Enzo Maresca is ‘very happy’ to see the improvement of one Chelsea player but stresses he cannot be compared to club legend Frank Lampard.
After a difficult start to 2025, Chelsea appear to be rediscovering their best form, with Thursday night’s 1-0 win over fierce rivals Tottenham moving them up to fourth in the Premier League.
The Blues are back on track to qualify for the Champions League and have reached the quarter-finals of the Conference League where they’ll face Legia Warsaw.
It was Enzo Fernandez who scored the winner against Spurs, heading in Cole Palmer’s cross from close range and he later revelled in the celebrations with the Stamford Bridge fans.
So far this season, the midfielder has recorded 15 goal contributions, already more than he managed in his first 18 months at the club following his British transfer record, £107million move from Benfica.
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The 24-year-old also scored and assisted in Argentina’s 4-1 win over Brazil in March which secured his country’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Some of his goals have been likened to the ones Chelsea’s all-time top scorer Lampard used to score, especially because of the way he arrives late into the box.
But when asked if he agreed with the comparison, Maresca was not getting carried away, saying in his pre-Brentford press conference: ‘I think Enzo is a good player for us.
‘We are happy with Enzo, but Frank was a different kind of player in this moment.’
It’s a great turnaround for Fernandez who initially struggled for minutes under Maresca and as recently as February the head coach was being urged to drop the World Cup winner.
‘I think since we started Enzo is improving a lot. His understanding of the game is completely different now,’ Maresca added.
‘He knows where he has to stay, he knows where he has to arrive in the box. And I think most of the goals he scored this season with us is because he was in the right position, even with the international team.
‘The goal was more or less similar. So we are very happy with the way Enzo is improving.’
Fernandez has a long way to go before he will be as adored as Lampard is, but the former England international had himself predicted that Fernandez would excel in a more advanced midfield role.
‘He could play in probably all the midfield roles,’ Lampard said in 2023 during his caretaker spell at Chelsea where he briefly managed Fernandez.
‘But seeing him train and play and getting a feeling for him, he probably has more to offer than to be a single-six. Where he can join into the game more, and play as an eight, and offer the really good attributes he’s got across his game.’
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