Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez has endured a tough start to life in the Premier League. A then-British record £107million signing in January, there were high hopes for the Argentine midfielder after his World Cup heroics.
But Fernandez has been a central figure in a woefully underperforming side over the last nine months. Although Chelsea’s struggles pre-date the 22-year-old’s arrival, he has hardly been involved in a win during his time at Stamford Bridge.
Fernandez’s bad luck has seen a horrid run of results. In fact, the former Benfica man has only played in one victory against a current Premier League team.
That came in Chelsea’s 3-1 win away at Bournemouth in May. Fernandez did not feature in the Blues’ only victory this season – a 3-0 home triumph against struggling Luton at Stamford Bridge.
Defeat against Aston Villa was the 12th time Fernandez had been on the losing side in a Premier League game. It means he has lost over half his top-flight appearances, having played in the competition just 23 times.
Ollie Watkins’ second-half strike overcame a lacklustre Chelsea on Sunday. The Blues were on top until Malo Gusto’s sending-off in the 58th minute.
Pochettino bluntly urged his side to ‘grow up’ after the defeat, which was their third of the Premier League campaign and leaves them 14th in the table. Gusto faces a three-match ban for his challenge on Lucas Digne, while striker Nicolas Jackson will miss one game after picking up his fifth booking of the season.
The Chelsea boss revealed last week that he has already spoken to Jackson about his conduct, which has seen him earn four of his five yellow cards for dissent. Pochettino will therefore be fuming that the former Villarreal man has not heeded his advice.
“We need to grow up as a team, not only in an individual way. A player like Nicolas is so young and is feeling his way into the Premier League and learning,” Pochettino reflected.
“He needs time, and in this type of game we are competing and want to win. But the players, when they are young, need to learn with experience and when they make a mistake.
“That is why we feel disappointed because we are paying too many situations like this. Things like this is another small detail and, in the end, we are losing the game. We are in a situation we need to change as soon as possible.”
