Do Chelsea have best collection of midfielders in the league? Caicedo stand-in suggests so | OneFootball

As atrocious as he apparently is at predicting whether an opponent will play five in defence or four, Enzo Maresca has quietly come into his own as Chelsea manager this season.

The two trophies and Champions League qualification delivered in his debut campaign were impressive but the Italian’s biggest achievement so far has been making sense of what does not immediately resemble a sensibly constructed squad, at least for the levels of money invested.

Chelsea have spent actual billions and landed on: a keeper who probably doesn’t rank among the league’s top five individually despite considerable recent improvements; an assortment of central defensive options lacking a clear and decisive leader; an absurd medley of seemingly interchangeable wide forwards; and barely a handful of strikers who cannot possibly be described as prolific.

No club has used more players in the Premier League this season and their average age is about a year younger than that of the closest team. But there is a newfound maturity in how Maresca and his squad have handled the challenges thrown at them so far.

Maresca’s 50th Premier League game in charge was also his first without Moises Caicedo. The Ecuadorean could have been rushed back after a ludicrous travel itinerary to round off a busy international break  – and indeed his return has been fast-tracked through customs before by a Chelsea side who once deemed his absence unthinkable – but the safety blanket was wrapped around his tired legs at Turf Moor.

The last league game Caicedo did not play a part in before the trip to Burnley was a defeat at Wolves on Christmas Eve 2023, when Christopher Nkunku scored Chelsea’s consolation from a Raheem Sterling cross.

It was a different time.

And perhaps the standard of opposition helped Maresca’s decision to leave Caicedo on the bench easier. But so too did the performance of Andrey Santos in his stead.

The Brazilian made three tackles, five interceptions and four clearances on the first full 90 minutes of his Premier League career as Chelsea were made to work for a win which lifted them into second. Maresca is rarely one for handing out individual praise but his assessment of a player who posted Caicedo numbers as “very good” in a difficult game was positively effusive.

Joe Cole went slightly further on the “absolutely outstanding” player who “sniffed out” any and all signs of danger.

“Now Chelsea have got Enzo, Lavia, Caicedo and Santos as well,” he added. “Is there a collection of four midfielders better in the league? I don’t think there is.”

When all four are available he might have a case. But it was Caicedo and to a lesser extent Lavia’s absence which underlined that embarrassment of riches and granted Santos an opportunity he nevertheless intercepted and recycled.

Santos himself is only so high in the pecking order because of the injury to Dario Essugo. But when the circumstances fell in his favour his capitalised.

He was not alone. This was only Tosin Adarabioyo and Liam Delap’s fourth Premier League starts of the season, and Jamie Gittens’ third. The winger in particular proved decisive. And Marc Guiu took his chance to make an impression from the bench too with the clinching assist.

That sort of trusted depth, those myriad options ready and willing to fill the gaping void Chelsea’s few superstars leave behind when rest and rotation becomes, for Maresca, “impossible” to avoid, is part of the club’s early evolution into eventual title contenders.