Enzo Fernandez – Defensa y Justicia’s captivating deep-lying playmaker
Enzo Fernandez came through the River Plate youth academy as he is named after a River Plate legend in Enzo Francescoli who his father was a massive fan of. He is akin to the great River Plate deep-lying midfielders of the past as he enamoured Marcelo Gallardo in a training session a few years ago. His parent club have so much belief in him that they allowed him to join Defensa y Justicia on loan but did not include a purchase option in his contract as Gallardo loaned him out to gain experience rather than sit on the bench at River Plate.
Gallardo involved him in first-team training sessions just after his 18th birthday as he also played with the reserves. He is a Buenos Aires native from San Martin as he joined River Plate at six-years-old, rising through the ranks and developing at youth level with the Argentine youth sides and his club. He would join Defensa y Justicia, growing under the guidance of Hernan Crespo as one of the top young deep-lying playmakers in an area of the world where there is an abundance of them coming through the ranks. At River Plate, he loved to learn from another deep-lying midfielder named Enzo in Enzo Perez as he has a contract with his parent club until June 2023.
Young talents coming through the River Plate are so plentiful as there are a few high-level talents that go on to greater heights without ever staking a claim for a starting place at the Argentine giants. With the current financial issues brought on by COVID-19 and his level of play as he was integral in a side that won the Copa Sudamericana last year as an ever-present at the base of midfield, it is plausible for Enzo Fernandez to make a move without playing for River Plate. His passing range is wonderful, having an innate sense at distributing possession in between the lines to teammates from the deeper areas to instigate attacking moves before pushing higher to circulate play with quick one-touch passes in the opposition half. He can also show his creativity in the final third as he has a penchant for playing incisive passes through the lines and being able to move the ball quickly and efficiently in tight spaces.
At home to Ecuadorian side Delfin in the Copa Libertadores, he won an interception in the right channel before threading a magnificent pass past three opposition players to a teammate in the half-space to create a breaking situation. His scrappy defensive play and progressive passing make him an intriguing transitional player as earlier in the game, he would receive a pass from the left to allow the ball to roll across his body before playing a pass to a teammate in the pockets. His role in Crespo’s 3-2-4-1/3-1-4-2 is to create passing lanes for his centre-backs by moving closer to the centre-back in possession or making blind-sided movements in behind the first wave of possession to receive the ball. There also frequent sequences of possession being shifted into the wing-backs as a passing lane to the six-space will be cleared as Fernandez will have to drop into that area to receive the ball.
His directional first touch tends to be important but Enzo Fernandez’ abilities as a one-touch passer allow him to circulate play at a fast-paced tempo which is crucial to his side evading opposition pressure. This also allows him to play as an efficient one or two touch conduit in the final third as he would push up in between the lines to receive possession before spreading the ball into the wide areas to receive possession again and thread a wonderfully angled defence-splitting pass to his wing-back whose cut-back was blocked. He would then allow a bobbling pass to roll across his body in a congested area of the pitch before poking an accurate pass through the lines with his weaker left foot.
The 20-year-old can be late with some of his challenges but also possesses the ability to regain possession using his low centre of gravity to muscle opposition players off the ball in essential areas of the pitch. He would regain possession in midfield with a well-timed challenge in midfield before he barged an opposition attacker out of the way of a cross by shielding the destination of the cross to calmly regain possession in his own box and drive the ball forward.
At home to Paraguayan side Olimpia, he began the game by distributing possession well from the base of midfield, using his quick feet to evade markers and cleverly switch the ball. He was phenomenal in moving to the wide areas to receive possession while being a high-level one-touch passer as he had a moment where he received a pass in the half-space and attempted to chip a pass for a teammate in behind. He also consistently switched the point of attack to great effect by receiving the ball in the half-space to switch the ball to the weak side. He would then create an opportunity by lobbing a free-kick onto the head of Washington Camacho whose opportunity was tipped over the bar. The 20-year-old then showed his willingness to make outside of the boot progressive passes for his side to stretch play and work combinations in the final third.
The deep-lying midfielder would receive possession in the final third to hammer a shot off the post as he instigated play from deep and moved in between the lines to show for the ball in the final third. He would begin the second-half in the same vein as the first, starting a counter-attack with a pass through the lines for a teammate who threaded a pass in behind for Braian Romero to finish. Away to Lanus in the Copa Diego Maradona, he would create an astounding five chances from his deeper-lying midfield position as he constantly received the ball in between the lines to connect play, threading passes into the channels for his teammates to have shooting opportunities.
In one situation, he would receive possession in the six-space to lob a pass into a runner in the channels who would drive into the box to play a high-quality cut-back that might have only needed the simplest of touches to direct it into an empty net as none of his teammates were available to redirect it. In the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals, away to Chilean side, Coquimbo, he continued to orchestrate play from the deeper positions while moving into the final third to connect play as usual. Defensa y Justicia evaded pressure by dropping Enzo Fernandez into a centre-back role and moving Adonis Frias into a right centre-back role while his midfield partner would drop into the six-space for the ball to be played to Frias to drive it to the halfway-line.
The right centre-back then worked a pass to Enzo Fernandez who played a one-touch pass with his weaker left foot into the next line before the pass was laid off to him as he attempted to thread a pass in between the lines to the striker which was intercepted. The 20-year-old continued to look for deeper-passes in between the lines despite having a few intercepted while he was influential in his side’s press resistance as he received a pass from the goalkeeper to spread the ball before Valentin Larralde laid a pass off to him as Fernandez worked a pass in behind for a midfielder to thread the ball through the lines to an attacker who dribbled the keeper but was unable to finish.
The midfielder would continue his brilliant showing after fellow River Plate loanee, Franco Paredes drove inside and played a pass for Enzo Fernandez who beat his marker to weave into the opposition half to drive forward and lob a pass for Romero to get in behind and go 1v1 with the keeper to lob his opportunity over. He then received possession in the six-space to scan and work a pass to the left-sided centre-back before he eventually received a pass from the right sided centre-back to work a pass into the next line for Larralde. Larralde would then play a pass in behind for a striker to have a shot at goal. Enzo Fernandez was then involved in another intelligent move as he received possession in the six-space as the left sided centre-back was moving into the half-space to receive possession and shift the ball into the wide areas before making a run to clear a passing lane to the nine space to receive a lay-off and have his shot blocked.
Enzo Fernandez would work a pass into the next line to receive possession again with three players marking him to turn out of pressure and thread another progressive pass into the next line. The youngster had a 91% pass succession rate which was extraordinary with the volume of risky progressive passes he played while he also created two chances and accrued an 83% pass succession rate in the final third in a Copa Sudamericana semi-final. Enzo Fernandez’ ability as a deep-lying playmaker is shown in his heavy involvements in chance creating and goalscoring actions as in the second-leg of the Copa Sudamericana semi-final, he was involved in the creation of most of his side’s goals.
For the second goal, he would receive possession from the left-sided centre-back to turn and drive a pass to Larralde in the next line for the midfielder to spread the ball into the wide areas as the wide player cut inside and lobbed a cross for a teammate to control play a ball to the back-post for a cut-back and header into an empty net. For the third goal, he would drop to the right-flank to receive possession in the six-space turn and switch a pass to the left-sided centre-back for connections on the left flank before Fernandez received possession again to work a one-touch pass to a midfielder in space to thread a pass through for a striker to apply the finish. For the fourth goal, he would receive possession on the left to switch the ball to the right flank for his team to attack the weak side and score.
Enzo Fernandez would also be more directly involved in the creation of opportunities that his side did not score as he received a pass on the right to switch possession to the left flank before receiving possession again from his left-sided centre-back to allow the ball to roll across his body to beat his man before threading a through ball to the striker to go in behind and blast a shot over. The 20-year-old would also receive possession from the higher areas of the pitch to play a back-pass to his left sided centre-back who would play a pass to the left-back as Enzo Fernandez would move closer to the flank to receive possession from the left to adjust his body and set his feet to work a one-touch pass in between the lines to a teammate who would drive the ball forward and look to play a one-two with the striker.
Defensa y Justicia would beat Lanus to win the Copa Sudamericana as one of Enzo Fernandez’ high points was playing a wonderful pass in behind for Romero to get in behind and shoot wide. The youngster has been compared to Exequiel Palacios at Bayer Leverkusen but models his game after the likes of Leandro Paredes at Paris Saint Germain and Frenkie de Jong at Barcelona. He has the potential to control games with his brilliant passing range, ability to receive possession and work one-touch passes in tight spaces. He can also swivel out of congested areas while his vision for progressive line-breaking passes is excellent as he is unafraid of looking to create opportunities from deep. He can earn yellow cards with some rash challenges, but he has begun to improve this facet of his game with experience.
"Outside I like Leandro Paredes and Frankie De Jong, who does everything well: he arrives in the area and can play in any position in the middle," said Enzo Fernandez to Clarin Newspaper.
Enzo Fernandez’ loan last until December 2021 as his contract with River Plate expires in 2023 as the Argentine giants were clever enough to sign him to a long-term contract before allowing him to leave on loan. However, it is plausible that he may never don the famous shirt with the red sash across it as he is a Copa Sudamericana champion and will accrue more minutes in the Copa Libertadores this season as that would allow him the opportunity to earn a UK work permit for a transfer to English clubs. The rest of Europe will be on notice as his level of play has been consistently high as one of the better deep-lying playmakers in South America as the region is well-stocked with them. It will be interesting to keep an eye on his developmental path over the next year.
