Chelsea’s Cole Palmer is the best player in the Premier League right now, says Gus Poyet | OneFootball

This week former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gus Poyet spoke to Squawka about the upcoming Premier League clash between the two.

Poyet also spoke about both sides’ chances of finishing in the top four, how close they are to challenge for the title, and the quality of Cole Palmer.

Chelsea have made a decent start to the season under Enzo Maresca. What do you think they can achieve this season, in terms of league finish and cup runs?

Well, first I’m very pleased that the squad has settled down. Everybody looks happy, there are no bad rumours, there is no one wanting to leave. We’ve got probably the best player in the league now in Cole Palmer and everything is going very smoothly, I think. I think Chelsea have two or three options. I think the European competition, they’re the favourites so it’s a great option for them to win it.

And then I think what Maresca said the other day about not being a title contender, he’s using common sense and saying ‘okay, I need to set the basics for the next few years to be able to compete’. That doesn’t mean that he’s not going to try to win it. He’s going to try to win it, but you know we’ve got Man City. Okay, apart from these last six or seven games, they’ve been there all the time. A very good Liverpool, who are top of the league and an Arsenal team that have been playing under the same manager for four or five years and trying to challenge for that.

So to ask this Chelsea team to be a title contender, I think is a little bit unfair. Saying that, what we’re seeing looks good because remember everything we were saying about Chelsea last year. That they were too young, had no leaders, blah blah blah. They are a year older, they are playing together, they are enjoying themselves. They’ve got a leader on the pitch as a footballer like Cole Palmer. So there are plenty of things that have improved dramatically. So I think the future possibility of winning the title looks closer than it was last year.

Cole Palmer has found himself being fouled more frequently in the Premier League this season. What can he do to ensure he is still having the same impact on Chelsea’s team?

I think he’s finding the way. I thought it would be more difficult for him this year because of everything he did last year. And because of the position he plays, how he understood the game, how he learned the game at Manchester City it gave him the chance to find the spaces anyway and affect the game. I’ve said to others before, I knew he was good, but I didn’t know he was that good. And the quality that he is showing every week, for me he is the best player in the Premier League.

Tottenham are in their second season under Ange Postecoglou. What are you making of the team he is building at the club?

I think they are capable of everything. They can beat anyone in the world easily, and then they can have 45 minutes that will make you say ‘well, what happened?’ like Brighton for example. So I think they are a bit better in terms of consistency, but they are still not consistent enough. Someone you go to watch them and, okay, you’re going to see goals for sure. But you don’t know what’s going to happen. I still believe that Ange is going to do something special, I don’t know why. When a coach comments like he did saying that in his second year he always wins something, to say that you need to really believe in that. So let’s wait and see.

James Maddison looks to have found his way back into Postecoglou’s first-choice XI. What does he bring to Tottenham’s team that they might not get from anyone else?

I think he’s got a lot of qualities, tremendous quality on the ball, he’s outstanding. So I think the situation was, that when he arrived he had a big impact. Then he started playing this season. Like any other player, you can have a little bit of a bad time. Whatever it is, it could be a pain, it could be problems, it could be illness. We don’t know. The coach made a decision, that we didn’t know why, to put him on the bench for a few games. And he came back stronger and he came back better, and accepting that responsibility and being a proper professional. So I think he’s going to be a very good player for the next few years for Spurs. And it’s nice to see a player of that quality accepting what’s happening during the season, that it can happen to anyone.

As someone who played for both Chelsea and Tottenham, and received the backlash from it, where would you rank this fixture among Chelsea’s rivalries?

It’s a good question. I think it became bigger in the years after I left. When I was at Chelsea, I don’t think our biggest rivals were Spurs. I said it, and I believe it. And if somebody says differently, okay, I accept their opinion. But in the dressing room, our biggest rivals weren’t Spurs. I think it became bigger and bigger from those fights at Stamford Bridge when (Mauricio) Pochettino was the coach at Spurs and there were so many issues. And also (Thomas) Tuchel and (Antonio) Conte. And it became a bigger and bigger game.

But we need to remember that Spurs’ biggest rivals are Arsenal. So we try to make something out of it because it’s London and it’s a big game. Saying that, the way Chelsea are playing at the moment and what I told you about Spurs, there’s going to be goals. I will be very surprised, and the betting companies are probably going to pay out a fortune for nil-nil because nobody is going to put nil-nil for this game. I’m going to be lucky, I’m going to be there watching it live and it’s going to be very special to see if I can keep learning from the coaches.

From what you’ve seen so far, who do you think are better placed to finish in the top four this season? Chelsea or Tottenham?

I think it’s Chelsea. I think they’re more consistent. I’m not saying they’re a better team, but they’re more consistent and that takes you places. You win more games than you lose.

How far are both sides from challenging for the title?

I wouldn’t be the title in Tottenham’s future at the moment. First they need to win cups. They need to win trophies, you need to feel like a winner. I think if you asked me this question about Chelsea in the summer, I’d have said to you it could be three, four, five, six years, I don’t know. Now seeing the basics, the team is settled. I think if this young team, that is a year older every year, is developing and adding the right pieces, I think that maybe the wait to challenge for the title should be shorter. I think it could be closer than what we thought a few months ago.

It depends on how you play. I think there are certain similarities between the players, but I think one needs more space than the other because the ability of one is stronger in the air than the other. So it depends on how you play. It’s not that simple. It’s not only about being a No.9 and scoring goals, it’s about the way you play and how you can provide options for that player to score.

I always say the same example. If you’re going to go with a big striker, the old-fashioned English striker, and you’re not going to cross, then I don’t think he’s going to score a lot. Now you can have the best old-fashioned striker, but you need to cross. So there are certain things that you need to play for the striker. So I would say it depends on how you play.