Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has explained the reasons why he didn’t bring Cole Palmer off the bench last night despite being 2-0 down against Newcastle.
The Blues ended up losing the game to the same scoreline and being dumped out of the League Cup last night.
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Maresca has been criticised for not using his star player in the game, with Palmer being left to just warm the bench. Surely, if you’re making Cole Palmer kit up and you’ve got him there available, and you are 2-0 down in a game, then you bring him on? Surely, this represented the best chance of winning silverware for Chelsea this season? So why on earth would you not do all you can to win the game and turn things around? Maresca made just ONE sub all game. It was almost like he didn’t see the game with too much importance.
Palmer is Chelsea’s talisman and he could have certainly help turn things around last night if he came on to the pitch.
So why didn’t Maresca use him?
There was no need, apparently..
Speaking in his post-match press conference after the game in quotes relayed by Football London, Maresca responded to a question asking why he didn’t sub Cole Palmer on.
He said: “No, no, no [there was not a reason why he didn’t bring Palmer on]. Simply because I think Joao [Felix] and Christo [Nkunku] were doing very good. The reason why [we brought him] was in case we needed Cole but Joao and Christo were doing well so there was no need to change.”
So there you have it. Palmer was not used because Felix and Nkunku were playing well, apparently. To be honest though, Palmer could have and should have come on AS WELL as them. If you are chasing a game, you make some brave changes. Maresca didn’t.
