Maresca challenges Palmer to take 'next step' as Fernandez's Chelsea situation cleared up
Enzo Maresca is hoping Cole Palmer will accept that Chelsea's opponents will continue to focus on him due to his quality and has told the England international what to do to overcome being man marked.
The 22-year-old has already made a blistering start to the 2024-25 season, scoring seven goals and contributing five assists in Chelsea's first nine Premier League matches.
Palmer has become a pivotal player for Chelsea and, naturally, their opponents have started to focus on the attacker during matches in a bid to keep him quiet and take him out of the game.
In recent weeks, Maresca has told Palmer to reduce the frustration as much as possible to ensure his output remains at the top level, with Chelsea needing their star player in the quest for Champions League qualification.
Last time out against Manchester United... pic.twitter.com/6YIfcQArkB
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 2, 2024
Maresca's message for Palmer as Chelsea create plan to overcome 'worried' opponents
Chelsea face Manchester United on Sunday and Maresca is expecting the Red Devils will have a plan for Palmer to try to continue their unbeaten 11-year home league record over the Blues.
"I am ready for that but Cole, I don't know if he's ready!" responded Maresca when asked if he will have a player following him for the whole match, similarly to how Ander Herrera marked Eden Hazard out of the game during a meeting between the two sides in 2017.
‘The next step for Cole is not to get frustrated when teams mark him man to man, because all of the best players in the world are marked man to man.
‘Probably it was the opposite (last season). They weren't too worried about marking Cole. They are now worried because of last year so now he has to get used to it. The next step is going to be more difficult but he can do it.’
Maresca is tweaking his plan game by game to ensure he keeps his opponents guessing what they will do. This was seen against Newcastle last week as Maresca explained: "The only thing we can do is what we did against Newcastle. The reason he was playing on the other side was because Joelinton would have been marking him man to man.
"We tried to move him and give him some different options and space. But he's going to be marked man to man in so many games."
READ MORE: Enzo Maresca explains Cole Palmer snub vs Newcastle despite Chelsea exiting Carabao Cup
"There is no problem" - Maresca defends Fernandez from Chelsea criticism
Fernandez, who was signed for £106.8m from Benfica, has come under increasing scrutiny over what he offers to the Chelsea side following his big-money transfer.
The 23-year-old has been third choice for Maresca this season in midfield, with Romeo Lavia not fit and playing alongside Moises Caicedo.
Maresca explained his reasoning for the decision to start with Lavia and Caicedo and put it down to Enzo's lack of physicality compared to the other two.
"I think in this moment, Romeo and Moi give us physicality and strength in the middle," Maresca admitted. "This is the reason why we found the option of Malo in the pocket.
"Otherwise, if we play with Enzo, it has to be Enzo and one between Moi and Romeo and when Enzo moves, we probably struggle in the middle in terms of physicality."
With Caicedo and Lavia expected to start against Man United, Fernandez will drop back to the bench after starting in midweek against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.
Maresca insists there are no issues with Fernandez and wants to make it clear that players 'cannot always be at the top level'.
The Chelsea head coach added: "They are human beings and if you pay £100m that is not my problem. You want to buy me then you pay that money. That does not mean that every game you have to be the best. At the end of the day they are football players and they cannot always be at the top level.
"At this moment Enzo is not playing but there is no problem with Enzo. The noise about Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for them, people expect they will always be the best. That is not so."
