Enzo Maresca ‘not concerned’ by Cole Palmer body language during Chelsea slump | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said his side’s over-reliance on Cole Palmer could be affecting the England forward’s form after his goalless streak extended to six games in Saturday’s defeat to Aston Villa.

The 22-year-old remains the club’s leading scorer this season with 14 but he has not netted since the draw against Bournemouth on January 14 while his last assist came 13 matches ago.

Chelsea have dropped from second in the Premier League to seventh during a run of two wins from 10 games and face being squeezed out of the race to qualify for the Champions League if results do not improve

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(Action Images via Reuters)

Palmer was visibly frustrated with his team-mates at Villa Park, in particular at one point with Christopher Nkunku, and his increasingly despondent body language during the team’s poor run has been a cause for concern.

The former Manchester City player won admiration when things were going well for his unencumbered, laid back style on the pitch and laconic approach to the media but it is a disposition that has worn less well on the team’s barren streak.

“I’m not concerned,” said Maresca. “I’m always concerned about general performances, but I’m not concerned about Cole because he is a human being. During the season he can have some moments where he is struggling a little bit more.

“The problem with Cole is probably that we rely on him for everything. I said since we started that we need to rely on the team. For sure we need big players, top players like Cole but we are not worried about him at all.”

Chelsea face Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday knowing a win could move them back into the top four for 24 hours at least.

A home game against the league’s bottom side could be just the stage for the victory that Maresca has predicted will reignite his team’s campaign, though their record over the last 18 months would indicate they need Palmer – who has scored 39 goals since the start of last season –  to rediscover his form first.

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“He just needs to continue working in the way he is working,” said Maresca. “The other day he had a great chance but overall the performance from Cole, every game we expect from him a goal or assist, so it’s difficult. He’s a human being.

“In this moment his performances reflect a bit the team’s performances, that we struggle to score goals. We need to be a little bit more clinical when we get the chances.

“Cole is just upset because we are not winning games, no more than that.”

Maresca was asked what it said about his players that they have thrown away 13 points from winning positions since Boxing Day.

“I don’t have an answer to that,” he said. “Sometimes it’s football. Sometimes there is a reason why. We are trying to understand.

“The good thing is at least we were in front in these kind of games. Now it’s the other part, when we are in front to try and protect that.

“In almost all these games, we analyse that we had chances at 1-0 to go 2-0. Even the other day against Villa we had four or five chances to go zero-two.

“When you miss, the game is always open and anything can happen. It’s something that we need to understand.”