BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks has ripped into Chelsea duo Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo after failing to impress against West Ham United.
The Blues succumbed to a 3-1 defeat against West Ham at the London Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday (August 20). Nayef Aguerd, Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta netted for the Hammers, while Carney Chukwuemeka scored the visitors’ sole goal.
Chelsea had the chance to take the lead after receiving a penalty towards the end of the first half with the scoreline reading 1-1. However, Fernandez’s spot-kick was saved by Alphonse Areola, allowing West Ham to take the lead eight minutes into the second half.
The Stamford Bridge outfit received another opportunity to turn things around when Aguerd was sent off in the 67th minute after being booked twice. Paqueta, though, sealed the win for the Irons in injury time through a penalty, which was conceded by Caicedo.
Crooks has opined that Chelsea should not have allowed West Ham to take the lead in the game. He also blasted Blues duo Fernandez and Caicedo for their respective performances. The former Tottenham Hotspur forward wrote in his BBC Sport column:
“This game should have been way out of sight for West Ham in the first 45 minutes. You’d think that a player who cost £106m might convert a spot-kick from 12 yards, and his team-mate who cost £115m might make a tackle without giving a penalty away – but Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo failed respectively on both counts.”
Crooks theb slammed Chelsea for spending a combined sum of £221 on Fernandez and Caicedo. He wrote:
“It used to be the goalscorers that cost the big money, but Chelsea seem to have more money than sense these days. The Blues have now spent a total of £221m for two midfield players and there are hardly 10 goals a season between them.”
The Premier League giants signed Fernandez from Benfica for £106 million in January. They acquired Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion for a deal worth £115 million last week.
How did Chelsea duo Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo fare against West Ham?
Enzo Fernandez started in central midfield alongside Conor Gallagher against West Ham. Despite missing the penalty, he was one of Chelsea’s best players in the game, earning a 7.7 rating on Sofascore. Only Raheem Sterling (8.1) received a higher score among teammates.
No player across both teams had more touches of the ball than the Argentina international (127). He completed 98 passes, including four long balls, with 90% accuracy. It included four key passes, but none of them led to goalscoring chances.
Moises Caicedo, meanwhile, came on for Ben Chilwell just after the one-hour mark. The former Brighton star’s only major contribution in the game was making two tackles. He committed one error leading to a shot and conceded a penalty.