Enzo Maresca’s press conference this afternoon came directly in the wake of the announcement that Joao Felix had signed for Chelsea. So of course, despite all the other things on the agenda, the first questions were about the new attacker and his potential role in the team.
As it stands, it’s hard to see where Felix fits in. There’s already a glut of talent in midfield and out wide so comprehensive that players like Raheem Sterling are being brutally forced out. Now we add another position-less floaty player to the mix – where does he fit? According to Maresca, pretty much anywhere:
“First of all [we signed him] because he’s a good player. He’s a talent, the club already know him from two years ago. I think the good thing about Joao is he can play in different positions with us. He can play inside, he can play as a No.9, he can play outside.”
Felix with no obvious role – but plenty of options
It’s hard to see Felix thriving as a number 9 in the Premier League, at least until “Maresca-ball” is really up and running and we (hopefully) have a very fluid team with players interchanging positions on the pitch constantly.
It’s also hard to see Felix playing “outside” as a true winger like Maresca suggests. He doesn’t have the pace or physicality to succeed out there. His best position is likely to be the same one as Christopher Nkunku, Cole Palmer and a few others in the squad, hence the struggle to work out how to fit them all in. If one of them can be relied upon to play as a false 9 regularly, it would take a huge amount of pressure off us in the transfer market as we look for a backup to Nicolas Jackson.
The Conference League games could be a good testing ground for all these ideas, although sadly Felix won’t be available for tomorrow’s game.
