Chelsea fans are finally recognizing their team under new manager Enzo Maresca. The Blues have only lost one Premier League game this season, against Manchester City on the opening day.
One player who looks revamped under Enzo Maresca is Moises Caicedo. The Ecuadorian international struggled to live up to his usual standards at Brighton, which prompted his big-money move to Chelsea. Caicedo is now playing up to expectations under Enzo Maresca, and his performance against West Ham was evidence of his ability and what he brings to the team.
Arguably the best Chelsea player against West Ham, but his performance was overshadowed by Nicolas Jackson’s brace and assist in the match.
Chelsea legend Mike Obi has praised Moses Caicedo’s performance against West Ham and predicted that he will captain Chelsea in the future.
What did Mikel Obi say about Moses Caicedo?
He said on The Obi One Podcast: “He was everywhere.
‘He didn’t start his Chelsea career really well. A few games into his Chelsea career there was lots of mistakes and everyone was thinking, “Why did we pay so much money for this guy?”.
“Now we can see those performances that he was putting in at Brighton. He’s an absolutely fantastic player, he was everywhere on Saturday. Not just breaking up play, trying to link up play as well, passing, everything.
“Now you feel that this is the Moises Caicedo that we all know and when you watch him you can see there is a bit of confidence there, “Now I play for Chelsea Football Club, this is my team”.
“With the performances and the way he behaves on the pitch, there is no ego. He’s absolutely fantastic, he was everywhere. It was a bit like an N’Golo Kante performance.
“Credit to Moises and also to the manager for giving him such confidence and making sure that he believes in him. It’s paying off with the performances.
“This is a guy that I think will eventually go on to maybe, probably, captain the club.”
John Mikel Obi also expressed optimism about the future of Chelsea under Enzo Maresca.
He added: “He’s building something, we can see that right now. The system, the way he wants the team to play, his philosophy, everything is coming through.
“It takes a bit of time but everything is coming through and it’s refreshing to see that we can go toe to toe with these big teams.
“I know West Ham are not [a big team] but if we can go toe to toe with the big teams and not get swept aside, that is absolutely fantastic.”
He continued: “The team we have right now and not just the starting XI, the guys we have coming from the bench, there is a lot of quality.
“With the players that are coming off the bench, it’s not like the quality is going to go down. It improves the team. That’s exactly what we wanted, we wanted players to come into the team and improve the team and we can see that.
“Maresca is doing an absolutely fantastic job. The way we’re playing, the way we’re keeping possession of the ball, with the ball, off the ball, everything is clicking.
“It’s so amazing to watch the team right now, it’s so refreshing as a Chelsea fan when you sit down and watch us play right now.”
