Mateus Fernandes has finally earned Team of the Week recognition following his standout display for Tottenham in the clash against Chelsea.

Fernandes was outstanding against Chelsea, delivering his best display of the season after bossing the midfield and topping several defensive and offensive metrics.

Roberto De Zerbi was full of praise for Fernandes, describing him as the best player on the pitch and highlighting his handling of the Cole Palmer incident.

He said: “Changing the spirit of the group, changing the performance of the players, especially the more fragile players, maybe the younger players.

“Mateus Fernandes maybe was one of the best players on the pitch like Mathys Tel. Archie Gray is younger, but he is older as a mentality. I am very, very happy.”

On Fernandes’ composure during the Palmer situation, De Zerbi added: “I love watching my players fighting on the pitch. But Mateus Fernandes played 90 minutes with a big, big quality. I want to see Mateus Fernandes with personality. I want to see Fernandes enjoy with the ball. Even if he can make a mistake, it does not matter. It is not a problem, a mistake. But I want to see this personality from my team.”

Despite his impressive performance, Fernandes was snubbed from Troy Deeney’s team of the week and also left out of WhoScored’s matchweek eight team of the week XI.

Alan Shearer recognises Tottenham’s Mateus Fernandes

Alan Shearer has now shared his own team of the week, and the Premier League’s record goalscorer finally recognised Fernandes’ brilliance.

Shearer included the Tottenham midfielder in his 4-4-2 setup, lining him up alongside Boubacar Kamara of Aston Villa.

Suzuki; Araujo, Hill, Gabriel, Truffert; Rayan, Kamara, Fernandes, Tel; Jackson, Evanilson.

Also named in Shearer’s XI was Mathys Tel, who was scintillating for Spurs, scoring the second goal against Chelsea as they earned their first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018.

Fernandes must be ready to deliver for Spurs

Having produced such a top performance in a big game, the expectation is that Fernandes continues to show his quality.

Signed for £85 million, Spurs fans will expect consistent top-level displays from the midfielder. Fernandes himself appears ready to deliver, revealing after the Chelsea clash that he is at Tottenham to help change the mentality of the club.

He said: “We are here to change the club’s mentality, we want to beat the top teams, and make this victory for the fans.”

But he acknowledged that settling at Spurs has required patience. He added: “It takes time, I always believe in me and my teammates. We always play well, but when we play like this we’re very happy.”