Enzo Maresca fired a warning to Cole Palmer after the forward endured a frustrating evening on the south coast against Bournemouth.
Having pulled out of the England squad Palmer was named in the starting line-up to take on the Cherries on Saturday evening, but he failed to make an impact on the game.
Despite being below their best the Blues took the three points back to London thanks to Christopher Nkunku’s 86th minute winner, which was set up by the impressive Jadon Sancho.
Maresca’s warning for Palmer
Having lit up the Premier League last season the task facing Palmer in the new campaign is can he replicate that form.
The England international has made an impressive start to the season and has four assists and a goal to his name in the first four league games of the season, but he cut a frustrated figure on Saturday evening.
Palmer won’t be able to impact every game and against Bournemouth he was man marked constantly, a tactic many opposing teams could employ throughout the season and Maresca warned the 22-year-old after the game to expect more of the same.
“This kind of player, they are going to always get this,” he told PA Media.
“Cook was marking him 95 minutes man to man, or 95 minutes maybe not because after we put him wide, but he had man to man all the game and it’s not easy for Cole.”
Chelsea were very much reliant on Palmer last season and whilst they will still be looking to him to produce, the Blues really need the supporting cast to step up and shoulder some of the responsibility.
The performance against Bournemouth showed that Chelsea can win without Palmer having an impact on the game and it’s something they need to learn to do more of because more teams are going to try and employ the tactics against him that the Cherries did.