Manchester City’s consecutive losses to Brighton and Aston Villa have pulled back the curtain on a glaring issue: Enzo Maresca’s consistent misplacement of Enzo Fernandez in midfield. For a guy Maresca was “eager to bring” to the Etihad, given their close relationship from Chelsea, it’s wild how often Fernandez seems to be in a role that just doesn’t work. During City’s seven-match winning run in the Premier League, all those victories kinda hid the problem, but now, with two straight defeats, you gotta wonder if Maresca has a serious blind spot when it comes to his Argentinian midfielder.
Midfield Mayhem Against Brighton
Take the 1-0 loss to Brighton, for example. The City midfield was a disjointed mess until Maresca finally made some changes. He rolled out what he thought was the ideal mix: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Enzo Fernandez, and Elliot Anderson. The whole idea was for this trio to control the midfield, right? Well, that lasted about 55 minutes, and it clearly didn’t happen. Elliot Anderson did what Elliot Anderson does, zipping all over the pitch, easily City’s man-of-the-match. But the issue was staring everyone in the face: Bouaddi and Fernandez looked totally out of place.
Bouaddi was pushed further up in midfield, even tasked with leading the press alongside Erling Haaland, a role that absolutely did not suit him. Fernandez, meanwhile, sat way deeper and had zero impact on the game. Seriously, what was the thought process there? Putting two key players in positions that completely undercut their strengths is just asking for trouble, and trouble arrived. It was only when Bouaddi was replaced by Rayan Cherki in the 55th minute, and Fernandez by Nico O’Reilly in the 64th, that City started to look different.
Maresca’s Costly Loyalty
The weird thing is, it really looked like Bouaddi was playing that advanced midfield role to compensate for Enzo Fernandez’s own struggles when City didn’t have possession. If that’s the case, it screams a problem with Maresca’s constant selection of Fernandez. Far too often this season, it’s been Rayan Cherki, or on the weekend, Ayyoub Bouaddi, who gets sacrificed when a game isn’t going City’s way, all while Fernandez stays on.
On several occasions, Fernandez has had way less impact than Cherki, but Maresca just seems so reluctant to pull him before Cherki or Bouaddi. This has been a recurring theme all season long. Yeah, Fernandez did eventually come off against Brighton, but it felt like Bouaddi was forced into an awkward spot to cover for Fernandez’s limitations. Maresca has to figure this out. These back-to-back losses are a huge warning sign, and how he handles Fernandez going forward could define City’s early season form.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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