Welcome to The Radar, a Sky Sports column in which Nick Wright uses a blend of data and opinion to shed light on need-to-know stories from up and down the Premier League. This week:
🔵 Fernandez flourishing further forward
💪 Welbeck to trouble Newcastle again?
🍒 Iraola setting the tone at Bournemouth
🔎 A player to watch this weekend
Fernandez has become an attacking force
When Chelsea faced Sunday’s opponents Liverpool in October, their record signing Enzo Fernandez was unceremoniously dropped. “We don’t have indispensable players,” said Enzo Maresca. Maybe they do now. Fernandez might just have changed his head coach’s mind.
Since returning to the starting line-up in a 2-1 win over Leicester in November in which he scored the decisive goal, Fernandez has started 22 Premier League games out of 23. He faces Arne Slot’s side this time as probably Chelsea’s most important player.
The 24-year-old continues to flourish in a more advanced role. Having previously been used at the base of midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, he is now closer to the opposition box. His average positions also show a switch of emphasis from left to right.
Enzo Fernandez has moved higher up and further to the right
Fernandez has taken the changes in his stride. He is getting fewer touches of the ball overall, but they are coming in areas where he can better hurt opponents. He is making 64 per cent of his passes in the opposition half this season, compared to 54 per cent last term.
His goal against Leicester is one of six since the change of role but it is as a creator that he has been most impactful, helping to mitigate Cole Palmer’s struggles with 13 assists in all competitions, four of which have come in his last three games.
It is quite a transformation. Last term, Fernandez created less than half as many chances as Palmer in the Premier League, with 32. This time, his total of 73, with four games still to play, puts him only just behind his Chelsea team-mate and fourth in the division overall.
Maresca has tasked his full-backs with tucking inside to cover the space left by Fernandez in possession but his role is not a purely offensive one. He is still required to drop back and defend when the ball is turned over, as he explained to Sky Sports in December.
“It’s an offensive position when it’s time to attack, but when it’s time to defend, I have to get back alongside Moi to close the space between the lines,” said Fernandez.
“It is a very demanding role, especially in the Premier League where the football is more direct. I have worked a lot to be at the right level physically. I am really happy with that side of things.”
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So is Maresca. He described Fernandez as an “example” for the way he responded to being dropped earlier in the season. He has also talked up the strength of his mentality and his leadership.
Those qualities certainly come across in person. Fernandez, a World Cup winner with Argentina, of course, gives off an aura and a steely single-mindedness which can be seen, increasingly, in his capacity to step up at important moments on the pitch.
His combined total of 19 goals and assists is the second-highest among Chelsea players this season, but what is most significant is that so many of them have been decisive. Four of his six goals have clinched victories. All but one of his seven Premier League assists have directly impacted results too.
Maresca might say no player is indispensable but Fernandez is proving otherwise.
Evergreen Welbeck has still got it
From Chelsea to Brighton, and another player crucial to his side’s fortunes in Danny Welbeck. At 34, he is enjoying his best season yet for the club. Few opponents know that better than Newcastle.
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He faces them on Sunday having scored two winners against them already this season, the first in October, when he slotted home after collecting a long ball and exchanging passes with Georginio Rutter, the second in March, when he got in behind again to knock them out of the FA Cup in extra-time at St James’ Park.
Brighton are a far better side when he plays and their record this season proves it. Their Premier League win rate drops from 44 per cent to just 14 per cent when he is unavailable.
Injury caused him to miss seven games between December and January, but Welbeck has already reached double figures for goals this season in all competitions. With nine in the Premier League, he only needs one more from Brighton’s final four games to make this the highest-scoring campaign of his 17-year top-flight career.
Of course, Welbeck has always offered plenty more than goals. He is the ultimate team player and his blunt assessment of Brighton’s 4-2 loss to Brentford, when he bemoaned a failure to play “collectively”, seems to have drawn a response from his team-mates as they aim to follow up their win over West Ham with another over Newcastle.
Iraola’s humility characterises Bournemouth
Speaking to Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth’s training ground this week was a reminder of the human qualities that make him such a popular figure among players and fans alike.
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Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola says recruitment is the key as he looks to keep hold of his top players this summer and adds he is very happy despite speculation about his future at the club
The 42-year-old has become one of the most talked-about coaches in the game after transforming Bournemouth into European challengers following his arrival from Rayo Vallecano.
But there seems little danger of the added attention going to his head. “Most, if not all, of the coaches that I am playing against have achieved more than me,” he shrugged.
His humility shone through over the course of the interview and it has come to characterise his team too. Iraola helped develop outstanding individuals such as Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez and Antoine Semenyo but Bournemouth’s strength lies in the collective.
They are one of the hardest-working sides in the Premier League and have faced widespread injury problems and a series of costly refereeing mistakes this season with little complaint. Few would begrudge them a place in Europe at the end of it.
Player Radar: Who else to keep an eye on
Ismaila Sarr doesn’t attract as much attention as some of his Crystal Palace team-mates, but he was outstanding in their FA Cup semi-final win over Aston Villa and could be key against Nottingham Forest on Monday night too.
Live Radar: What’s on Sky this weekend?
Friday Night Football sees Man City host Wolves live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 7.30pm ahead of the 8pm kick-off.
Saturday Night Football pits Arsenal against Bournemouth, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 5pm before the 5.30pm kick-off time.
There’s more action on Super Sunday as Brighton host Newcastle in the early game and Chelsea face champions Liverpool, with both games live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event.
Then it’s on to Monday Night Football for Crystal Palace against Nottingham Forest, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 6.30pm with kick-off at 8pm.
Read last week’s Radar column
Milos Kerkez was the focus last week as the column broke down the qualities that make him appealing to Liverpool, Man City and Real Madrid. There was also a look at Niclas Fullkrug’s West Ham criticism and Marshall Munetsi’s Wolves impact.