Roberto De Zerbi can't fumble around Mateus Fernandes anymore

Tottenham Hotspur fans were definitely frustrated and puzzled with the fact that despite costing 85 million pounds and being one of the best midfielders in the Premier League last season, Mateus Fernandes had literally never started a single game in his preferred position as an actual defensive midfielder at the base of the midfield three for Spurs in the seven Matchdays since signing.

Spurs had left him on the bench or even started him as an attacking midfielder on multiple occasions, and Roberto De Zerbi was justifying it all by saying that while Fernandes is a good player whom the club believes in, he isn't ready yet to understand playing for a big club with the values of Spurs. You know, never mind the fact that Spurs were 17th last season and only marginally better than the rivals Fernandes just came from.

Well, Fernandes finally drew the start in the defensive midfield, as Tottenham and its manager could not ignore the importance of having a young, dynamic, and potentially world class box to box midfielder pairing with Sandro Tonali against a defensive dynamo like Moises Caicedo in the Chelsea midfield.

Mateus Fernandes was a ball of energy

And the end result could not have gone any better for De Zerbi and Spurs. Mateus Fernandes was the official Man of the Match in a 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur win over Chelse at Stamford Bridge. Fernandes led the way with five tackles on the defensive end, breaking up the action and playing like a man possessed in outmatching Caicedo as a ball winner.

Then, on the offensive side, Fernandes was pretty much as impressive and ever present on the ball as the more anchoring and experienced Sandro Tonali. The young Portuguese midfielder attempted 99 passes to lead Spurs and completed 92 percent of them. He was not just going for the sideways passes or the low hanging fruit to pad his numbers; he had a few accurate crosses and several accurate long balls to try and stretch Chelsea and create.

That incisiveness led to Fernandes also finishing the clean sheet victory for Tottenham with two key passes, tying the team lead with Mathys Tel. Yes, he could have been more disciplined and more polished, and he is nowhere near Lucas Bergvall or Archie Gray in terms of his ability to dribble and carry the ball consistently.

But as a passer and a defender, Fernandes is amazing, and he was the ball of athleticism, energy, and passing quality as a support next to Tonali that Tottenham 100 percent needed in order to boss Xabi Alonso's system and the Chelsea duo of Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson.

Roberto De Zerbi fumbled around starting Fernandes, but he can no longer pretend that MF isn't the best part of the solution for Tottenham's MF.