The absence of the injured Cole Palmer for Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace meant we saw Andrey Santos deployed alongside Moises Caicedo in the middle of the park, with Enzo Fernandez pushed forward to the number ten role.
This was actually a setup we had expected to see a lot more of from the moment Rosenior came in, given their shard success at Strasbourg. However, until now he’s persisted with the Enzo – Caicedo double pivot, with Palmer or Joao Pedro in the number 10.
The success we saw with Andrey in the middle and Enzo pushed forward against Palace will surely mean we’re likely to see more of this going forward, however.
Stats back the eye test that Chelsea looked great with Santos in pivot
Andrey Santos’ Chelsea minutes summed up.
Stats site Squawka noted that Santos was the first midfielder in ten years to have 3+ interceptions, clearances, tackles and fouls won. That’s pretty impressive, considering that period covers the N’Golo Kante years.
Especially when we face more dangerous and more physical sides, having the Brazilian line up with Caicedo just seems a no brainer. They are both so solid defensively, but have tons of quality on the ball too. It solves a lot of the issues of having Enzo there.
The problem then becomes what to do with Cole Palmer, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it…
In other news…
Joao Pedro has struggled for large parts of his debut season at Chelsea, but he made his case for more starts with a goal and assist yesterday for the Blues in a rare effective performance leading the line.
JP is a smart and well spoken guy, and his comments about the timing of our goals on Sunday was spot on. Sometimes it’s just as much about when you score as how you score.
