Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has revealed why he did not turn to Cole Palmer in the defeat to Newcastle United in the Round of 16 of the Carabao Cup. Maresca said he was satisfied with the way Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku were playing and did not feel the need for a change.
Enzo Maresca Explains Cole Palmer’s Absence Against Newcastle United
Chelsea frontman Palmer was in a league of his own in the 2023-24 season, scoring 22 goals and providing 11 assists in 33 Premier League matches to take his team to a fifth-place finish. The sought-after England international has carried his explosive form over to the 2024-25 season, bagging seven goals and five assists in nine Premier League outings.
Using a player of Palmer’s caliber may seem like a n0-brainer, especially in a knockout cup tie against a high-quality opponent. Chelsea coach, Maresca, however, refrained from availing this option during his team’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United on Wednesday night (October 30).
Explaining his decision, Maresca said (via The Mirror):
“[It was] simply because I think Joao and Christo were doing very good. The reason why [Palmer traveled] was in case we needed Cole but Joao and Christo were doing well so there was no need to change.”
Maresca Insists Chelsea Played Well Against Newcastle United
Chelsea, who are fifth in the Premier League rankings, conceded the first goal 23 minutes into the game, with Alexander Isak firing Newcastle United into the lead. Three minutes later, the Blues let in another, as Axel Disasi bundled the ball into his own net.
After the game, Maresca said it was a solid performance by the Blues, undone just by a 10-min spell in the first half.
“If we analyze the result, it didn’t work. But I think for 22 or 23 minutes, until their goal, we were in control of the game, we didn’t concede anything.” the Italian continued.
“But then after the goal, we lost the control for 10 minutes and then conceded the second one.”
He concluded by adding:
“The most important thing, as we always say, is the result but the performance, we lost the game because of 10 minutes after the first goal, and then for the rest, we were quite good.”
Chelsea did finish the game with more shots (17 vs 8), more efforts on target (4 vs 2), and a higher xG (1.97 vs 1.4). However, their finishing was a big letdown — something that Palmer could have greatly helped with.
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