{"id":15525,"date":"2026-07-08T19:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=15525"},"modified":"2026-07-08T19:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:46:18","slug":"enzo-fernandez-is-now-answering-his-biggest-criticism-from-when-he-joined-chelsea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=15525","title":{"rendered":"Enzo Fernandez is now answering his biggest criticism from when he joined Chelsea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-376678\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\">  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> <span>Add as preferred source on Google<\/span>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez has turned into a match-winner, scoring another decisive goal in Argentina\u2019s 3-2 comeback win against Egypt at the World Cup.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fernandez and Argentina looked to be heading out at the last 16 stage after going 2-0 down. But thanks to Fernandez, Lionel Messi and Cristian Romero, they managed to flip the game on its head and progress to the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"\/>\n<p>While Fernandez was the hero for his nation on Tuesday, he has not always been a match-winner.<\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar-poll\" data-story-id=\"5a9c74ee-9dfb-4c17-80a3-f12c2bcadb5e\" data-story-name=\"Talk Chelsea\" data-comment-id=\"b8cda654-92aa-42a1-9ae6-69f548d96f08\" data-story-slug=\"talk-chelsea\" data-poll-id=\"17205401\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<p><h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">Who is the best \u00a3100m midfielder in the Premier League?<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"713\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2184024975-1024x713.jpg\" alt=\"Chelsea's Moises Caicedo and Arsenal's Declan Rice confronting each other\" class=\"wp-image-267596\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2184024975-1024x713.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2184024975-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2184024975-768x534.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2184024975-1536x1069.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2184024975-1140x793.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2184024975-750x522.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 10: Declan Rice of Arsenal has words with Moises Caicedo of Chelsea  during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC at Stamford Bridge on November 10, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA\/Getty Images)\">Photo by Catherine Ivill \u2013 AMA\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-chelsea-and-argentina-star-enzo-fernandez-now-scoring-goals\">Chelsea and Argentina star Enzo Fernandez now scoring goals<\/h2>\n<p>When Fernandez first joined Chelsea, the 25-year-old received a lot of criticism for not scoring enough goals. The Blues paid \u00a3107m to sign him from Benfica, so critics expected much more.<\/p>\n<p>One of his critics was Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher. After one game in 2023, as Carragher discussed Fernandez, he said: \u201cHe wants to get on the ball and make Chelsea tick and create things, but he\u2019s got to score more goals, certainly with him playing in a more advanced position now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is advice that the Argentine seems to have taken on board, long before his goal against Egypt.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-getty-images-media\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"710\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285094888-1024x710.jpg\" alt=\"Enzo Fernandez #24 of Argentina scores\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285094888-1024x710.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285094888-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285094888-768x532.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285094888-1536x1065.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285094888-1140x790.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285094888-750x520.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JULY 07: Enzo Fernandez #24 of Argentina scores his team's third goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt at Atlanta Stadium on July 07, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)\">Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fernandez finished last season as the second highest goalscorer in Chelsea\u2019s squad. In total, he netted 15 times in 54 appearances.<\/p>\n<p>The campaign before, the former Benfica man scored nine goals in 53 outings. Goalscoring is definitely an area where he has shown massive improvement.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-enzo-fernandez-s-winner-against-egypt-shows-why-chelsea-can-t-sell-him\">Enzo Fernandez\u2019s winner against Egypt shows why Chelsea can\u2019t sell him<\/h2>\n<p>There has been speculation about Fernandez\u2019s future throughout this whole World Cup. Real Madrid have claimed that they will not move for Fernandez during this transfer window, but they were the ones who were showing the most interest in him.<\/p>\n<p>Whether they stick to their stance remains to be seen, but one thing is now certain if it was not already. Chelsea should not sell the Argentina international.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, there is not a midfielder in football who is better at crashing the box and scoring goals than Fernandez.<\/p>\n<p>Do Chelsea really want to lose that? Their new manager Xabi Alonso will certainly not want to.<\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more-wrapper lazy see-more-open see-more-blank extra-content\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/throwbacks\/enzo-fernandez-is-now-answering-his-biggest-criticism-from-when-he-joined-chelsea\/none\" data-type=\"subscribe\">\n<div class=\"see-more subscribe\">\n<figure class=\"newsletter\">\n<div><svg class=\"loading\" width=\"118\" height=\"36\" viewbox=\"0 0 118 36\"><use href=\"#dots-svg\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"signup\"><span class=\"hf\">Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script>grvLoadAnalytics = () => {(function(d,s,i){var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0),j=d.createElement(s);j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=\"+i;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(document,'script','G-E7VRWQHDP6');(function(d,s,i){if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){var e=d.createElement(s);var n=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0);e.type=\"text\/javascript\";e.async=true;e.src=\"https:\/\/static.chartbeat.com\/js\/chartbeat.js\";n.parentNode.insertBefore(e,n);}})(document,\"script\",\"G-E7VRWQHDP6\");(function(){let s=document.createElement(\"script\");s.async=true;s.dataset.domain=\"thechelseachronicle.com\/MFj4XQ\";s.src=\"https:\/\/api.publytics.net\/js\/script.manual.ping.min.js\";document.getElementsByTagName(\"head\")(0).appendChild(s);})();if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){setTimeout(function(){!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','663509325503632');fbq('track','PageView');fbq('track','ViewContent',{content_name:'Enzo Fernandez is now answering his biggest criticism from when he joined Chelsea',content_category:'Throwbacks',content_ids:(376678,\"enzo-fernandez\"),content_type:'post',});},3000);}}<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Add as preferred source on Google Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez has turned into a match-winner,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}