PREMIER LEAGUE

Chelsea struggle with Palmer dependency issue

The Blues are doing really well in Premier League under Enzo Maresca. But, Chelsea are struggling with Palmer dependency issue just like last season. If not worked on the issue, the Blues may struggle and miss out on top four once again.

Chelsea have started the season in decent fashion under new boss Enzo Maresca. They have been able to secure 14 points in 8 league games. But, they have also dropped points four times, out of two are losses and two are draws.

What exactly is Palmer dependency issue?

Palmer joined Chelsea last season from Manchester City. Ever since that move, he has became the main man at West London. Last season he scored 25 goals and picked 15 assists in 45 matches for Chelsea.

Palmer wass directly related to Chelsea’s success. Whenever he failed to perform or was absent, Chelsea struggled on the pitch. That problem seems to have been carried on due to other players not stepping up in his absence.

Chelsea have scored 17 goals this season in Premier League. Out of those 17, Palmer has either scored or assisted 11 of them. Palmer is responsible for 53% of the total non-penalty xG that Chelsea have created this season as per FBref.

In addition, Palmer leads the charts for most goal involvements, assists, touches in attacking third, take-ons, chances created, etc. This is enough to suggest that the Blues are too dependent on Palmer and this may create problems for them.

Why will Chelsea struggle?

The Blues may struggle when Palmer is marked properly by opponents. The opposition teams can view Palmer as the main threat and man-mark him. As Blues are too dependent on him, they will drop points just as they did against Liverpool.

Palmer was unable to leave his mark on the pitch against Liverpool. He had 0 shots on target and created only 1 chance. His passing accuracy, long ball accuracy and dribbling accuracy was very low. He was also unable to make any tackle and lost 56% of his duels.

The Blues average below 1 point when Palmer fails to deliever. In contrast, they average 1.9 points when Palmer is at his best. Enzo Maresca should view Palmer as an important player but he needs to find solutions and make other players step up in Palmer’s absence or when he is not having a good game. All stats and records are correct at the time of writting.

A trusted source on ChelseaNews.com

For more football updates, make sure to follow us on:



Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

To Top