Chelsea told Cole Palmer is the ‘sort of player strikers love’ as they’re urged to use him correctly
Former Chelsea man Glen Johnson believes Cole Palmer is the “sort of player strikers love to play with” and that means he has to sit behind the striker in order to be at his best.
Palmer has burst through as one of the main men at Stamford Bridge after being a bit-part player at Manchester City. He’d no doubt have ascended to that level with the Citizens at some point, but Chelsea saw his potential immediately.
In nine Premier League games with the Blues, Palmer’s started six times, and has scored four goals and provided two assists. That included a goal and an assist against Tottenham and a goal against former side City.
He’s been used in a variety of roles so far: central midfield, right wing, up top and as an attacking-midfielder, and has been relatively successful in each.
However, Johnson feels he needs to play as the latter in order to be the most effective player he can be and build upon his good start.
“Cole Palmer has been doing great. He’s obviously got a great mentality stepping up for penalties and performing against his old team,” Johnson told Squawka.
“He looks calm on the ball, looks like he’s enjoying his football and it’s good to see, I think he’s the real deal.
“I prefer to see him in the middle, behind the striker. At the moment, I don’t think he’s quick or strong enough to be isolated one on one with defenders and is best at receiving it on the half turn and being clever with his passes into strikers.
“He’s the sort of player strikers love to play with, but I don’t think that he’s the kind of player a full-back hates to play against one on one. He’s intelligent and can play through the lines in the middle, and that’s where he should play with Chelsea.”
The one game he started as an attacking-midfielder, Chelsea lost 2-0 to Brentford. It doesn’t seem he’s limited from playing anywhere in his current form, though, so if he wants to make the no.10 role his own, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he did.
That being said, he’s shown he’s competent in each position he’s played so far, and he’ll be happy in the knowledge he can do a job in a variety of positions rather than being pigeonholed into one.
