sport news How Chelsea and Cole Palmer are primed to heap more misery on Man City in their ... trends now
As per tradition, Chelsea’s players and coaches passed Cole Palmer’s hat-trick ball after the 4-3 win over Manchester United around the changing room to sign.
’S*** player,’ wrote one prankster on his mantelpiece memento. The same culprit struck after his four goals in the 6-0 victory over Everton on Monday, this time writing: ‘I told u you were a s*** player.’
Secrecy surrounds the identity of the artist we may as well brand the ‘Blues Banksy’. It is being kept secret by those inside Chelsea because, sometimes, the mystery is more fun than the truth.
That will not stop amateur sleuths from comparing the handwriting to that of manager Mauricio Pochettino in the farewell message he wrote on a Tottenham whiteboard in 2019, mind.
Clearly, whoever it is, they are simply winding up the 21-year-old sensational whose calmness amid chaos has earned him the nickname ‘Cold Palmer’ this season. Who has changed the debate from whether he should be included in the England squad for Euro 2024 to whether he should be starting. Who will be looking to compound Manchester City’s misery after their Champions League exit to Real Madrid on Wednesday when he faces them in the FA Cup.
Cole Palmer has scored hat-tricks in consecutive games at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea
Palmer has been given the nickname 'Cold Palmer' and he showed great calmness to score his penalty after his team-mates Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke were trying to take it
Manchester City are going for the double rather than the treble after losing to Real Madrid
Chelsea could use Palmer to pile more misery onto Manchester City in Sunday's match
Pochettino faces a tactical dilemma for this semi-final at Wembley Stadium – one that could make or break Chelsea’s season and his chances of surviving an end-of-season review with their ambitious American owners.
His 4-2-3-1 formation is non-negotiable, but what is negotiable is how and where he uses Palmer against the club who sold him in the summer for what now seems a steal at £40million, rising to £42.5m.
It is expected to depend on the availability of Enzo Fernandez, the midfielder who missed the 6-0 win over Everton because of a minor adductor injury.
Conor Gallagher filled in alongside Moises Caicedo in his absence, and that saw Palmer moved to the No 10 position which Gallagher has been occupying. That set-up worked well, though unlocking City is an entirely different challenge to dismantling an Everton team scrapping for survival.
Unlike that Monday night walkover, Pochettino knows Chelsea are unlikely to dominate possession this time around, that they will spend much of this match dropping into a defensive shape, and that being clinical on the counter is going to be key if they are to win at Wembley.
Mail Sport learned on Thursday that Fernandez returned to training as of Wednesday and that Pochettino is mulling over whether to partner him and Caicedo together in midfield.
That could see Gallagher return to No 10 – whatever criticism there may be of his creativity, he is statistically the Premier League’s best presser – with Palmer reverting to the right wing. Palmer tormented his former employers from that flank in the 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in February, floating inside to link up with Nicolas Jackson as Malo Gusto repeatedly overlapped on his right.
Palmer joined Chelsea in the summer from Manchester City and has scored 20 Premier League goals in his first season for the Blues
Palmer (number 20) played on the right the last when Chelsea drew 1-1 with
