Cole Palmer is an expressive footballer. He always has been. He plays the game like he lives it.
At his best he is off the hook and instinctive. At times this has had a robotic element to it like Erling Haaland and it has brought so much joy to Chelsea.
Although often emotionless and cold in the big moments, that is only the surface level because his celebrations and pure jubliation shine through. Think back to when he got carried away with it just over 12 months ago with the late, late winner over Manchester United at Stamford or his stunning strike to complete the demolition of Aston Villa.
That is Palmer unleashed. When there is something to burst out he will let it through the seams. Then he turns off and lets his mind go elsewhere. That is the interview Palmer you see. That is Palmer the character, and in the most loving way, the meme.
At Brighton, after being deployed as a striker for the second week in a row, this all materialised in a very different way. It is not a new way but it is not something often seen.
Palmer vented. Palmer moaned. Palmer chucked his arms out wide like someone who had never been told no before on a football pitch – because not many have stopped him up to this point. Palmer encapsulated everything wrong with Chelsea at this junction.
Having been the single figure, at times, keeping things bright for the club, this was the worst of Palmer and the worst of Chelsea. He sulked away to Brighton. He threw his head back. He gestured to others.
Even when Palmer has let his anger and frustration take over, because it naturally does at times in the heat of top-level football, it is usually followed up by a moment of magic. On the south coast he suffered possibly the worst defeat he has started in for Chelsea.
Having missed the 5-0 loss to Arsenal at the back end of last season there was something so out of kilter at the Amex Stadium on Friday night. Palmer was out of position, lacking conviction, and no longer supported by anyone able to help him.
Stripped of his tormentor-in-chief for much of the past 18 months in Nicolas Jackson, nobody at Chelsea looks like doing anything, let alone scoring, other than Palmer. And, in truth, neither does he at the moment.
Palmer’s two moments in a 3-0 humiliation at the hands of a club Chelsea have tried to copy and scale up under new owners were both the sort of chance he has converted without thinking for much of his short senior career to date. Recent weeks have seen him laying on the passes for teammates to fire in but here it was Malo Gusto down the right, cutting the ball back.
Twice, Palmer had room on the edge of the box to pick his spot but twice he missed the target without going close. That was as good as it got for Chelsea. The result leaves the feeling incredibly sour. Palmer wore that at full-time, when he had to be reminded to go and applaud the Chelsea fans – not that many had stayed, most making the choice to leave after Jakuba Minteh’s second – and also during the entire game.
(Image: Photo by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images)
15 minutes in he shouted at Noni Madueke for not being released in the middle of the park when Chelsea were looking to counter. Palmer was also there to groan into the sky as another move on Madueke’s right side found him but could only be blasted over.
Madueke would then go down and couldn’t play on. Palmer was left reaching an early boiling point. Before the end he had to be told to calm down by captain Reece James – on from the bench – after a cross wasn’t met by anyone in the box.
The ball was overhit and there were two players at the far post. Although any chance of Chelsea registering a shot on target had gone by this stage, let alone any sort of goal or comeback, Palmer was still flapping his hands and muttering under his breath. It was the sign of someone who had had enough.
It is no surprise that he has reached this point. As said, this might have been the worst performance he has been a part of for Chelsea since moving from Manchester City and it is only the latest chapter of a disappointing story since mid-December.
Chelsea are still fourth, for now, but could end the weekend sixth and still sliding. Their only two wins in the last nine in the league have been against the teams sitting 16th and 17th. Palmer hasn’t scored in five, his longest run since joining.
The blip is becoming a crisis for Enzo Maresca and he doesn’t have the tools to stop it. If anything, more and more is being taken away.
Already working without his only two natural strikers, Maresca lost his most productive winger this season for ‘a while’ when Noni Madueke went off injured. Palmer has been left to create for those unable to finish, he has been left to score the few opportunities made from others, and now he has to do both.
Not being able to do that is clearly a pain for him. He wears that truth so visably. Instead of being the leader which showed up against Wolves – or so Maresca claimed, because in truth it seemed like just a quiet day in a just-about-good-enough overall team display – Palmer played and acted like a pent-up youngster.
This is, again, completely understandable. A wider issue is that Palmer has no senior player to turn to. James tried in the dying embers but could only applaud the effort and attempt to be a single bucket of water over a wildfire.
Chelsea don’t have leaders in this team who can take Palmer under their wing when he needed it most. Maybe the two who are in that role, Tosin Adarabioyo and James, were named as substitutes and only one of them got on. They don’t have players able to calm down in the centre of a battle or get people together.
Adarabioyo did also try, with James, to conduct a teamtalk at half-time. It didn’t work. Chelsea were just as blunt, just as stagnant, and just as clueless.
Christopher Nkunku failed to get into the game despite playing the first 45 minutes in a position more akin to the one he excelled in at RB Leipzig. Part of his issue might have been that instead of a No.9 he had the on-edge Palmer, who also didn’t want to be there.
Nkunku was moved back to the tip of whatever attacking shape Chelsea were meant to have. He saw even less of the ball and the front line was even more ghostly.
Palmer cannot really be defended on this occasion, either. He was poor and did not live up to the extremely high standards he has set since joining Chelsea. But given the other attacking options available, it really is Cole Palmer FC. When he doesn’t turn up, what is left?
That is what supporters are asking themselves on a regular basis now as the cultural void at Chelsea hangs and spreads. There is nothing to this club right now, not even Palmer when it goes like this.
He has needed a foil and a cover because 22-year-olds in their second full senior season should not be relied upon to this extent. It is not healthy, just ask Jackson.
And then zoom out a bit more, because all is not lost for Chelsea but is starting to feel like it despite the top four race still being very much on. Where is Palmer at Chelsea in the grand scheme of things?
He is a Champions League-level player who is about to be in the Conference League knockout stages. At the current rate he won’t be playing in Europe’s top competition next season either because fifth really does feel a long way off given the injuries and form – and this is for a side that started the weekend in fourth.
Pessimistic watchers might claim that even qualifying for the Europa League or Conference League again is uncertain. The best chance to go up a notch may well be to do it as holders of the Conference League rather than by Premier League position.
But Palmer does not want to be in these conversations. His contract at Stamford Bridge is until 2033. There is time for him to have an established Champions League impact. Just how long that remains at Chelsea will only come into more focus if they dip out of the fight to get into it for next season will be in question.
It is too soon to really start worrying about Palmer from a Chelsea perspective but on nights when he shows such open frustration at what is around him, it is only fair to raise the prospect. If nothing changes on the field in the next two-and-a-half months then it will become all the more prevalent.
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- Source: NEWHD MEDIA
