Enzo Maresca outlines Cole Palmer challenge as Chelsea boss fires warning over imminent changes | OneFootball

The attacking midfielder showed signs of frustration last weekend

As Christmas messages go, it was not exactly in the spirit of pleasing one-and-all, but Enzo Maresca has been nothing if not straight with his Chelsea players this since taking the helm in the summer.

The point, in fairness, was a compliment to those on the fringes of Chelsea’s Premier League side, Maresca insisting that his policy of rotating across the other competitions has been hatched for reasons of practicality and merit, and not simply to satisfy egos.

With the Conference League group stage over and the Premier League now all-but the sole focus for months, though, the warning from Chelsea’s coach was that across the festive period not everyone can expect the same exposure. Equally, not even stars like Cole Palmer are guaranteed to start every game.

Palmer has done just that in the league this season, in part because of his importance to Maresca’s side, but also because fatigue has seldom been a concern. Having been left out of the Conference League group stage squad, the Englishman has made only 19 appearances across competitions this season, a fifth fewer than, for instance, Mo Salah and Bukayo Saka, whose hamstring went twang last weekend.

“We already protected Cole in the Conference,” Maresca said. “[That is] the reason why he always starts in the Premier League. [Wesley] Fofana was always starting the Premier League because he didn’t play in the Conference and [Romeo] Lavia the same. But this does not mean they are always going to play.”

Frustrated: Cole Palmer didn’t have it all his own way in Chelsea’s goalless draw against Everton.

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Palmer already has 11 goals and six assists in 17 league games this season, continuing his form from a remarkable breakthrough last term, but showed visible signs of frustration during last weekend’s goalless draw with Everton, which saw the Blues miss out on the chance to briefly go top of the table.

Maresca has spoken regularly the need for Palmer to adapt to being man-marked now that he is both a known and feared quantity, and despite his superb output, believes the 22-year-old still has work to do on that front.

“He still has to improve things in those moments,” Maresca added. “Especially because if you get frustrated you lose a bit of your focus on the game.

“He has to always focus on the game. Then, for sure, game after game he’s going to understand more about when they mark him man-to-man, how to move a little bit.”

That so many of Maresca’s key players have been campaigned lightly to this point could give the Chelsea boss licence to ask more of them over the festive period, just as rival managers are forced to rotate more. However, ahead of Boxing Day’s west London derby against Fulham, the 44-year-old suggested he will continue to juggle his resources.

“For sure, the ones like Moises [Caicedo], Enzo [Fernandez], Levi [Colwill], Cole, Marc Cucurella, even Pedro [Neto] and Nico [Jackson], probably they’ve been playing one game a week,” he explained. “[But] the reason also that we have this squad is to share minutes with all of them and hopefully it can help us in some moments.

“We will change things, we have another game in three days and we take a decision game on game.”