Pochettino could now drop 3/10 Chelsea star alongside Fernandez

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Pochettino could now drop 3/10 Chelsea star alongside Fernandez

It was another bad day at the office for Chelsea on Sunday, and that’s putting it lightly.

After shipping four goals away to Liverpool during the week, Mauricio Pochettino’s side had the perfect opportunity to get back on track with a Premier League home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

However, despite taking a 1-0 lead within 20 minutes, the Blues managed to lose the game 4-2 and left the pitch to a cacophony of entirely warranted boos from their own supporters.

To a man, the team were poor, but there were two who managed to reach an even lower level, and if the Argentine wants to keep his job for a little while longer, he’d be wise to drop them for the FA Cup replay against Aston Villa this evening.

Enzo Fernández’s game vs Wolves in numbers

The Pensioners’ £107m World Cup winner had a game to forget at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and while he might not have been directly responsible for any of Wolves’ goals, he was utterly ineffective.

So poor was his performance that the Standard’s Nizaar Kinsella gave him a 4/10 on the day and argued he ‘was poor defensively when Wolves were in transition’.

It’s hard to disagree with Kinsella’s assessment when the former Benfica man lost possession 12 times in the 101 minutes he spent on the pitch, which works out to losing the ball once every 8.4 minutes, which isn’t good enough.

During the game, he was dribbled past once, committed two fouls, took one shot which was off target, mustered a paltry combined expected goal and assist figure of just 0.29 and was inaccurate with all three of his crosses.

Enzo Fernández’s game in numbers

Minutes

101

Expected Goals + Assists

0.29

Crosses (Accurate)

3 (0)

Shots Off Target

1

Fouls

2

Possession Lost

12

Dribbled Past

1

All Stats via Sofascore

In all, the Argentinian was incredibly underwhelming, and if he doesn’t start dramatically improving before the end of the season, he’ll quickly pick up the label of a big-money flop, which is a hard label to escape from in English football.

That said, there was a player who was even worse than Fernandez on Sunday, someone who has a genuine shout for being the worst player on the pitch, and by quite some way.

Malo Gusto’s game vs Wolves in numbers

Chelsea’s worst player on the day, and quite considerably so, was French right-back Malo Gusto.

The former Lyon man was a walking disaster on the day, failing to provide any substantive attacking threat whatsoever and living up to Get French Football News’ description of him as a “liability” at the back.

In his 81 minutes on the pitch, he managed a combined expected goal and assists figure of just 0.19, lost possession 12 times, won just two of his 12 ground duels, committed three fouls, was dribbled past three times and gave away the penalty that allowed Matheus Cunha to complete his hat-trick.

Malo Gusto’s game in numbers

Minutes

81

Expected Goals + Assists

0.19

Penalties Conceded

1

Ground Duels (Won)

12 (2)

Crosses (Accurate)

2 (1)

Dribbles Attempted (Successful)

3 (0)

Fouls

3

Possession Lost

12

Dribbled Past

3

All Stats via Sofascore

With statistics like that, it’s not hard to see why Kinsella gave the 20-year-old a 3/10 for his efforts, arguing that ‘the defender kept putting Chelsea in danger with his passing.’

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Boehly and Eghbali hold internal talks as Chelsea weigh Pochettino decision

The club’s form simply hasn’t been good enough.

Ultimately, while both players are still young and could well go on to become future stars for the Blues, their performances on Sunday warrant some time on the bench.

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