Chelsea: Enzo Maresca explains Cole Palmer goal drought and denies tactics are to blame | OneFootball

Some Blues fans believe Maresca’s divisive style of football is shackling the threat of their struggling talisman, who has not scored since mid-January

No impact: Enzo Maresca does not believe his tactics are the reason that Cole Palmer has not scored for Chelsea since January

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Enzo Maresca believes Cole Palmer’s goal drought for Chelsea has become a “mental” issue - and insists his tactics are not to blame.

“For sure, it’s mental,” Maresca said. “I don't think it's tactical, I don't think it's technical, because Cole is still the same player that scored, this season with us, 14 goals in the Premier League in [the first] 20 games.

“Cole is the same one. The style of football we play is the same one. The manager is the same one. The club is the same one. So nothing changes around Cole and Cole doesn't change. It’s just mentally in this moment.

"For sure, you can see that he is a little worried because he wants to help the team.”

Palmer’s last Chelsea goal came against Bournemouth on January 14 - he has played 16 matches across all competitions since then

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Palmer scored a remarkable 27 goals across all competitions during a sensational breakthrough campaign under Mauricio Pochettino last season and started the new term in similarly prolific form.

Some Chelsea supporters have accused Maresca of subsequently shackling the 22-year-old with a football philosophy that places greater emphasis on possession and control. The Italian, however, is adamant that is not the case.

“We try always to set up our game to put our best player in condition to be dangerous,” Maresca insisted. “We have done since we started. We are doing that every game. It's the same for Cole.

“If you go back game by game, he had at least, every game, one or two chances. So, it's not about how the team is playing.

“If you want to see it as the team playing a different way, you've seen it that way, but the reality is not that. The reality is that Cole is the same, the style of play is the same, the manager is the same, the club is the same.

“It's just football that, in this moment, he is missing the goal. No more than that.”

Chelsea missed the chance to briefly go top of the league when drawing 0-0 with Everton at Goodison Park in December, but now find themselves needing victory in the reverse fixture just to keep their hopes of a top-five finish on track.

Throughout their good run of form prior to Christmas, Maresca repeatedly insisted his team were not yet ready to challenge for the title and he has ultimately been proven correct by a significant drop-off since the turn of the year.

Some, however, have been critical of Maresca’s stance at the time, suggesting his comments deprived a young squad of the belief required to keep up their good start to the campaign.

“No,” Maresca said, when asked whether there was merit to that theory. “I said the same before Brentford and we beat Brentford. I said the same before Tottenham and we beat Tottenham.

“I said the same before Aston Villa and we beat Aston Villa. I said it before Everton and we draw. Whoosh. ‘The manager is not ambitious’.

"It’s how you can see things. I see things in my way. Everyone can see things the way they want.”