Mauricio Pochettino explains what Enzo Fernandez has changed at Chelsea

Mauricio Pochettino insists he has not changed Enzo Fernandez's role in Chelsea's team despite a major upturn in form from the Argentina international.

Fernandez's impact has been under real scrutiny this season and Pochettino has faced accusations that his use of the 23-year-old has been directly responsible for Chelsea's struggles. Several examples of Fernandez being caught too high on the pitch have been highlighted by fans on social media.

In recent weeks, however, there has been a noticeable change in Fernandez's impact. Not only has he been more involved with Chelsea's build-up, but the Argentine has flashed an eye for goal, finding the back of the net four times in 2024 already.

Asked whether this change in Fernandez's role is permanent, Pochettino denied altering anything and instead insisted Fernandez is now physically fit enough to impact things at both ends of the field.

"Sometimes it's different with how we see the things," Pochettino explained. "I don't believe that he's now playing deeper, Enzo. I think always we thought that he is a player with the capacity to build in our build-up, using him and his quality. And then to arrive to the opposite box with the possibility to score.

"And now I think the capacity to move, to run, I think it is improving a lot. That is why now we can see him building from the back, but also arriving and scoring goals like [against] Palace in the last minute. After 90 minutes, you can see; I think it was 60 or 70 metres [ran]. He is improving a lot, his capacity to move on the pitch.

"It's about time. From the beginning, with the season before we arrived, he was more static and playing more in a position and not to cover space. He is a player with the capacity to be box-to-box, he has the capacity to score goals because of the technique he has. Of course to build from the back and help the team to clean the ball when the opponent goes to press."

Alongside Fernandez, Pochettino is also working to get an improvement out of winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who has recently been dropped to the bench after the manager acknowledged his performances did not merit starts.

"It is part of the evolution, the development," Pochettino said of the Ukraine international. "I think that you need to feel sometimes the pain when they don't play, young guys also, because it's always so easy and it's difficult to grow, be more mature and find out how to improve.

"I think the most important thing is how you are going to manage this situation and then it's always up to him to push the limit, or reach the limit we think that they have. It's always a massive challenge for our coaching staff."

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