Chelsea's muddled £220m midfield: Blues & Mauricio Pochettino need far more from Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez

Caicedo, in particular, seems to have felt the weight of his British-record transfer fee, and it is hard to blame him. Having barely played in pre-season, with Roberto De Zerbi effectively freezing him out at Brighton as Chelsea and Liverpool battled for his signature, the 22-year-old was clearly short of match fitness and floundered after he was thrown in at the deep end in west London

The midfielder conceded a penalty in his debut cameo against West Ham and was caught in possession in the lead-up to Nottingham Forest's winner at Stamford Bridge two games later, amid the Blues' mightily underwhelming start to the campaign. Pochettino continued to lean on him, although he often toiled as he battled to regain sharpness.

Slowly but surely, he seemed to be finding his feet, and was looking like something close to his best across February and March. Speaking to ESPN Argentina at the time, he said: "At first it was difficult for me. I wasn't enjoying it because I felt a little pressure because of what I cost and because the team hasn't done well. Now I'm doing it, I think in this second part of the Premier League, I'm doing it, I'm enjoying it. It is very important for a player to do his job and enjoy it because that is what he works for. I can tell you that in every game I feel more confident, helping the team and I feel happy."

However, amid Chelsea's strange unbeaten run, during which they have failed to beat Brentford, Burnley and Sheffield United while contrastingly securing creditable results against Manchester City, Newcastle and Manchester United, mistakes have crept back into his game amid some chaotic overall performances, including an inexplicable giveaway to Alejandro Garnacho that led to United's initial fightback.

Throughout the season, he has shown a rashness, too, picking up 12 bookings in all competitions, and he could have cost his team in certain situations with a less lenient referee. It is still early days in his Blues career, but so far he has not been the midfield destroyer they thought they would be able to rely upon to protect the defence.

Fernandez, meanwhile, has been one of Chelsea's more consistent performers, earning the adoration of the Blues' fanbase through his overall quality even when results are falling below expectation. The Argentine has done his best to dictate the tempo of games, although there is no doubt that he has not hit the heights many would have expected, even if some sections of the support will be hesitant to admit it.

He started the season fast, putting in a dominant midfield performance against Liverpool that was loaded with the skill and dynamism that persuaded the west Londoners to break the bank to sign him eight months prior. He looked fit, too, with the players' conditioning one of the problems that plagued Pochettino's predecessors Frank Lampard and Graham Potter at the tail end of 2022-23.

However, there is no question he has slowed down in the months since in a season that has become another slog for Chelsea. Albeit he has rarely dropped anything less than a 6/10, his price tag means his performances are constantly under the microscope, and his profligate display in the disappointing draw with Sheffield United was highlighted.

Against the Blades last time out, Fernandez lost the ball a whopping 23 times against the Premier League's worst team, finished with less than 80 percent passing accuracy, and won just a single duel out of the 10 he engaged in. These statistics are not representative of one of the most expensive midfielders on the planet, but what is the cause?

The player himself has recognised his struggles, saying in an in-house interview last week: "I’m trying to get there, to the version of me that you saw at the World Cup. I want to feel like that Enzo, that was playing at the World Cup. I want to get back there.

"I feel good, getting better each day, but I still don’t feel like I’m at 100 percent. I’m still adapting and still don’t feel entirely myself, but I’m trying to get there as quickly as possible and working hard every day in order to do so.

"The first six months were difficult for me. I found it hard to adapt, but now I feel so much more prepared than at the start. But I’m enjoying it so much. Maybe personally I’m still not 100% and don’t feel like I’ve shown my potential, but beyond that I love being at a club as big as Chelsea, enjoying the Premier League every weekend with the fans that are so passionate. I love being here."

From Pochettino's perspective, it's expectation that is the enemy. He may have a point; few players in world football would find it easy to justify a price tag of north of £100m, and although Jude Bellingham is doing his damnedest in Madrid, Caicedo and Fernandez have been fighting an uphill battle since pulling on the blue shirt.

Speaking about the duo in a recent press conference, Pochettino said: "Yes, it's always about time to play together, to know each other, to help each other and then the rest of the team. They are playing a lot... We are happy with the evolution.

"The problem is, like always in Chelsea, there is an expectation from day one that we need to perform and win games. I think under our opinion, our judgment, that they are improving and we're happy that is happening."

Transitions do take a while, of course, and there must be relief internally that the fans have backed Fernandez and - to a lesser extent - Caicedo come rain or shine, despite the external ridicule at their misfortune from opposition supporters, who justifiably believe big-spending Chelsea have wasted their money yet again. It is perhaps too early to judge them, but time will certainly tell.

The key issue this season, however, is that Caicedo and Fernandez have simply played too many minutes, with Chelsea shorn of alternatives as a result of injuries. Rather alarmingly, Pochettino has said on multiple occasions that he started them both despite them being exhausted.

Speaking after the 2-2 draw with Brentford, which resulted in the head coach being bombarded with chants of 'f*ck off Mauricio' from his own fans, he said: “We needed to provide the midfield the possibility not to cover too much distance. I think Enzo, Caicedo and [Conor] Gallagher had to start but were really, really tired."

Following the previous game against Leeds, he had said: "I think we are shorter, a little bit, in the squad. Because we have a big squad, but at the minute there are 10-12 always injured players, and look, Enzo and Moi Caicedo, they are playing and playing and playing. We don’t have players that we can sub and give them rest. I know that it was maybe a surprise with the changes, but it was because we needed to give rest."

Enzo has started all but five Premier League matches this season while still adapting to the rigours of the English game, having made the step up from Portuguese football in January 2023, and last season was of course a marathon World Cup-winning campaign for him. Caicedo has been similarly busy, as he closes in on the total number of minutes he played last season with six weeks still to go. Both are pushed to play the full 90 minutes more often than not, with recalled loanee Cesare Casadei the only fit alternative in midfield.

There have been other contributing factors to the midfielders' middling form, too. There is no doubt that, at times, both have been dragged down by the team's overall lack of form and confidence, with the Blues' central areas overrun when the opposition smells blood - which has been the case all too often this season.

Caicedo joined a team that was always likely to suffer something of a hangover after the nightmare of 2022-23, and he was never afforded a bedding-in period as fitness issues elsewhere meant he was flung straight into action after a limited pre-season and, perhaps inevitably, endured a very difficult start. Although Fernandez has been more consistent, he has struggled to be the man to haul Chelsea over the line in those most testing moments, having joined the club just before their season fell apart in 2023.

International football has also done neither player any favours. With Caicedo and Fernandez hailing from Ecuador and Argentina, respectively, both have regularly jetted off to the other side of the world to represent their countries in the various international breaks this season, before returning to Chelsea and having to play a matter of days later.

In the most recent pause, both started midweek friendlies in the United States before being named in Chelsea's starting line-up at the weekend in the draw with Burnley. There is no doubt that it has been detrimental having two players in the engine room who are tired and jetlagged from their excursions.

Speaking earlier this season, Pochettino said: "It’s crazy for players to come back from South America on Wednesday and play on Saturday. But if I say ‘OK, I’m going to give them a rest’ you will kill me, for sure if they don’t play - and the owner also! Caceido and Enzo arrived after two games in America and they were not fresh. But they are important plasters for us. It’s really tough to arrive like that."

Of course, Chelsea were never supposed to be relying on the South American pair so heavily this season, with the man signed to complete their midfield effectively sitting out for the duration.

Four days after snatching Caicedo from under Liverpool's noses, the Blues flummoxed the Reds again as they sensationally snared then-19-year-old Romeo Lavia from Southampton in a £58m ($73m) deal. That was seen as a major double-coup at the time, but the two sides' fortunes have been wildly different since as the Anfield club's shrewd moves for alternative names have paid off handsomely.

Things would have been different for Chelsea had Lavia been fit, however. The Belgian arrived with an injury before suffering a setback during his recovery that ruled him out until Christmas. Then, on his debut against Crystal Palace, he suffered a complex thigh injury that has ended his season after just 32 minutes of action.

There is no doubt that the youngster would have formed a significant part of Chelsea's plans this season, potentially even as a starter. Once fit again, he will most certainly feel like a new signing, and he can be the perfect foil to Caicedo and Fernandez as a ball-playing defensive midfielder, perhaps best suited to a role in a double-pivot alongside the former, with the latter in a more advanced position ahead of them. Aged 22 (Caicedo), 23 (Fernandez) and 20 (Lavia) respectively, this was always going to be a midfield for the future, not just the present.