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Opinion
Chelsea fans have theory on why Cole Palmer is struggling after once again failing to score in win over Everton
Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer once again flattered to deceive as the Blues ran out 1-0 winners over Everton in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off.
Palmer lit up the Premier League in the first half of the season, but he has experienced a drop-off in form that has seen his goal drought stretch to 17 games.
Although Chelsea managed to get the better of Everton at Stamford Bridge, Palmer failed to have much of an impact on the game and was regularly caught in possession.
A number of Chelsea fans have now shared a theory as to why Palmer has been struggling so much.
Some Chelsea fans think Enzo Maresca has Cole Palmer playing too deep
There has been much debate over whether Cole Palmer’s drop-off in form is down to the player himself or down to Enzo Maresca’s coaching.
A number of Chelsea fans following the game believe it’s the latter, noticing just how deep Palmer was playing and claiming this wouldn’t be up to the player himself.
“Nearly all of Cole Palmer’s touches came from dropping deep to collect the ball, zero shots attempted says it all and you know how trigger happy Palmer is,” one fan wrote on X.
“He’s simply not getting the ball in the attacking zones he thrives in.”
Another fan said: “Yeah, him getting zero shots vs Everton at home is a major problem and that’s a coaching problem, mainly due to where he’s most likely receiving the ball.
“Have no clue why man can’t accept man’s not playing well, while he’s also not being maximised at all.”
The comments on Palmer’s positioning kept coming, with one fan saying: “This isn’t Palmer’s fault. It’s the stupid role that Maresca has him playing.
“He used to be one of the front two OOP alongside Jackson. Now he’s so deep that he barely affects the game.”
Another supporter said: “Palmer playing so deep today, completely wasting his talents…”
Another fan wrote: “Palmer is really deep man. It’s like he traded zones with Enzo.”
What Enzo Maresca said about Cole Palmer form
Maresca didn’t really touch upon Palmer’s performance after the game, only mentioning him in passing.
Speaking about Nicolas Jackson being back among the goals, Maresca said: “Yeah, we said many times that we don’t have doubt with the ones that for part of the season they struggled a little bit, like Nico, like Cole, like Robert [Sanchez].
“It’s the moment that you have to support them even more.”
Prior to the game, Maresca claimed that Palmer’s drop-off is not something to do with his coaching at Chelsea, rather it’s to do with the mental aspect.
“For sure it’s a mental thing, it’s not tactical or technical,” said Maresca. “Cole is still the player who scored 14 goals in 20 games.
“The style is the same, the manager is the same, 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.”
Despite Palmer’s struggles, TBR Football sources understand that Chelsea aren’t looking to move Palmer on amid links with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United.