Pat Nevin’s thoughts for the BBC about Chelsea’s defeat to Liverpool at the weekend focused on one man: Joao Felix.
It wasn’t Felix’s role in the game that Nevin was interested in – quite the opposite. It was the fact that manager Enzo Maresca didn’t turn to the attack at all, even with his team losing and time slipping away.
“As someone openly wanting a Chelsea win but always brutally honest enough to accept when we are second best on the day, there was one player I wanted introduced more than any other – Joao Felix. Enzo Maresca made five changes when creation was needed and the Portugal playmaker was not called on,” Nevin mused.
“Is there something his managers know that I do not? Because in terms of skill and creativity he clearly deserves more chances if Chelsea are going to have a chance.”
We’re not sure about managers knowing something that Nevin doesn’t – he sees all the same things we do. There’s no conspiracy here. Felix is a player with nice moments, but can you really trust him to deliver in the big moments, in the intense games? We don’t think so.
Felix’s fresh start leaves him right back where he was
Whatever you think of Felix as a player, and whether or not you think he might have done something to change the game on Sunday, there’s no avoiding the fact that it was pretty damning to have him left on the bench until the end, with all 5 other subs used and the team losing.
The Portugal star would have accepted when he signed that there was not going to be a first team place laid out ready for him, but he would have surely expected to be one of the top options off the bench.
Still, at least he made it to the bench – that’s more than you can say for teammate Mykhailo Mudryk, who is clearly even lower down the pecking order.
