Gary Neville slams Chelsea pair who ‘aren’t kidding anybody’ and looked ‘worried to death’ against Man City
GARY NEVILLE tore into two Chelsea stars following the Blues’ opening day defeat to Man City.
Enzo Maresca proved that the student isn’t quite the master just yet as he was taught another lesson by former colleague Pep Guardiola at Stamford Bridge.
City wound up 2-0 winners in SW6 with a comfortable performance seeing the four-in-a-row champions start as they mean to go on.
But as good as City were, Gary Neville was more focused on what went wrong for Chelsea.
Neville, 49, took aim at both Enzo Fernandez and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in his dissection of the Chelsea performance.
Neville was left unconvinced by shot-stopper Sanchez’s ability to play out from the back under Maresca and was concerned about whether the Spaniard would be able to keep his place this season.
Speaking after the match, Neville explained to his Sky Sports podcast that he thinks new arrival Filip Jorgensen will be breathing down the neck of the former Brighton keeper.
He said: “I always fear when a new player is signed – and Jorgensen has come in – because the current player is probably looking over his shoulder a bit.
“He [Sanchez] is probably worried to death and maybe we saw that today because he did look a little nervy.”
Jorgensen arrived this summer from Villarreal in a deal worth £20.7m, and the 22-year-old will be hoping to snatch a starting place from Sanchez.
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Neville also took aim at £107m man Enzo Fernandez during his commentary of the Sunday night fixture.
Fernandez was wearing the captain’s armband during the heavyweight clash in the absence of club captain Reece James.
And the decision for him to lead the side out was marred by the controversy surrounding his participation in a vile racist chant aimed at French players following his Copa America glory with Argentina this summer.
However, Neville was taking aim at the 23-year-old’s on-field performance rather than anything happening away from the pitch.
Speaking during the match, Neville said: “Enzo Fernandez presses when he can’t win it a lot.
“He then throws up his arms to his team-mates as if to say ‘where were you?’. He is not kidding anyone.
“I thought Chelsea would take more a few more risks on the ball. But they have been quite basic. The Chelsea midfield are being run ragged.”
Chelsea boss Maresca leapt to the defence of the South American after the match with many questioning the star’s performance.
He said: “He’s one of the captains. He’s not the only captain. But he is the captain today.
“I can see the team-mates, they like him as a player and as a man.”
However, Fernandez’s stats were a damning reflection of his display against City – managing no successful dribbles and directing most of his passes sideways or backwards.
Chelsea ratings vs Man City
CHELSEA began life under new boss Enzo Maresca with a 2-0 home defeat to champions Manchester City.
Here’s how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the Chelsea lot as the season didn’t begin how they wanted.
Robert Sanchez – 4/10
Distribution-wise, it’s not good enough; that said, he made an absolutely fantastic save to deny a deflected effort from Jeremy Doku in the first half.
Similarly in the second half, made a routine save to deny Erling Haaland before getting a hand to Mateo Kovacic’s shot, but failed to stop it rattling the back of the net.
Malo Gusto – 5
It’s more of the impressive attitude we saw last season from the flying Frenchman, but today, he couldn’t stamp his mark on the game at all going forward.
We certainly see more of his best qualities in the game where Chelsea have more of the ball, he should grow into the season nicely over the next few games.
Wesley Fofana – 5
He didn’t look out of his depth in his first Premier League game for Chelsea for over a year, and despite conceding, it was a decent performance to build on in the coming games.
Did well physically against Haaland in fairness, and made it through the 90 minutes unscathed which will please Chelsea fans in some capacity.
Levi Colwill – 5
Tough day at the office against physicality personified in Erling Haaland.
Did play the ball well out from the back for Chelsea with a few good blocks and tackles. But much the same as with Wesley Fofana, there is room for growth into the season with easier fixtures upcoming, particularly where Chelsea will dominate on the ball.
Marc Cucurella – 6
Forced Jeremy Doku into a change of wing in the first half after winning a tough battle against the Belgian winger, and stepped into challenges well for the most part.
Was solid again in the second half before going off with an injury.
Romeo Lavia – 6
He looked like a calming presence in the Chelsea midfield when he did get the ball and he broke up play pretty well for a player who has been out through injury for so long.
Continued his good pre-season form and is deserving of a run in the side.
Moises Caicedo – 5
A similar performance really to the aforementioned Lavia, but was one of Chelsea’s better progressors of the ball when they did get forwards and showed some nice touches in the middle of the park.
Fans will be left wondering whether he, Lavia and Enzo Fernandez fit into the same midfield.
Enzo Fernandez – 5
A mixed performance from the Argentine midfielder who showed promise in spells, but it really wasn’t the level you would expect of a player with his price tag.
This could have been a huge game for the Chelsea captain for the day, but he failed to really stamp his mark on it in comparison to the player whom he replaced, Mateo Kovacic.
Christopher Nkunku – 4
Enzo Maresca seemed to want him playing as a touchline winger, but the forward looks far more comfortable in the middle of the pitch.
He was the first player to be hooked in the second half and was replaced by Pedro Neto, who looked more at home wide on the left-hand side.
Cole Palmer – 5
It was far from the electric performance which saw him scoop heaps of praise last season.
He still did show glimpses going forward, but he just failed to impact the game in the ways he did last time around.
Nicolas Jackson – 4
New season, same old Nicolas Jackson.
A great run in the first half was let down by a pea-roller of a shot into a Man City defender, before he hit the back of the net only to see the official’s flag raised on the far side.
I’m sorry Nic Jackson, but it’s a four for you this time round…
SUBS:
Pedro Neto (Nkunku, 58) – 5
Not the kind of debut that got fans out of their seats, but with The Blues failing to really get him on the ball there was little to take note of.
Marc Guiu (Jackson, 66) – 5
Less impactful than Nicolas Jackson, but in considerably less time.
For a player who can dominate physically, he looked a little intimidated by the Manchester City defence and wasn’t really presented with any chances.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Lavia, 67) – 5
Many Chelsea fans were disappointed to see Romeo Lavia come off after a good performance, and Dewsbury-Hall failed to add any of the attacking prowess we saw in the Championship last season.
Renato Veiga (Cucurella, 80) – 5
He didn’t have enough time to impact the game after replacing Marc Cucurella, who had more time to establish himself as one of Chelsea’s better performers.