Welcome to the Radar, a Sky Sports column in which Nick Wright uses a mix of data and opinion to shed light on need-to-know stories from up and down the Premier League. This week:
🔵 Fernandez blooms further forward💪 Welbeck to put Newcastle in trouble again? 🍒 Iraola sets the tone in Bournemouth🔎 a player to view this weekend
Fernandez has become an attacking force
When Chelsea was confronted with the opponents of Sunday in October, their record signing Enzo Fernandez fell without mercy. “We don't have indispensable players,” said Enzo Maresca. Maybe they are doing it now. Fernandez may have just changed his head coach.
Since he returned to the starting line-up in a 2-1 victory over Leicester in November in which he scored the decisive goal, Fernandez 22 Premier League matches has started 23. This time he is confronted with the side of Arne Slot as the most important player of Chelsea.
The 24-year-old continues to bloom in a more advanced role. After being used earlier at the foot of midfield next to Moises Caicedo, he is now closer to the opposition box. His average positions also show a switch from the emphasis from left to right.
Fernandez has made the changes in his pass. He generally gets fewer touches from the ball, but they come in areas where he can harm opponents better. This season he makes 64 percent of his passes in the opposition half, compared to 54 percent in previous term.
His goal against Leicester has been one of the six since the change of role, but it is like a maker that he has been the most impactful, so Cole Palmer's struggles with 13 assists in all competitions have come in his last three games.
It is quite a transformation. Fixed term, Fernandez created less than half of as many chances as Palmer in the Premier League, with 32. This time he places his total of 73, with four more games to play, only behind his Chelsea teammate and celebrated in the division in general.
Maresca has commissioned his full-backs to stop inside to cover the space that Fernandez has left behind, but his role is not pure offensive. He is still obliged to fall back and defend when the ball is reversed, as he explained to Sky Sports in December.
“It's an offensive position when it's time to attack, but when it's time to defend, I have to go back next to Moi to close the space between the lines,” Fernandez said.
“It is a very demanding role, especially in the Premier League where football is more direct. I have worked a lot to be physically at the right level. I am really happy with that side of things.”
That also applies to Maresca. He described Fernandez as a “example” for the way he responded to earlier in the season. He also spoke the power of his mentality and his leadership.
Those qualities certainly come across personally. Fernandez, a World Cup winner at Argentina, naturally gives off an aura and a steel -like determination that can increasingly be seen in his ability to get on the field at important moments.
His combined total of 19 goals and assists is the second highest among Chelsea players this season, but the most important thing is that so many of them have been decisive. Four of his six goals have achieved victories. All of his seven Premier League assists have also directly influenced the results.
Maresca could say that no player is indispensable, but Fernandez proves differently.
Evergreen Welbeck still has it
From Chelsea to Brighton, and another player who is crucial for the fortunes of his side in Danny Welbeck. At the age of 34 he enjoys his best season so far for the club. Few opponents know that better than Newcastle.
He faces them on Sunday and has already scored two winners against them this season, the first in October, when he slid home after collecting a long ball and the exchange of passes with Georginio Rutter, the second in March, when he traced them again from the FA Cup in Extra Time in St James' park.
Brighton is a much better side when he plays and their record this season proves it. Their Premier League -Win Rate falls from 44 percent to only 14 percent when it is not available.
The injury missed him seven games between December and January, but Welbeck has already reached double digits for goals in all competitions this season. With nine in the Premier League, he only needs one of the last four games of Brighton to make this the highest scoring campaign of his 17-year career in top flight.
Of course, Welbeck has always offered much more than goals. He is the ultimate team player and his blunt assessment of the 4-2 loss of Brentford against Brentford, when he seems to have a failure to play “collective”, a reaction of his teammates, while they want to follow their victory over West Ham with another overwhelming Hercastle.
The humility of Iraola characterizes Bournemouth
Speaking with Andoni Iraola on the Bournemouth training field This week was a memory of the human qualities that make him such a popular figure among both players and fans.
The 42-year-old has become one of the most discussed coaches in the game after he had converted Bournemouth into European challengers after his arrival from Rayo Vallecano.
But there seems to be little danger that the extra attention will go on his head. “Most, if not all, coaches I play against, have achieved more than me,” he shrugged.
His humility seemed to be in the course of the interview and it also came to characterize his team. Iraola helped to develop excellent individuals such as Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez and Antoine Semenyo, but the power of Bournemouth is in the collective.
They are one of the hardest working parties in the Premier League and have confronted this season with few complaints with few complaints and a series of expensive referee errors. Few would mislead a place in Europe at the end.
Player Radar: Who else should keep an eye on
Ismaila Sarr does not attract as much attention as some of his Crystal Palace teammates, but he was excellent in their FA Cup semi -final victory over Aston Villa and could also be the key against Nottingham Forest on Monday evening.
Live Radar: What's on Sky this weekend?
On Friday evening football, Man City Wolves will see Live at Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 7.30 pm prior to the kick -off of 8 pm.
Saturday Night Football Pits Arsenal against Bournemouth, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 5 pm before 5 pm kick -off time.
There is more promotion on Super Sunday as Brighton -Gastheer Newcastle in the Early Game and Chelsea Face champions Liverpool, with both matches live at Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event.
Then on Monday evening football for Crystal Palace against Nottingham Forest, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 6:30 pm with a kick -off at 8 p.m.
Read last week's radar column
Milos Kerkez was the focus last week when the column shifted the qualities that make him attractive for Liverpool, Man City and Real Madrid. There was also a look at the West Ham criticism of Niclas Fullkrug and the impact of Marshall Munetsi's Wolves.