Cole Palmer's Panenka goal in Chelsea's thrilling win over Tottenham showed the “freedom” the England midfielder shares with “a lot of top players”, Blues boss Enzo Maresca said, as his top scorer looks to add to his 11 top-flight goals. This season.
Palmer's audacious strike was his second penalty after the break in his side's 4-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as they rallied from 2-0 down after 11 minutes to move into second place heading into the weekend's action.
“Cole is different from the rest, but we have so many good players that the coach – in this case, me – will feel happy and proud to work with them,” said Maresca, whose team is two points ahead of Arsenal and four points ahead of Arsenal. Behind leaders Liverpool, having played a game more than the Reds.
“A lot of top players have that (calmness in crucial moments) – they almost don't seem to care, but it's just their way, and being that way gives them more freedom.
“They can relax, and you can see Cole the same way. Cole was that way five years ago and he's still that way. You don't need to waste energy convincing him to be a different way.”
together. pic.twitter.com/W28J0WmkU0
– Chelsea (@ChelseaFC) December 10, 2024
Cole Palmer goals
Palmer's six additional assists in 15 Premier League appearances put his tally of direct goal contributions this season behind Mohamed Salah, who has produced 13 goals and eight assists in 14 appearances for Liverpool.
None of Palmer's 22 Premier League goals last season appeared in the 180 minutes he played against Brentford, which Chelsea host on Sunday (7pm GMT) – although he did cross for Axel Disasi's 83rd-minute equaliser. They drew 2-2 away to the Bees in the English Premier League. March 2.
Maresca added: “He behaves exactly as he wants, focusing on football and the important things.” “The most important thing is that he loves football.
📸#CFCs | #TOTCHE pic.twitter.com/yngCfaVlMM
– Chelsea (@ChelseaFC) December 9, 2024
“He's always one of the first ones out in the session, he starts playing with the ball and you can see in that moment who really loves football and those who are just playing football.
“He's only 22 years old, there are many things he can improve… Right now, everyone is watching him man-to-man.”
Palmer's omission from Chelsea's Conference League squad meant he was not part of the 3-1 win over Kazakh club Astana on Thursday, when Mark Goyo and Renato Vega scored from an own goal from Alexander Marochkin as the visitors took a 3-0 lead after 39 minutes. minutes.
Chelsea vs Brentford
Chelsea have lost three times and drawn twice in their last five meetings with Brentford, and their last home league win was in 1946.
All of those defeats came at Stamford Bridge, where Thomas Frank's side followed up a 4-1 defeat in April 2022 with back-to-back 2-0 victories.
