Moises Caicedo back to his best ahead of Brighton reunion but Enzo Fernandez pattern could worry Chelsea
After a difficult start to life at Chelsea, Moises Caicedo is looking back to something like his best ahead of his return to Brighton tonight.
The £115million midfielder is escaping the burden of his British-record transfer price tag and has excelled in recent weeks — without Enzo Fernandez next to him.
Since Fernandez decided to have surgery to fix a groin issue, Caicedo has been exceptional in a three-game winning run against Tottenham, West Ham and Nottingham Forest.
In the two home derbies, Caicedo was dominant — and against Forest he had to dig in and be combative during a rocky second-half spell. At the City Ground on Saturday, he completed 92 per cent of his passes and had 114 touches of the ball. His first-time clipped through-ball to Reece James led to Nicolas Jackson’s match-winning header in a 3-2 win.
His form bodes well ahead of the game on the South Coast, but perhaps worrying for Chelsea in the long run is that his improvement has coincided with the absence of Fernandez.
Chelsea officials thought the Caicedo-Fernandez pivot could bring about an era of dominance after they signed the pair for a combined £222m.
Caicedo even called Fernandez to ask his opinion before his move to Chelsea last summer, and the pair have struck up an excellent off-field bond. But that has not been the case on the pitch.
Chelsea have won just 1.5 points per game in the 22 games when the pair have partnered, which is below the 2.5 points per game in the eight when Caicedo has played with someone else.
Chelsea have won more than 75 per cent of their matches when Caicedo has played without Fernandez.
Of course, Fernandez remains the excellent technician who won the World Cup with Argentina and he has been playing through injury.
Mauricio Pochettino has defended Fernandez, despite finding an uplift partnering Caicedo with Gallagher and having Marc Cucurella step into midfield when building up attacks. But Caicedo has found a better partner in Gallagher, and there are concerns that Fernandez is more similar to his fellow South American midfielder than people realise.
The picture is further confused by the potential sale of Gallagher this summer to help balance the books. For now, Pochettino’s midfield is functioning and bringing the best out of Caicedo.
Pochettino is increasingly optimistic about qualifying for Europe next season and Chelsea’s future with Caicedo at the heart of his midfield.
“I expect more from him even if he is doing well,” he said. “Next season, I have no doubt he will be much better. He is one of the players with room to improve.”
