Please enable JavaScript to experience the full functionality of GMX.

Enzo Maresca: Chelsea rely on Cole Palmer too much

Enzo Maresca: Chelsea rely on Cole Palmer too much

Enzo Maresca has admitted that Chelsea are over-reliant on Cole Palmer.

The Blues' poor form continued with a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa on Saturday (22.02.25) and the coach admits that his team is too dependent on the attacker - who has not scored in his past six games - to perform.

Maresca said: "I am always concerned about general performance but I am not concerned about Cole because Cole is a human being and during the season he can have some moments where he struggles a little bit more.

"The problem with Cole is probably that we rely on Cole for everything and I said since we start we need to rely on the team. For sure, we need big players, top players like Cole but we are not worried about Cole at all."

Palmer cut a frustrated figure against Villa as Chelsea missed big chances in the game but Maresca has rebuffed claims of any underlying unhappiness from the England international.

The Italian manager said: "At the end, also there are team-mates that can be frustrated with the chances we miss against Villa and against City. I think both chances were Cole, no? Very clear.

"The other day we were 1-1, to score [to go] 1-2 [up], ten minutes to go. Against City, it was 0-1 could be 0-2 after 10 minutes and I didn't see his team-mates frustrated so Cole is just upset just because we are not winning games, no more than that."

Maresca is confident that Palmer can return to the form he displayed earlier in the season if he keeps working hard.

Asked to give his advice to the player, he said: "Just continue working in the way he is working. The other day I think, yes, he had a great chance but overall the performance from Cole... as I said every game we expect from him a goal or assist so it is difficult.

"He is a human being. In this moment probably his performance also reflects a little bit the team performance - that we struggle to score goals - and we need to be a little more clinical in chances."

Sponsored Content

Related Headlines