use Chelsea player in his best role vs Manchester City

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Gary Neville has raised a question mark over the position Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca used one player in at the weekend.

Chelsea commenced their Premier League season on Sunday with a 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City, who are bidding for a fifth consecutive division title.

The Blues return to league action next Sunday when they travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers. First, they face Servette on Thursday night in the first leg of a Europa Conference League play-off tie.

For Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca, he’s already firmly under the spotlight for several decisions and he’ll be learning about what a big step up he’s taken. It’s interesting that Maresca picked a side that meant Chelsea’s team was the second youngest on a Premier League opening weekend.

• READ MORE: I saw ‘outstanding’ Chelsea player make a statement vs Manchester City as well as Romeo Lavia

Gary Neville on Enzo Fernandez’s best position

Gary Neville thinks Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez had some difficulty last weekend against Man City. A reason behind that is because the 23-year-old Blues star wasn’t playing in his best role.

Fernandez was the most advanced of a midfield trio that included him, Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo. Unfortunately, they were picked apart by the class of Man City over the course of 90 minutes.

When discussing Fernandez on The Gary Neville Podcast, Neville said: “I get the feeling that he is not a natural number 10, someone who really understands the position.

“He can play in there, but he is not really at his best in there. I feel that he is someone who is better arriving onto the ball and running forward rather than being already in there.”

• READ MORE: Who is Enzo Fernandez? A peek into the life of Chelsea’s World Cup-winning Argentinian

The Enzo Fernandez conundrum

It’s becoming quite obvious that Maresca will have a big decision to make sooner rather than later when it comes to his midfield. On paper, fitting the trio of Fernandez, Caicedo and Lavia in the same XI may be tough and detrimental to the team’s overall balance.

It cost Chelsea £106.8m (Sky Sports) to sign Fernandez from Benfica 18 months ago, so fitting him into the side feels so important. The Argentine’s a wonderful footballer with great technique, too.

We agree that he doesn’t suit playing a number 10 position and must operate a bit deeper, preferably as a number eight with licence to roam.