For a study of Chelsea‘s undulations in competency, there were two moments at Luton that did the trick quite nicely.
First, the ridiculous – Nicolas Jackson was pulled up for the kind of foul throw you wouldn’t get away with in an under 10s match. Next, the sublime — Cole Palmer and the second of his two fine goals at Kenilworth Road.
It fused the quality of Jackson’s delivery with Palmer’s devilish foot-roll to round the keeper and the poise he then showed in coaxing lunges from Gabriel Osho and Amari’i Bell before placing a finish between the bodies. They call him ‘Cold Palmer’ within the squad for good reason.
That goal was first class, as was his opener, and there was also the more mundane contribution of an assist for Noni Madueke to score his second in a week. Chelsea being Chelsea, they turned a 3-0 stroll into a panic at 3-2, which is indicative of their alarming frailties but the uplifting side-tale of their season has been Palmer.
With each performance of this level, you do wonder if Manchester City dropped a clanger in selling this 21-year-old for £40million. Todd Boehly and his recruitment gurus haven’t received much value for their £1billion trolley dash, and City get little wrong in that area, but in Palmer they both seem to have behaved out of character.
They call Chelsea’s summer signing ‘Cold Palmer’ within the squad for good reason
His numbers for the season have been fleshed out with four penalties, but are still mightily impressive — eight goals and four assists, leaving him in thin air for comparisons. Only Jude Bellingham with 15 has more goal contributions among under-21 players in Europe’s top five leagues.
‘It is obvious he is an important player for us,’ Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino would say after the game. ‘A decisive player.’
It is tempting to think Palmer might soon earn some greater prominence for England. His international involvements amount to 35 minutes of the November qualifiers against North Macedonia and Malta, but even factoring for all Gareth Southgate’s creative riches, there is surely a place for him at the European Championships this summer.
If he isn’t a starter, he is precisely the kind of talent in whom you must invest some tournament experience for the future.
It is relevant in such conversations that he is currently proving more effective for Pochettino than Raheem Sterling, whose form has picked up in the past couple of months but he was left out at Luton in favour of Madueke.
England starlet stole the show with two goals and an assist in Chelsea’s 3-2 win over Hatters
For Sterling to go to Germany and not Palmer would fly in the face of the domestic evidence that is accumulating. In the bigger picture, Pochettino was able to talk about some modicum of momentum for his side heading into 2024 after successive wins against Crystal Palace and Luton. They feel like crumbs of positivity when set against how far Chelsea have fallen, which puts a premium on their business in January.
They are looking at anywhere between two and four new arrivals, with priority on a goal-scorer and trimming fat via some outgoings. The mystery is how much involvement Pochettino will have in the decision making.
A bloated, young squad needs thinning but it also requires the balance and nous that has somehow been lost in their market misadventures. Indeed, it was glaring at the weekend only 39-year-old Thiago Silva had the presence of mind to know in the final 20 minutes that the game was slipping.
His arm-waving tirade at the final whistle was followed by a social media apology that was hardly necessary — Palmer’s goals had set up the win but Silva’s late blocks and leadership ensured they didn’t throw it away. They are the isolated successes in a 2023 that Chelsea will wish to forget.
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