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Featured Image Credit: Getty/Sky Sports
Topics: Cole Palmer, Chelsea, Football, Enzo Maresca
Nasir Jabbar
Topics: Cole Palmer, Chelsea, Football, Enzo Maresca
Enzo Maresca has named the ONE area Cole Palmer needs to improve on and insists the Chelsea star is not safe from being dropped.
Palmer enjoyed a scintillating debut campaign at Chelsea following his £42.5 million transfer from Manchester City as he scored an impressive 25 goals across all competitions.
And he's on course to endure another prolific campaign, having already bagged 12 goals this season - including a stunning Boxing Day strike against Fulham.
Despite his individual success, Maresca admitted that he wouldn't be afraid to take Palmer off in matches following his side's goalless draw at Everton last weekend.
And the Chelsea boss has told his star player that he must do more to stop being man-marked out of games.
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"He still has to improve things in those moments," he explained.
"Especially because if you get frustrated, you lose your focus on the game. For sure, game after game, he’s going to understand more about when they mark him man-to-man, how to move.
"We already protected him in the Conference League which is why he was not in the squad. That is why he always starts in the Premier League."
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Asked if Palmer would always play in the Premier League, Maresca replied: "I take the decision game by game. Goals and assists and how he is helping us. Him and Nicolas (Jackson), they are not only scoring goals but helping with how we press and our intensity."
Palmer has started every league game under Maresca this season, weighing in with 12 goals.
He hasn't featured in his side's European campaign, with the 22-year-old omitted from Maresca's Europa Conference League squad for the group stages.
At the time of writing, the Blues sit in second place and only trail league leaders Liverpool in the Premier League and have won every European fixture this term.