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Remember those chants of “We’ve got our Chelsea back” when Enzo Maresca’s side thumped Southampton at St Mary’s in December? Life moves quickly in west London. Two months have passed since those heady days, back when the talk was of a burgeoning title challenge, and the mood at Stamford Bridge has fractured so rapidly that the theme of a protest against the owners before their home game against Southampton on Tuesday night is – wait for it – “We want our Chelsea back”.
It may seem an overreaction to a dip in form. Even so it is not hard to find fans who feel a growing disconnection with the club and struggle to understand Chelsea’s youth-driven recruitment strategy. They sense that the change pushed by the majority shareholder, Clearlake Capital, has been too intense; that too much knowledge has left the building since the end of the Roman Abramovich era. Perhaps it is why Chelsea, who have built a squad full of raw talent but short of experienced leaders, look rudderless when games go against them.
This may be the problem with investing more than £1bn in a process where the plan is not to win now but to be the best at some unknown point down the line. Look to the future as much as you like, but what about the here and now? What happens if injuries bite, inconsistency flares, mistakes in the transfer market pile up, you keep being outdone by streetwise opponents and Champions League qualification begins to look dicey? You may find that your biggest star starts to look a little restless.
It is not yet time to panic about Cole Palmer. It is, though, fair to wonder what will go through his mind if Chelsea again miss out on a Champions League place. Palmer clearly belongs at the highest level. The 22-year-old is an elite player, scorer in a European Championship final, and there is no doubt he has built on the breakout campaign of last season. He has 14 goals this term, six assists, and has produced some spellbinding moments.
Yet his frustrated demeanour during Chelsea’s past two games is a concern. Palmer had to be cajoled to acknowledge the away support after a 3-0 loss at Brighton on Valentine’s Day and he was not his nonchalant, carefree, shrugging self during the 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa last Saturday. If anything the man with the “cold” celebration looks a little too icy at the moment. He is shooting his teammates plenty of frosty glares – Christopher Nkunku was on the end of one after failing to latch on to a wayward pass from Palmer against Villa – and is drifting to the margins more regularly.
That is partly a consequence of teams paying more attention to Palmer and going to greater lengths to crowd him out. He is not a surprise package any more and has to cope with the shift in expectation. The positive take is that this is merely a challenge for Palmer to overcome on his journey to the top. Chelsea, who are seventh after two wins in their past 10 games, need him to meet it. Games against Southampton and Leicester offer them and Palmer a chance to get back on track before tougher assignments.
Equally it is not ideal that Chelsea rely so heavily on someone so young. It was noticeable during Chelsea’s win over Wolves last month that Palmer took responsibility when it was 1-1, but it is not a sustainable situation. Palmer can show the way with his technique and imagination but he is not a bullish character like Jude Bellingham. He would benefit from being able to lean on some wise old heads during difficult moments. Two Chelsea greats, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard, have spoken about the importance of youngsters being protected by older players.
The concern is that bad habits set in without that guidance. Palmer has forced own-goals in two recent outings but he has not scored in six games and is trying to do too much at times. The danger is he will feel under pressure to produce. His expected-goals data is down, he is shooting from worse positions and he missed two good chances to make it 2-1 against Villa.
Not that this is a dramatic decline. Although Palmer is without an assist since 1 December, his creativity has not diminished. His expected assists have risen from 2.63 to 4.15 in the past 12 games. Before the trip to Brighton he had created 32 chances in the Premier League since 4 December, the most in Europe’s top five leagues. The problem is none of those chances were taken.
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Palmer is surrounded by wastefulness. Nicolas Jackson had gone eight games without a goal before sustaining a serious hamstring injury against West Ham this month. Nkunku looks uninterested. Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke, another struck down by a hamstring problem, have not produced enough on the flanks. “Cole is a human being,” Maresca said on Monday. “The problem is we rely on Cole for everything and I’ve said since the start we need to rely on the team.”
But the difference is that Lampard and Joe Cole were surrounded by hardened winners at Chelsea. Palmer is having to work it out for himself and unless Chelsea are prepared to bring in more ready-made talent the danger is their brightest star will start to get itchy feet.
