– Enzo is (obviously!) dividing opinion in and out of the fanbase
– Maresca recently mentioned how his pricetag has created a huge burden for Enzo F
– Poch didn’t think Enzo could handle his role next to Moi
– Maresca is asking players to play 2 roles: on & off the ball. Enzo is an attacking 8 with the ball, and tracking back to be a holding mid
– his stats are down in this system. Progressive passes, passes into the final third, and passes into the penalty area have significantly decreased compared to last season, though his key passes and shot-creating actions remain fairly consistent. He has no assists this season and minimal shots on target.
– he was bought to be a DLP, but is there room for that with an inverted FB? And can Enzo defend well enough without the FB inverting (the article says ‘no’)
– they label Enzo a defensive liability, often getting dribbled past and lacking athleticism to keep up with opponents in space, with a low tackle success rate (40.9%).
– Enzo is clearly still learning the attacking 8 role, and hasn’t complemented Sancho, who works better alongside a runner. Maresca’s thought is that it’s better to have Enzo lose the ball in the attacking third, and also to make his great passes there as well… but Enzo’s strength is to have the game in front of him as a DLP, so…
EDIT: okay, a flood of downvotes – I know you all hate The Athletic, but this is a pretty well-written piece
BigReeceJames on
Of course he does, but are we asking him to play in a way that isn’t getting the best out of him or benefitting the team? Also yes
DrCrazyFishMan1 on
Not really
ChilwellisHim on
No
ChilwellisHim on
No
Glowing_Apostle on
Computer says no…….
Soren_Camus1905 on
He not creative enough to displace Palmer, not defensive enough to displace Caicedo or Lavia (when healthy)
There’s a reason we looked great last season when he wasn’t in the team.
hendrxx90210 on
Can anyone tell me what makes him a 100 million player? I remember him in the World Cup, I never saw him play like that in Chelsea. The only thing I know for a fact he’s good at is long balls, but seriously can someone tell me what can he do at an elite level?
Jimmy_Space1 on
I think Maresca is well aware of how Enzo doesn’t really work as the 8, and that’s why we’ve recently started seeing this fullback as an attacking mid experiment. I feel like we might see something like this in the future:
Instead of having Enzo move between defence and attack like he is now, we have him sit back and form a double pivot with Caicedo or Lavia – this gets the best out of Enzo’s ability as a DLP.
The fullback who was previously inverting alongside Caicedo now takes on Enzo’s previous role in the attacking third. Ideally for me this would be Cucu, but Veiga looked good in this role against Gent too. Cucu showed great linkup with Sancho in the Bournemouth game and I’m more confident in him winning balls further up the pitch than Enzo.
Because of the above, the right back no longer inverts, and instead plays more like the RCB. Personally think this is far more suited to James than Gusto, and I wonder if that’s why we haven’t seen this setup yet in the league.
We paid a lot for Enzo but we starting to get the oven back on mostly without him really involved. Idk I just have a sense of loyalty to players that came during the dark times.
GoudaBenHur on
His best quality is his passing, but it does not make up for his obvious shortcomings. Super unathletic, yet he pushes up the field and even makes runs down the wing which of course leaves the whole midfield exposed. I think he could be a decent deep lying playmaker in the right system. Right now he offers very little.
butke on
TL;DR The people who play Enzo’s role are probably the most difficult to find in the world, and there isn’t a like for like replacement on the market right now.
The man plays the hardest and most important role in the team and it’s almost by design going to leave him out of position and having to play on his back foot.
And for anyone who’s doubting, can y’all name someone who can transition playing as a 6, 8, and 10 in the same tactic and start for a team that’s top 4 in the prem?
The list is literally Mac Allister, Gundo, Declan Rice, modric, (potentially) frenkie, and Enzo
Youngest_boss on
Enzo should have had more assists both this season and last season if some of his chances created were finished, he does create big chances in a lot of our games
milkshakebar on
100 people surveyed…top answer on the board…ding…Fuck no!
LukeingUp on
I’m not gonna pretend like I know the intricacies of tactics etc etc, but Enzo certainly hasn’t impressed me at all this year in the midfield, though I like him. That’s all I can really say.
Adam_Ohh on
This again?
Oi.
JosephRizk21 on
He has great traits, but as the article talks about, he is a major defensive liability, stats aside, when I watch him, I just see him losing duels and getting bypassed very easily, if he can sort out his defensive game he can be a great box to box, his best trait is his long ball, but he needs to massively improve at a lot of things to justify that price tag.
If everyone’s fit, I have Lavia and Caicedo ahead of him, Caicedo in the box to box role and Lavia as the sitting midfielder.
leKai23 on
He doesn’t do anything really. He’s not awful but doesn’t add much. And frankly I think he’s scared of asking for the ball and trying to control things which he should be doing. Lavia comes on and instantly gets to the center and starts spraying passes.
20 Comments
He doesn’t.
– Enzo is (obviously!) dividing opinion in and out of the fanbase
– Maresca recently mentioned how his pricetag has created a huge burden for Enzo F
– Poch didn’t think Enzo could handle his role next to Moi
– Maresca is asking players to play 2 roles: on & off the ball. Enzo is an attacking 8 with the ball, and tracking back to be a holding mid
– his stats are down in this system. Progressive passes, passes into the final third, and passes into the penalty area have significantly decreased compared to last season, though his key passes and shot-creating actions remain fairly consistent. He has no assists this season and minimal shots on target.
– he was bought to be a DLP, but is there room for that with an inverted FB? And can Enzo defend well enough without the FB inverting (the article says ‘no’)
– they label Enzo a defensive liability, often getting dribbled past and lacking athleticism to keep up with opponents in space, with a low tackle success rate (40.9%).
– Enzo is clearly still learning the attacking 8 role, and hasn’t complemented Sancho, who works better alongside a runner. Maresca’s thought is that it’s better to have Enzo lose the ball in the attacking third, and also to make his great passes there as well… but Enzo’s strength is to have the game in front of him as a DLP, so…
EDIT: okay, a flood of downvotes – I know you all hate The Athletic, but this is a pretty well-written piece
Of course he does, but are we asking him to play in a way that isn’t getting the best out of him or benefitting the team? Also yes
Not really
No
No
Computer says no…….
He not creative enough to displace Palmer, not defensive enough to displace Caicedo or Lavia (when healthy)
There’s a reason we looked great last season when he wasn’t in the team.
Can anyone tell me what makes him a 100 million player? I remember him in the World Cup, I never saw him play like that in Chelsea. The only thing I know for a fact he’s good at is long balls, but seriously can someone tell me what can he do at an elite level?
I think Maresca is well aware of how Enzo doesn’t really work as the 8, and that’s why we’ve recently started seeing this fullback as an attacking mid experiment. I feel like we might see something like this in the future:
Instead of having Enzo move between defence and attack like he is now, we have him sit back and form a double pivot with Caicedo or Lavia – this gets the best out of Enzo’s ability as a DLP.
The fullback who was previously inverting alongside Caicedo now takes on Enzo’s previous role in the attacking third. Ideally for me this would be Cucu, but Veiga looked good in this role against Gent too. Cucu showed great linkup with Sancho in the Bournemouth game and I’m more confident in him winning balls further up the pitch than Enzo.
Because of the above, the right back no longer inverts, and instead plays more like the RCB. Personally think this is far more suited to James than Gusto, and I wonder if that’s why we haven’t seen this setup yet in the league.
https://i.redd.it/2unbbbdjiytd1.gif
We paid a lot for Enzo but we starting to get the oven back on mostly without him really involved. Idk I just have a sense of loyalty to players that came during the dark times.
His best quality is his passing, but it does not make up for his obvious shortcomings. Super unathletic, yet he pushes up the field and even makes runs down the wing which of course leaves the whole midfield exposed. I think he could be a decent deep lying playmaker in the right system. Right now he offers very little.
TL;DR The people who play Enzo’s role are probably the most difficult to find in the world, and there isn’t a like for like replacement on the market right now.
The man plays the hardest and most important role in the team and it’s almost by design going to leave him out of position and having to play on his back foot.
And for anyone who’s doubting, can y’all name someone who can transition playing as a 6, 8, and 10 in the same tactic and start for a team that’s top 4 in the prem?
The list is literally Mac Allister, Gundo, Declan Rice, modric, (potentially) frenkie, and Enzo
Enzo should have had more assists both this season and last season if some of his chances created were finished, he does create big chances in a lot of our games
100 people surveyed…top answer on the board…ding…Fuck no!
I’m not gonna pretend like I know the intricacies of tactics etc etc, but Enzo certainly hasn’t impressed me at all this year in the midfield, though I like him. That’s all I can really say.
This again?
Oi.
He has great traits, but as the article talks about, he is a major defensive liability, stats aside, when I watch him, I just see him losing duels and getting bypassed very easily, if he can sort out his defensive game he can be a great box to box, his best trait is his long ball, but he needs to massively improve at a lot of things to justify that price tag.
If everyone’s fit, I have Lavia and Caicedo ahead of him, Caicedo in the box to box role and Lavia as the sitting midfielder.
He doesn’t do anything really. He’s not awful but doesn’t add much. And frankly I think he’s scared of asking for the ball and trying to control things which he should be doing. Lavia comes on and instantly gets to the center and starts spraying passes.
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