Moises Caicedo: Chelsea’s £115m man showing “his true quality” at heart of Enzo Maresca’s midfield

When looking at Enzo Maresca’s start to life as Chelsea manager, you cannot overlook the work of Moises Caicedo.

There were a lot of eyes on Caicedo when he signed from fellow Premier League side Brighton last summer. The move cost Chelsea £115million, just six months after the Blues spent £106.8m on Enzo Fernandez.

So Caicedo was expected to hit the ground running, but the Ecuadorian had a slow start to life in west London.

But since the turn of the year, Caicedo’s performances have been on the rise. And out of Chelsea’s £100m+ men, he is by far and away the standout. He’s one of the first names on the team sheet for Maresca.

“The way it began for him with us at Brighton was similar to what happened when he first joined Chelsea, in that it felt like he has had to suffer and dig in before coming out the other side and showing everyone his true quality,” former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter told BBC Sport of Caicedo.

“He has established himself now at Chelsea, which is credit to him because that status has not come easy – for lots of reasons.

“Moises has had to cope with a lot of criticism of his £115m price tag, and also criticism of him personally as a player in terms of what he has given to the team, so it’s no wonder he admitted he lost some confidence.

“Things are different now. The Chelsea team has settled down a lot since he first joined, which has probably helped him a lot, but he has grown with them.”

During his time at Brighton, Caicedo operated in more of a roaming midfield role. Although he did play deep, you could also find him moving from box-to-box. That was what made Caicedo so crucial for Brighton, as he could perform well in either role.

As he grew at Brighton, Caicedo did become more of a holding midfielder, and his 2022-23 performances alerted the attention of the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

That year, as Brighton secured Europa League qualification, Caicedo ranked second in the Premier League for tackles. The Ecuadorian made 100 in total, trailing only tackle machine Joao Palhinha (147). That worked out to an average of 2.87 tackles per 90 minutes.

Caicedo also won possession in the middle third 142 times, the third-most in the Premier League in 2022-23, and had the second-most interceptions (56). He was tough to bypass in the Brighton midfield.

But Caicedo was also a strong mover of the ball. He attempted the seventh-most passes in the Premier League in 2022-23, and completed the sixth-most. Only seven players had more touches than his 2,735.

There wasn’t too much of a change in his tackles from his first season at Chelsea. Caicedo managed 91 in total, dropping down to eighth in the Premier League. And there was an even bigger fall in interceptions and possessions won. Caicedo ranked 25th for interceptions (37) and 13th for possessions won in the middle third (96).

He also dropped to 19th and 17th for passes attempted and completed, and 19th for touches. With Mauricio Pochettino struggling to get his best system at Chelsea, there were a few variations of a middle. As a result, Caicedo was in more of a box-to-box role, while Fernandez played as the passing No.6, similar to Jorginho’s former role at Chelsea.

But this season, Maresca has him as the holding man in his 4-2-3-1 formation. With Fernandez pushing slightly forward, Caicedo sits deep to protect the defence. Chelsea’s full-backs have been tucking in this season, forming a three-man defensive shield ahead of the two centre-backs. It can form a back five when needs be.

You can see the impact already. Caicedo’s creativity has dipped slight, averaging 0.58 chances created per 90 minutes, because Chelsea do not need him near the opposition box. He’s also attempted fewer take-ons. But his tackle numbers are way up, with an average of 3.94 per 90 in the Premier League this season. Overall, Caicedo sits second for tackles with 27, second only to Wilfred Ndidi (28),

Caicedo’s improvements may prove key when Chelsea travel to Anfield to face Liverpool this weekend. The Blues head to Anfield now nine games without victory against Liverpool across all competitions.

Since winning 1-0 at Anfield in March 2021, Chelsea have drawn seven and lost two of their past matches with Liverpool. Two of those draws also ended in penalty shootout defeats in the EFL Cup and FA Cup finals of 2021-22. On Chelsea’s last trip to Anfield, they were pulled apart in a 4-1 defeat.