Maresca insists he has ‘100% confidence’ in Fernandez

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Enzo Maresca has insisted he has full faith in Enzo Fernandez despite the midfielder struggling for Premier League game time in recent weeks.

Chelsea’s club record signing appears to have fallen behind Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo in the pecking order.

He has not started either of the past two Premier League matches, instead captaining the side in the Carabao Cup against Newcastle and in the Europa Conference League against Panathinaikos.

During the midweek defeat by Newcastle, head coach Maresca appeared frustrated with his midfielder, turning his back after Fernandez gave the ball away cheaply.

But he insisted ahead of this weekend’s trip to face Manchester United: “I show frustration with all of them. Don’t look only at Enzo.

“I still trust Enzo, there is not any reason in the world I can lose confidence in him. The reason why he’s not playing in the Premier League is because in this moment I’m taking different decisions.

“My confidence is 100% with Enzo.”

Maresca went on to suggest that none of Chelsea’s players are indispensable to his plans, pointing to rotation in both the attack and midfield.

“We don’t have an A team or B team. There are players that are fantastic, but we don’t have vital players,” he continued.

“If Cole [Palmer] is not playing, we have Joao [Felix]. If Nico [Jackson] is not playing, we have Christopher Nkunku.

“We change players because we think they are all good. For sure, some are better than the rest.

“For Enzo it’s very simple. He’s not playing in this moment, but we have so many games that he will play in the future.

“It doesn’t mean that Romeo and Moises will always play. In the moment that one of them drops, we can change.”