Where is Andrey Santos?

The missing man of the Club World Cup creates more questions than it needs to

Obvious stuff first: Chelsea were well beaten by Flamengo on Friday night. Nicolas Jackson was rightly sent off. Malo Gusto should not have started and Enzo Maresca’s “experiment” failed.

Is a meltdown justified? No.

The Club World Cup feels a bit like a post-credit scene that goes on for too long, that moment after completing GTA V’s story you are thrown back into an open world with no narrative momentum.

However, as was post-LAFC we could talk about some good stuff, it is equally fair to ponder some bad stuff too.

Maresca stressed how he decided to “experiment” in Philly as Chelsea squared off with one of Brazil’s best clubs. In a tournament already littered with evidence that South American clubs are taking this very seriously, that was a risk. But Maresca did not really experiment, did he?

Malo Gusto at right-back, Reece James shifted into central midfield. That was the extent to that experimenting. Throw in some overlapping sporadically from Cucurella and Gusto and that is about it. This was very conventional Maresca, the square pegs in round holes approach that has frustrated before.

During the course of the 2024/25 campaign, there was some justification due to a lack of decent midfield depth. But at the Club World Cup, Maresca should not have that worry. He has Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo and Andrey Santos all at his disposal should he wish to use them in rotation.

As CFCCentral pointed out, James has started as a defensive midfielder in some of Chelsea’s recent defeats. Those being the home loss to Legia Warsaw, Arsenal away and Aston Villa away. He has committed more errors leading to shots last season than in his entire career.

That is correlation more than causation. Chelsea did not lose all of those games because James was in midfield. Though the deployment of him in midfield always felt like a makeshift solution to a squad building oversight.

You add to that, the Newcastle loss which saw Maresca field no recognised right-back, something that was exploited very quickly on Tyneside.

Gusto looked shaky coming off the bench for James on Monday in Atlanta, he was equally poor in the first half of the Conference League final, rightly hooked for James at half-time. His form for a long period has been disappointing to highly concerning, And with a promising Josh Acheampong also in the squad, you have to ponder how Maresca has come to some of these selections.

The complete lack of minutes for Santos is puzzling. Given how successful his loan spell was in France with Strasbourg, the repeated rubbishing of claims he would be sold and that he was absolutely part of the club’s plans. And, the reality that for a midfield that basically relied on Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo running themselves into the ground, it was a chance to introduce a new face that could prove transformative.

Santos is not some raw, completely untested or fringe outsider. He has consistently been playing and performing like one of Europe’s best midfielders in a top five league. Whilst he may not walk into the XI, giving him zero minutes in two outings is a concerning sign.

Essugo got them off the bench. So did Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu; two players who might not even be at the club come August.

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Let’s bust a myth that has been circulating about Maresca being restricted to rotate because of a contract clubs had to sign before this tournament. A “participation agreement” committed clubs to among other things, “field the strongest team throughout the competition.”

This leading people to assume that Chelsea cannot rotate or introduce their new names in any tangible way, because if they did, they would be in breach of this contract. And given the lineups Bayern and PSG have already put out, these restrictions must be pretty harsh.

However, all of this is contradicted by two things. First, is Chelsea themselves; starting Liam Delap. Delap being his full debut over Chelsea’s first-choice Nicolas Jackson over the past season. But he played, and we assume, will face no penalty for doing so.

The second, and more illuminating, is Manchester City in their win over Wydad AC. Pep Guardiola omitted John Stones, Josko Gvardiol, Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland. Real Madrid started Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen vs. Al Hilal without any fuss too.

This rule is highly unenforceable because it is a subjective one. Would Chelsea have been done in the summer of 2014 if Jose Mourinho had opted to put both Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas into his lineup over Fernando Torres and Mikel? If Chelsea had signed Mike Maignan and Jamie Gittens before the tournament, could they not play either?

It does not pass the smell test.

Santos’ omission raises questions when there did not need to be as many. This is a developing talent that has built up major excitement from fans waiting years to finally see him in the first team. Not doing so has the issue of casting doubt on an issue that seemed closed.

Is this all on Maresca? No. Collectively Chelsea collapsed in Friday’s second half but Gusto’s poor performance could have been anticipated before kick-off. Shifting James back into midfield a strange choice with the more suitable options that could have meant he remained in his best position.

The persistence with over-complicating lineups is a trait of Maresca that faded in the closing weeks of the season when Chelsea got over the line. It reemerging here is hopefully just an off-day and not a sign of what’s to come in his second season.