Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool, Player Ratings: You’re now entering the Enzo Zone

1. ENZO FERNÁNDEZ (8.4)

Young master Enzo was already pretty good the second half of last season, despite all the chaos around him and despite having just arrived from Benfica for a league-record transfer fee.

After a good rest over the summer, he stepped it up a notch in this one, in just the first game of the Pochettino era — hopefully a sign of things to come this season, next season, for many years ahead.

What a player!

2. REECE JAMES (7.6)

With Kepa’s loan confirmed, Reece James, at all of 23, is now the player with the longest WAGNH player-ratings history. He’s just one of four players on the team who have more than one rated seasons for us at this point — yet another sign of the massive turnover in the squad over the past 12 months.

But even as we build a brand new core for the years ahead, James has remained perhaps the most core of them all, signified now by the captain’s armband as well. The True Mr. Chelsea he is.

This is Year 5 for Reecey already, and we (and he) are just getting started!

3. THIAGO SILVA (7.6)

I neglected to do a rundown for the final numbers last season, but Silva easily won our Player of the Season non-award once again, for the second straight year. And no one came close, with James finishing second and only six others getting to at least a 6.0 (Badiashile, Kepa, Kanté, Hall, Enzo, Chilwell). But we don’t need more metrics to gauge how bad last season was.

Incidentally, Silva’s only the second player in the 11-year history of our player ratings to win Player of the Season twice, and the first to do so back-to-back. Eden Hazard won it four times, but always skipped a year.

The previous winners are: Thiago Silva (2022-23, 2021-22), Mason Mount (2020-21), Christian Pulisic (2019-20), Eden Hazard (2018-19, 2016-17, 2014-15, 2012-13), N’Golo Kanté (2017-18), Willian (2015-16), and Nemanja Matić (2013-14).

Unlike most, Silva isn’t likely to be here for the next five, six, seven, ten years. We’ve been privileged to get even one, let alone three seasons out of him, now going on four. And he’s still the class of the bunch, ready to lead on the pitch and impart his knowledge on the next generation.

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vs. LIVERPOOL (PL, H, D 1-1)

EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): —

EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): Enzo (8.4)

GOOD (7.0-7.9): James (7.6), Silva (7.6), Chilwell (7.5), Disasi (7.5), Jackson (7.4), Gallagher (7.0)

AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): Colwill (6.8), Chukwuemeka (6.4), Sterling (6.3), Sánchez (6.1)

POOR (5.0-5.9): Mudryk (5.8, sub), Gusto (5.7, sub), Ugochukwu (5.5, sub), Maatsen (5.4, sub)

BAD (4.0-4.9): —

TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): —

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OVERALL

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2022-23 OVERALL (FINAL)

EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): —

EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): —

GOOD (7.0-7.9): —

AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): Silva (6.7), James (6.5), Badiashile (6.4), Arrizabalaga (6.3), Hall (6.1), Enzo (6.0), Chilwell (6.0),

POOR (5.0-5.9): Zakaria (5.9), W.Fofana (5.8), Broja (5.8), Koulibaly (5.7), Loftus-Cheek (5.7), Madueke (5.6), Jorginho (5.7), Chukwuemeka (5.7), Chalobah (5.7), Kovačić (5.7), Gallagher (5.6), João Félix (5.5), Pulisic (5.5), Azpilicueta (5.4), Cucurella (5.4), Sterling (5.4), Mount (5.4), Mendy (5.3), Havertz (5.3), Mudryk (5.2)

BAD (4.0-4.9): Aubameyang (4.8), Ziyech (4.8)

TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): —

Players with fewer than 10 appearances included: Kanté (6.3, 9 app’s), D.Fofana (5.1, 4 app’s), Hutchinson (5.0, 2 app’s), Humphreys (5.0, 1 app), Bettinelli (0)