Chelsea boss Maresca praises “humble” Cole Palmer
Enzo Maresca praised the “humble” Cole Palmer for playing a key role in Chelsea’s 4-3 Premier League win over Tottenham.
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Chelsea continues their impressive run
Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down just 11 minutes into the match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski taking advantage of mistakes by full-back Marc Cucurella.
However, Spurs’ dream start turned into a nightmare, as the visiting team reasserted their mastery.
Jadon Sancho rifled with a powerful shot after 17 minutes, giving Chelsea a much-needed momentum boost.
Palmer equalized from the spot just past the hour mark as Chelsea began to dominate in the second half.
Enzo Fernandez’s volley put Chelsea ahead, and Cole Palmer secured the win with a late penalty before Son Heung-Min scored a consolation goal in stoppage time.
Chelsea are now in second place with 31 points from 15 games, four points behind Liverpool.
Cole is “humble”
Maresca expressed confidence that Palmer’s humility would carry him far in his football career.
The Italian coach, who worked with the 22-year-old during their time together in Manchester City’s under-23s, praised the England international’s mindset.
He highlighted Palmer’s impressive milestone of 50 goal contributions in just 48 Premier League games.
“I know Cole from four or five years ago,” Maresca said.
“The best thing from him is that four, five years ago when he was with me he was one way and now after two years, 20-30 goals and everyone considers him one of the [best] he is exactly the same guy.”
“Loves football, humble, no strange things. This is the best thing for Cole and for young players because today, young players if they play one game good they think they are [top] and they lose the balance. He is always the same, doesn’t change, and we are very happy with Cole.”
Palmer’s second penalty was a “Panenka,” making him the best penalty taker in Premier League history.
He surpassed former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure by converting all 12 of his penalties to date.
“Probably since we started [working with the team], I didn’t see Cole shooting penalties [in training],” Maresca said.
“Cole belongs to that group that are not normal players. They are top players and they do things that normal players or us, we say ‘how can he do that?’ He scored because he’s top. We can expect this from Cole.”
