What has happened to Cole Palmer? Chelsea’s most important offensive player is suffering from a never-ending goal drought—for which his coach has only one explanation.
It’s been almost exactly seven months since Chelsea’s 4-2 win over Brighton, and it feels like at least that long. On September 28, Cole Palmer set a new Premier League record with four goals before halftime and seemed well on his way to surpassing his outstanding league numbers from the previous season (22 goals, 11 assists).
Palmer is still the talk of the town, but for a different reason: he simply isn’t scoring anymore. Since netting the opening goal in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on January 14, he has gone 16 competitive games without finding the net. During that spell, Palmer even missed his first Premier League penalty at the eleventh attempt (in a 1-0 win over Leicester).
“Nothing has changed around Cole, and neither has Cole himself.”
His coach Enzo Maresca didn’t look far for explanations ahead of Saturday’s home game against Everton, saying it was definitely a “mental” thing. “I don’t think it’s tactical or technical,” he said, adding that Palmer is ‘still the same player’ who scored 14 times in the first 21 games. ‘Our style of play is the same and the coach is the same. So nothing has changed around Cole, and neither has Cole himself. At the moment, it’s all mental.’
But that will change again. “You can see that he’s a little worried because he wants to help the team. You can see that he’s struggling a bit with that. But he’ll definitely score goals again.”
For Chelsea, Palmer can’t start again soon enough. With five games to go before the end of the season, the Blues are sixth in the table and have fallen behind in the battle for a Champions League spot, but they still have every chance of qualifying, as the top five teams will qualify. In addition, there is a title to be won in the Conference League, although Palmer, who has only been eligible to play since the knockout stages, has yet to score in that competition.
This is supported by the fact that the 22-year-old, who usually plays in central attacking midfield, has had 41 shots on goal in his 11 league appearances since his last goal – more than any other Premier League player, according to the BBC. “We always try to play in such a way that our best player is in a position to be dangerous. We do that in every game,” Maresca emphasized, denying that he had made any tactical adjustments. ‘That’s just the way football is; at the moment, he’s not scoring.’
