2 weeks Ago
Earlier in the season, Maresca had also highlighted that his side might be heavily reliant on the Englishman, and that is something he needed to address. Chelsea forward Cole Palmer’s 16-game goal drought is merely a mental issue rather than a tactical or technical one, stated Blues manager Enzo Maresca. The 22-year-old England international had a sensational debut campaign last season at Chelsea after his move away from Manchester City, scoring 27 goals and registering 15 assists in 48 matches.
This time around, however, Palmer has netted 14 times and set up six goals in the ongoing season, but his most recent goal was as far back as mid-January. Are there tactical inadequacies? Or is Palmer physically not up to par? Well, Maresca believes it is only a mental block, and it will be merely a matter of time before Palmer gets going again. “For sure it’s a mental thing, it’s not tactical or technical," Maresca told reporters ahead of Saturday’s Premier League home game against 13th-placed Everton.
“Cole is still the player who scored 14 goals in 20 games. The style is the same, the manager is the same, and the club is the same. Nothing has changed around Cole.
It’s just mentally in this moment. “You can see he’s a little bit worried because he wants to help the team. You can see he’s struggling a bit on that.
But he showed how happy he was after Fulham. It’s just a matter (of whether) we can win games. For sure, he’s going to score goals.
“If you go back game by game, he had at least every game one or two chances, so it’s not about how the team is playing." Earlier in the season, Maresca had also highlighted that his side might be heavily reliant on the Englishman, and that is something he needed to address. “The problem with Cole is probably that we rely on Cole for everything, and I said since we started that we need to rely on the team," the 45-year-old said.
“For sure, we need big players, top players like Cole, but we are not worried about Cole at all," the Italian added. Chelsea are sixth in the Premier League table with 57 points from 33 matches, as they chase Champions League qualification for next season. At least five Premier League teams are guaranteed a spot in the 2025-26 edition of the Champions League.
The Blues trail fifth-placed Newcastle United by two points currently and are also in the hunt for silverware, in the form of the UEFA Conference League..
