By Darwin Largo
Chelsea had a dismal start to the season. In their first few games they showed disappointing performances and lost several games against supposedly inferior opponents. However, little by little things have started to improve. The team's level has risen week by week and the results have also changed.
This Saturday they drew 2-2 against Arsenal, one of the leaders in the standings, at Stamford Bridge. The Blues were leading 2-0 at the start of the second half through goals from Cole Palmer and Mijailo Mudryk, but the visitors reacted in the last minutes and equalized the score through Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard.
At the post-match press conference, Mauricio Pochettino explained that the drop in the team's performance in the final minutes was related to the fatigue of several players, who were away on international duty with their respective national teams during the October international break. In particular, he spoke about two players: "It's crazy for players to come back from South America on Wednesday and play on Saturday. Enzo (Fernandez) and (Moises) Caicedo were tired".
Fernandez played in Argentina's two games against Paraguay and Peru in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, while Caicedo did the same for Ecuador against Colombia and Bolivia. However, he later explained why he decided to include them in the starting lineup: "But if I say: 'OK, I'm going to give them a rest and not play'... you (the press) will kill me, for sure, and then the owner also."
Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea owner Todd Boehly would not be happy to know that Fernandez and Caicedo are on the bench. This is because the English club paid a fortune for them this year. Enzo arrived from Benfica in January for $128 million, while Moises was sold by Brighton & Hove Albion for $155 million.
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