As Mauricio Pochettino prepared for a trip to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium without an injured Cole Palmer last April, he called upon Chelsea’s other players to use the talisman’s absence as an opportunity.
“If I am a teammate of Cole Palmer in his position or a similar position,” the Argentine coach said, “I am going to be motivated to go there tomorrow and show this is Chelsea Football Club, not Cole Palmer Football Club.” The Palmer-less visitors lost 5-0.
That abysmal display was the one defeat Chelsea suffered in Pochettino’s final 15 Premier League games in charge – and the only one without Palmer. Enzo Maresca took over the Blues in the summer and has also identified this overreliance as a worrying pattern.
Palmer was snuffed out of Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool last weekend by the diligent man-marking of Curtis Jones. This was not the first time that the Blues – who registered a season-low two shots on target at Anfield – have wilted when their star man has failed to turn up. Ahead of a daunting slate of fixtures, Maresca is understandably concerned about the prospect of Palmer getting marked out of more games to come.
Across Palmer’s first 45 Premier League appearances, he has rarely failed to directly contribute to a Chelsea goal. However, on the sporadic occasions when the opposition have been able to shut down the talisman, the Blues have notably suffered.
The west London outfit average less than a point per game in matches without a goal and/or assist from Palmer compared to an impressive ratio of 1.9 when the 22-year-old gets in on the action.
This season, the former Manchester City academy graduate has either scored or created 11 of Chelsea’s 17 league goals – but this dependency extends beyond the surface level digits. Palmer is responsible for a staggering 53% of the total non-penalty xG which Chelsea have created this season, per FBref. No other player in the division can boast such a large proportion of their entire team’s attacking output.
Palmer leads his team for goals, assists, shots, touches in the attacking third, take-ons and many more key categories. The playmaker has created as many chances this season as Enzo Fernandez, Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke put together (24).
When Maresca addressed the growing trend of man-marking Palmer ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Newcastle United on Sunday, he framed it as “a weapon” that his side could use.
“It is about a matter of balance within the team,” Maresca explained. “We used to play around Cole because he’s a more physical player and the Premier League requires you to be defensively strong. Now we have other alternatives to add to the attack.”
One of the obvious alternatives is Jadon Sancho. The loanee has shown promise in fits and spurts but if he is to be more involved, Chelsea may need to shift the balance of their buildup. Sancho is at his best with a buccaneering full-back scampering forward on the overlap.
Maresca has often used left-back Marc Cucurella as an auxiliary midfielder in possession this season, but could be inclined to rejig his set-up following the return to fitness of Reece James – who is more adept at motoring forward than giving motivational speeches.
The real issue for Maresca is that Palmer’s brilliance is not necessarily a consequence of Chelsea repeatedly funnelling the ball his way. Six different players average more touches in the opposition’s penalty box than Palmer this season – he is just better than them.
Pochettino inadvertently hinted at this unfortunate reality last season. “They are not jealous,” the Argentine said of Palmer’s teammates. “They only want the same pill we provide Palmer! It’s a joke! They ask, ‘What you are doing for Palmer, we want the same.'”
Getting marked all over the pitch can be a pain – but it is a privilege. “Sometimes you can see he gets a little frustrated,” Maresca admitted earlier this week, “because it’s not easy to have 90, 95 minutes being man marked. But players of that level get used to it.”
The former Chelsea icon Eden Hazard was memorably chased all over Stamford Bridge by Ander Herrera whenever he came up against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. The jinking Belgian initially struggled to adjust to the intense scrutiny but soon used it to his advantage.
Palmer doesn’t possess the same straight-line speed as Hazard but is just as adept at pivoting past an opponent in tight spaces. Bursts of short passes – using his quickness of thought rather than feet – will be instrumental. Yet, Palmer could also help his team by not getting on the ball at all.
It would be a waste of the Englishman’s abundant talent if he were to forever act as a decoy, but dragging at least one if not multiple opponents out of action would create space for his admittedly inferior teammates.
