Mauricio Pochettino believes Tuesday’s clash with Arsenal is an opportunity for Chelsea’s other attackers to show they do not play for Cole Palmer FC.
Palmer, who is the joint-top scorer in the Premier League with 20 goals alongside nine assists in 28 appearances this season, is set to miss Chelsea’s trip across London to the Emirates Stadium with what Pochettino described as an illness in a press conference on Monday.
The four players Pochettino is likeliest to turn to in Palmer’s absence — Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke and Carney Chukwuemeka — have registered 14 goals and seven assists combined in the Premier League in 2023-24, and Chelsea’s head coach has challenged them to step up and fill the void.
“It’s a good challenge for the teammates of course,” Pochettino said. “If I am a teammate of Cole Palmer in his position or a similar position. For sure, I am going to be motivated to go there tomorrow and show this is Chelsea Football Club, not Cole Palmer football club. For sure.”
Nine of Palmer’s 20 Premier League goals this season have come from the penalty spot and Chelsea’s spot-kick duties have become increasingly contested in recent weeks, culminating in a farcical scene where Nicolas Jackson and Madueke both tried to relieve him of the ball against Everton.
Palmer appeared in discomfort during Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City on Saturday (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Asked if Palmer’s teammates are jealous of his success, Pochettino replied: “No, it is a good example for them: why is he doing so well and why are they not capable to do the same… I think it is a good challenge. I think they are not jealous.
“They only want the same pill we provide Palmer! It’s a joke! They ask ‘What you are doing for Palmer, we want the same’.”
Pochettino added that he has not yet decided who Chelsea’s designated penalty taker will be in Palmer’s absence, but insisted that he will be the one to make the call ahead of kick-off.
“I still have not decided who it is going to be,” he said. “I will decide when I pick the starting XI but we have players like Madueke or Gallagher, Fernandez or even Jackson that can shoot.
“It will depend. Of course, there is (also) Mudryk. We have plenty of good takers in the squad. When I decide the starting XI tomorrow I will decide who takes (any penalties).”
Chelsea — ninth in the table — take on Aston Villa this Saturday before playing host to Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday, May 2.
GO DEEPER
Breaking down the brilliance of Chelsea’s Cole Palmer – ‘Within one touch, he can hurt you’
(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
