Cole Palmer has struggled this season for Chelsea, missing 10 games through injury and being constantly hampered by those injuries even when fit.
The 23-year-old has been suffering with repetitive groin issues since the FIFA Club World Cup, which has seen him have a stop start season, having his minutes managed and struggling to get back to full fitness.
However, with the World Cup on the horizon and the England international finally able to feature under Thomas Tuchel again, he will be hoping to revitalise his form at the right moment, in order to earn his spot on the plane and rescue Chelsea’s season which remains in the balance as things stand.
In this article, we’ll cover
Season so far
Palmer has scored 10 goals in his 25 appearances in all competitions this season, providing just three assists in his 1,733 minutes played.
Six of his nine Premier League goals this season have come since the arrival of Liam Rosenior, with four of those six goals coming from the penalty spot.
Palmer is struggling to find the levels of chance creation and goal scoring from open play that he has in previous seasons, only creating three big chances in the Premier League this season.
Many outsiders have put that down to the attacking dynamics at Chelsea, losing Nicolas Jackson who had a good connection with the Englishman and lacking runners in the frontline for Palmer to pick out.
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Tactical platforming
The way Palmer is currently being platformed under Liam Rosenior is interesting, because the idea of giving him lots of bodies in close proximity to combine, along with maximum freedom and license to roam is good in theory.
When starting as the number 10, once Rosenior’s side shift into their 2-2-5-1 shape, Palmer finds himself in the middle of a “triple 10s” set up behind the striker.
Being in the middle means Palmer has license to roam to either side, creating overloads and sensing the moment of when to adjust his position to put himself in the best conditions to recieve the ball.
However, in the past few games, Palmer has been shifted out to the right wing, drifting inside with the right-back providing width.
This has seen Palmer drifting across from the right half space, leading to left-sided clusters, shutting off their right-sided options.
While this balance could be fixed with someone like Estevao interchanging positions with Palmer, it has recently created an imbalance in Chelsea’s attacking play.
Provocative Palmer
Palmer was often criticised under Enzo Maresca for dropping into deeper areas to pick up the ball, being involved in the build up phase and looking to progress play.
The way he can utilise his fakes to deceive the opposition press, bait multiple players towards him and find others in space is a tool many managers would like to have available to them.
Platforming Palmer in this way also conditions him to hunt possession of the ball, get as many touches as possible and be the one taking charge, which empowers him, provides confidence and feeds into his game.
Another benefit this has is where Palmer arrives from once entering the final third, making it more difficult for the opposition to pick him up, giving more space for his final action once he arrives.
An ideal blend is to have wide triangles which have fluidity to replace each other zonally, allowing Palmer to drop deep, get touches and progress play, but also receive between the lines, making it difficult for the opposition to predict the next action.
Enzo Fernandez has a similar role as part of the left-sided triangle for Chelsea, often interchanging with Marc Cucurella to give him the best of both worlds, effectively platforming the best areas of his game.
Stride coming back too late?
Thomas Tuchel stated “I had the feeling his stride was back to the original lengths” when speaking on Palmer’s injury struggles this season.
However, despite playing a big part coming from the bench in England’s 1-1 draw against Uruguay, whipping in the corner from which Ben White scored the opener, Palmer’s performance against Japan left a lot to be desired.
Palmer looked void of ideas in the congested central spaces against Japan, taking plenty of touches without purpose and lacking any cutting edge in the game.
As the season is reaching its final stretch, Palmer will have every chance to prove himself as a game changer for Chelsea with the season still very much in the balance, and with Tuchel looking on, he will know a confident version of Palmer who is willing to take risks and hunt the ball for touches could be a key component for his England World Cup squad.