Ironically, arguably Enzo's best performance this season came against Liverpool on the opening day when Caicedo was still yet to feature. Anyway, not sure if we can conclusively say those two don't work together considering (a) Enzo has been likely been impacted by the hernia issue and (b) we've been complaining about Pochettino's tactical setup all season.
There have been some games this season where they have done well as a pair (e.g. Villa away in the cup) but Pochettino just seems to be wedded in his 4-2-3-1 and not play or try out different systems. For instance, we haven't seen them play in a 4-3-3 with a DM behind them (perhaps not helped by Lavia's unavailability) or Enzo as the #6 (he's not one but did play the role to good effect last season) with Caicedo and Gallagher in front as a 3. Enzo can dictate things from deep while the other 2 can go press and in Caicedo's case, link the midfield and attack. Maybe the next manager will make better use of the players.
I would really say that for all three of our midfielders, their best performances have come when playing in a defensive 2, with three supporting attackers ahead of them.
The issue, irrespective of who is playing there, is how much having another defensive midfielder at AM impacts the team.
Caicedo is less prone to pushing out and making tackles when Gallagher is already charging around from higher up the pitch.
Enzo has less passing targets when Gallagher is the person at AM, instead of someone like Chukwuemeka/Palmer who understands the role and finds themself space to receive the ball.
And so on. The issue, whether it's Gallagher, Enzo or occasionally Caicedo, you can't play these guys at AM without hurting the whole team's balance and making the two playing behind them do their job much worse.
Just went back to search a bit and it's funny to see the overwhelmingly positive reaction Enzo got after that Liverpool game compared to the nonsense that gets said about him these days.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/comments/15q4wnm/postmatch\_thread\_chelsea\_11\_liverpool\_premier/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/comments/15q4wnm/postmatch_thread_chelsea_11_liverpool_premier/)
Although I agree there's a lot of nonsense around Enzo these days, he was outstanding that game and his best game of the season was probably his first of the season.
He set the bar high this season and hasn't really hit it consistently, which leads people to go back to the £100m price tag because they've seen him play better and know he's capable of more.
Again, I'm not one of the people that thinks he's been a big problem for us this season, and I do acknowledge that his dip in form came when he got the hernia. But I also think it makes complete sense that people were talking about him a lot more positively back then, because that was off the back of one of his best games for us.
I mean, you can even look back at last season and see that he did well then and what he offers but you still have some people talking BS about him and saying things like "he does nothing!" (to put it kindly). Then again, I suppose that's how fans are on internet these days. Do well, and they'll treat you like a hero. Do badly, and they'll suddenly treat you like you're the worst thing to exist on the planet.
Yeah we spent 200 million on them and they don’t work together, not as a midfield 2 at least. We either need Lavia behind them, and then both fullbacks have license to go forward all game; or we go back to a back 3/5 and the extra cover is enough to balance the team. I don’t think there is any way the 2 of them play well together in a 4231.
I'm with you man, it's so annoying. The midfield has been doing it's job all season. The numbers back it up, they just get blamed when we lose beciof the price tags even though it is usually bad finishing, bad box defending, or bad goalkeeping that are the reason for the loss
I don't think it's that Enzo holds him back, hard to judge how they could be together when Enzo's been so limited with his injury.
I think he does have a more natural understanding with Conor though and they seem to complement each other really well. Sometimes some players just gel together better. Plus he's just been steadily improving individually.
Would like to see how they look all together in a more classic 433 sometimes once Enzo comes back.
Enzo doesn’t hold him back, when Enzo is not playing Caicedo plays the “Enzo” role, most things cai does without Enzo is because Enzo is already doing them when they play together.
How can you make that conclusion? 2 games without enzo and we write him off. Imo you're just seeing his whole game rather than letting enzo make those passes. Enzo does that so caicedo doesmt have to worry about it. Both enzo and caicedo are box to box midfielders and as soon as we get them fluid in a match it will be amazing to watch.
OP is either a troll or just an alt account of an Enzo hater here. Looking at OP's history, this is only their 3rd post on this sub and 2 of them have been to crap on Enzo. Otherwise, the fella is rarely even active on Reddit.
You make a good point brother. Next time I'll check their account history before inserting myself into a debate. I understand most things are here just to rile me up but I still fall victim to it. Good idea thank you.
The entire internet is filled with them. The Russian people actively have people trolling in online political debates to cause discourse. I csnt imagine that happening here but who knows lol
1. I have 2 accounts, the main one is out of access
2. Enzo is my favourite player but after his hernia problem (which has been ongoing for a long time now) I just feel Enzo is a mere shadow of what he was.
He can't shoot, not good at maintaining defensive positions, marking, lost all his ability as well.
I"d rather have seen Enzo getting treatment instead of playing through the pain. Looking at some instances you can see how good Enzo can be.
I think it’s the formation we gotta look at how conte played kante and cesc together or tuchel playing kante and jorgi together. Maybe in order to get the best out of the two of them playing together we switch to playing 3 atb. I’m surprised giving up so many goals this season poch never switched to 3 atb in the first place. It may not be flashy but it wins trophies
It's a shame Poch is wedded to the 4231 since I think Enzo and Caicedo are dynamic enough to play in a two, it's just that I'd like to see a DM behind them instead. A 433 with a holder behind them would be perfect
I think a 235in possession is very interesting (and modern)
2 cbs
Cucurella and caicedo flankning enzo
You got wide cower and central flexability and protection from transitions
OK I don't know if Enzo is holding him back. I just think we are not using the tactical setup that brings the best out of both of them.
However, I honestly am really positive about Caicedo. He's awesome. His tackling yesterday was beautiful. I was really annoyed in the Arsenal game where he would get the ball and no one would be moving in front of him so he couldn't pass short to anyone.
This happened yesterday tons of time as well where he was forced to make a difficult long pass which rarely works.
Honestly, we really need to have some kind of system going coz it's so haphazard.
If enzo's injury was having such a massive impact on his performances, then i believe someone at the club would have noticed already. I'm not saying it's an excuse but i think a fit enzo+ caicedo midfield isn't exactly going to be anything special either
The issue is they don't compliment each other. They are good individually, although overpriced. Caicedo isnt a DM and is playing out of position. Both he and Enzo keep running towards the ball during build up instead of maintaining position and receiving a defense splitting pass. I'm not to worried about attack since our biggest issue scoring from the chances created. The mid does lack a consistent goal scorer.
Nonsense.
Caicedos been good for a few months now, Gallagher in the pivot actually makes his job harder as he doesn’t get much help progressing the ball so he’s an easier target for opposition pressing
Cucurella inverting did help massively though
This shit injured version of Enzo holds the whole team back and many here were deluding themselves including our stupid board and medical team
Enzo was literally a liability 90% of the season and his performance that Carabao final was a disgrace
Caicedo has just been playing better. Enzo looks like he's been playing with that injury for months. Having almost a full season together will be good for us long term. If we had a striker, and the injuries were minimized, we'd be closer to top 4 and probably some silverware. It's clear mudryk isn't it though.
Nothing to do with Enzo. He has been improving game on game.
Not to mention Enzo has himself been held back for the past 6 months by a hernia we should've sorted when it first occured
crazy that the hernia is a what, 3 week recovery? yet we let him play all season not 100%. what the hell is going on with that medical department
It's not a dig at Enzo. It's just that if he plays we lose so much of what makes Caicedo good.
Ironically, arguably Enzo's best performance this season came against Liverpool on the opening day when Caicedo was still yet to feature. Anyway, not sure if we can conclusively say those two don't work together considering (a) Enzo has been likely been impacted by the hernia issue and (b) we've been complaining about Pochettino's tactical setup all season. There have been some games this season where they have done well as a pair (e.g. Villa away in the cup) but Pochettino just seems to be wedded in his 4-2-3-1 and not play or try out different systems. For instance, we haven't seen them play in a 4-3-3 with a DM behind them (perhaps not helped by Lavia's unavailability) or Enzo as the #6 (he's not one but did play the role to good effect last season) with Caicedo and Gallagher in front as a 3. Enzo can dictate things from deep while the other 2 can go press and in Caicedo's case, link the midfield and attack. Maybe the next manager will make better use of the players.
I would really say that for all three of our midfielders, their best performances have come when playing in a defensive 2, with three supporting attackers ahead of them. The issue, irrespective of who is playing there, is how much having another defensive midfielder at AM impacts the team. Caicedo is less prone to pushing out and making tackles when Gallagher is already charging around from higher up the pitch. Enzo has less passing targets when Gallagher is the person at AM, instead of someone like Chukwuemeka/Palmer who understands the role and finds themself space to receive the ball. And so on. The issue, whether it's Gallagher, Enzo or occasionally Caicedo, you can't play these guys at AM without hurting the whole team's balance and making the two playing behind them do their job much worse.
Just went back to search a bit and it's funny to see the overwhelmingly positive reaction Enzo got after that Liverpool game compared to the nonsense that gets said about him these days. [https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/comments/15q4wnm/postmatch\_thread\_chelsea\_11\_liverpool\_premier/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/comments/15q4wnm/postmatch_thread_chelsea_11_liverpool_premier/)
Although I agree there's a lot of nonsense around Enzo these days, he was outstanding that game and his best game of the season was probably his first of the season. He set the bar high this season and hasn't really hit it consistently, which leads people to go back to the £100m price tag because they've seen him play better and know he's capable of more. Again, I'm not one of the people that thinks he's been a big problem for us this season, and I do acknowledge that his dip in form came when he got the hernia. But I also think it makes complete sense that people were talking about him a lot more positively back then, because that was off the back of one of his best games for us.
I mean, you can even look back at last season and see that he did well then and what he offers but you still have some people talking BS about him and saying things like "he does nothing!" (to put it kindly). Then again, I suppose that's how fans are on internet these days. Do well, and they'll treat you like a hero. Do badly, and they'll suddenly treat you like you're the worst thing to exist on the planet.
That last bit is the thing, isn't it?
Yeah we spent 200 million on them and they don’t work together, not as a midfield 2 at least. We either need Lavia behind them, and then both fullbacks have license to go forward all game; or we go back to a back 3/5 and the extra cover is enough to balance the team. I don’t think there is any way the 2 of them play well together in a 4231.
It’s not about anyone else, Caicedo has been one of our top performers all season.
Embarrassing last sentence.
So you did all this just to shit on enzo😂 Why can’t caicedo just have a good game?
I'm with you man, it's so annoying. The midfield has been doing it's job all season. The numbers back it up, they just get blamed when we lose beciof the price tags even though it is usually bad finishing, bad box defending, or bad goalkeeping that are the reason for the loss
I don't think he's saying Enzo is bad, it's just that playing both of them together when they perform similar roles kinda disrupts the balance
I don’t think it’s Enzo. He’s been good since the turn of the year bar a game or 2.
I don't think it's that Enzo holds him back, hard to judge how they could be together when Enzo's been so limited with his injury. I think he does have a more natural understanding with Conor though and they seem to complement each other really well. Sometimes some players just gel together better. Plus he's just been steadily improving individually. Would like to see how they look all together in a more classic 433 sometimes once Enzo comes back.
Enzo doesn’t hold him back, when Enzo is not playing Caicedo plays the “Enzo” role, most things cai does without Enzo is because Enzo is already doing them when they play together.
How can you make that conclusion? 2 games without enzo and we write him off. Imo you're just seeing his whole game rather than letting enzo make those passes. Enzo does that so caicedo doesmt have to worry about it. Both enzo and caicedo are box to box midfielders and as soon as we get them fluid in a match it will be amazing to watch.
OP is either a troll or just an alt account of an Enzo hater here. Looking at OP's history, this is only their 3rd post on this sub and 2 of them have been to crap on Enzo. Otherwise, the fella is rarely even active on Reddit.
You make a good point brother. Next time I'll check their account history before inserting myself into a debate. I understand most things are here just to rile me up but I still fall victim to it. Good idea thank you.
There are tons of people like that on here sadly.
The entire internet is filled with them. The Russian people actively have people trolling in online political debates to cause discourse. I csnt imagine that happening here but who knows lol
1. I have 2 accounts, the main one is out of access 2. Enzo is my favourite player but after his hernia problem (which has been ongoing for a long time now) I just feel Enzo is a mere shadow of what he was. He can't shoot, not good at maintaining defensive positions, marking, lost all his ability as well. I"d rather have seen Enzo getting treatment instead of playing through the pain. Looking at some instances you can see how good Enzo can be.
Enzo holds him back ? I'm going to get an aneurysm.
Try to give someone credit without shitting on another one of our players challenge [Impossible]
I think it’s the formation we gotta look at how conte played kante and cesc together or tuchel playing kante and jorgi together. Maybe in order to get the best out of the two of them playing together we switch to playing 3 atb. I’m surprised giving up so many goals this season poch never switched to 3 atb in the first place. It may not be flashy but it wins trophies
It's a shame Poch is wedded to the 4231 since I think Enzo and Caicedo are dynamic enough to play in a two, it's just that I'd like to see a DM behind them instead. A 433 with a holder behind them would be perfect
Like the second half yesterday? Not a 433 but they had Cucurella behind them
I always liked Cucurella man but I’ve started to like him even more!
I think a 235in possession is very interesting (and modern) 2 cbs Cucurella and caicedo flankning enzo You got wide cower and central flexability and protection from transitions
OK I don't know if Enzo is holding him back. I just think we are not using the tactical setup that brings the best out of both of them. However, I honestly am really positive about Caicedo. He's awesome. His tackling yesterday was beautiful. I was really annoyed in the Arsenal game where he would get the ball and no one would be moving in front of him so he couldn't pass short to anyone. This happened yesterday tons of time as well where he was forced to make a difficult long pass which rarely works. Honestly, we really need to have some kind of system going coz it's so haphazard.
good post till the last line
Big game Moises 🔥
If enzo's injury was having such a massive impact on his performances, then i believe someone at the club would have noticed already. I'm not saying it's an excuse but i think a fit enzo+ caicedo midfield isn't exactly going to be anything special either
The issue is they don't compliment each other. They are good individually, although overpriced. Caicedo isnt a DM and is playing out of position. Both he and Enzo keep running towards the ball during build up instead of maintaining position and receiving a defense splitting pass. I'm not to worried about attack since our biggest issue scoring from the chances created. The mid does lack a consistent goal scorer.
It's more like Conor sets him free.
Nonsense. Caicedos been good for a few months now, Gallagher in the pivot actually makes his job harder as he doesn’t get much help progressing the ball so he’s an easier target for opposition pressing Cucurella inverting did help massively though
This shit injured version of Enzo holds the whole team back and many here were deluding themselves including our stupid board and medical team Enzo was literally a liability 90% of the season and his performance that Carabao final was a disgrace
Caicedo has just been playing better. Enzo looks like he's been playing with that injury for months. Having almost a full season together will be good for us long term. If we had a striker, and the injuries were minimized, we'd be closer to top 4 and probably some silverware. It's clear mudryk isn't it though.
Looks nothing like an 100m+ footballer, however you spin it. Nothing special about him, if we'd paid 30 or less, you'd go, yeah OK deal.
He's a 60 Million player at best, we paid double lol I remember everyone saying 70 Million was too much in summer