CHELSEA legend Gus Poyet believes record signing Moises Caicedo has struggled to live up to his billing because the rest of the team isn’t performing around him.
The Blues beat Liverpool to Caicedo’s signature in August following a £115million Premier League record deal with Brighton, just seven months after Enzo Fernandez’s £107m move to Stamford Bridge.
However, both star midfielders have failed to meet expectations so far this season amid a rough start that has seen Mauricio Pochettino’s men tumble to 15th place in the table.
But Poyet insists that players like them need the rest of the team delivering on the pitch in order for them to hit the high notes.
The Greece manager is adamant that Pochettino’s injury crisis is also to blame but the West Londoners will still have to improve “very quickly”.
The 55-year-old is confident things will improve under the Argentinean tactician but advised him to play Caicedo and Fernandez at No6.
Poyet told SunSport: “The signings of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo were both big calls. I call these types of transfers ‘in fashion’ where it seems to be the popular thing to spend lots of money on a specific position.
“We have seen it happen with goalkeepers, centre-backs and striker, now the trend is paying £100m for a central midfielder; we have seen this with Declan Rice [at Arsenal], Caicedo and Fernandez. It seems to be in fashion and I don’t like that in football.
“They are two very good players and I think they are both best as a number six, I don’t think either of them can play in attack.
“Enzo had his breakthrough at the World Cup when he was playing in front of the back four and Caicedo was doing the same at Brighton.
“The problem is that Mauricio Pochettino has a big injury list and he is trying to fit in the best players to accommodate that and not leave anyone out.
“If you are not an individual player like a winger, you need the team to be performing in order for you to perform.
“They are in the middle of the park so they need the whole team to be performing around them and I don’t think Chelsea are functioning in the best way at the moment. For Enzo and Caicedo I think it is a matter of time before the team starts to perform.
“We need to be honest and say that when you change the whole plan of the club you need to take time to adjust. If during that time there is a change of managers then it can take a bit longer.
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“Even worse, if you have key players getting injured at the start of the season then it can become dangerous for everybody because you can get in a bad mood and bad form which can make it difficult to win matches – that brings everything down.
“It is a tough moment for Chelsea but I think what is most important is what is going on internally in terms of understanding the situation, as well as just remaining calm.
Gus Poyet was speaking to The Sun on behalf of bitcoincasinos.com
