Chelsea has been showing some steady progress under Enzo Maresca this season. The team has been scoring goals for fun, with both Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson scoring a lot of goals. Palmer has been quite prolific as the No. 10, having registered a few assists as well.
However, on the flip side, the Blues have lost both their big matches in the league so far, against Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively. They fought reasonably well against both sides, but their inability to sneak out a point from either of those matches must have hurt Maresca.
Cole Palmer Needs to Step Up in Big Games
Palmer was underwhelming as the No. 10 against Liverpool, contained by Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai in the midfield. He played on the right flank against Manchester City and shifted to the central role thereafter.
Despite scoring four goals against Brighton in an exhilarating display and a few other impressive performances, Palmer’s performance against Liverpool was nowhere near the level expected from him. Liverpool was wary of him and did not allow him any space inside the middle third. Whenever Palmer touched the ball in Liverpool’s half, he was hounded by the opposition players consistently.
Palmer will have to come to terms with that and will have to prepare accordingly. He should know that he cannot hold on to the ball for long inside the opposition half against big teams and should be ready to pass the ball around frequently. Trying to dribble past the opponents will not always be the best option for him. With fast wingers like Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke in his team, the change of approach should benefit Chelsea.
The 22-year-old Englishman can actually take a leaf out Mohamed Salah’s book, as the latter keeps delivering in spite of being continuously marked by opponents. Salah does not try to dribble past his markers to go deep frequently these days and concentrates more on playing lateral passes to his fellow forwards.
Salah’s job, however, is easier in the sense that he plays on the right flank and has to focus on playing passes in a single direction only. However, the mechanism followed by him can be adopted by Palmer, especially against other big teams.
Palmer’s Numbers are Excellent This Season
Palmer already has six goals and five assists from eight Premier League matches this season. In comparison, Salah has five goals and five assists from as many matches. It means that Palmer is one of the best players in England at the moment.
He will have to perform close to his best if the Blues are to extract the maximum number of points from their next three league matches. Chelsea will play against Newcastle United, Manchester United and Arsenal in their next three matches, which could determine the course of the season for them.
Palmer, last year’s PFA Young Player of the Year, should focus more on stepping up his level this season to prove his status as Chelsea’s talisman. If he is able to do that, Marseca’s men will firmly be in the race to finish inside the top four this season.