Chelsea fail to finish off Palace despite Palmer brilliance
Chelsea 1 v Crystal Palace 1
Talking Points
By Kaz Mochlinski at Stamford Bridge
Overseas broadcasters who televise the Premier League internationally have taken to interviewing Chelsea fans outside Stamford Bridge and getting them to play the game of naming the whole of the first-team squad.
Even allowing for natural nervousness in front of the cameras, many of the attempts are embarrassingly unsuccessful, with a struggle to get enough correct names to reach into double figures, let alone make up a side of 11 players.
Now that the Premier League’s summer transfer window has closed and the squad should be settled for at least a few months, there remains the secondary challenge of choosing Chelsea’s best possible starting XI.
Most Blues’ supporters do not envy Enzo Maresca his matchday task of selecting a side out of the uneven collection of players provided by the current sporting directors and the club’s much-changed scouting system.
There was inevitably increased anticipation of the team announcement for the Sunday lunchtime visit of Crystal Palace, with this being the first match following the end of the latest period of player movement.
So far this season Maresca has kept a core of nine starters for the first three league games, making two changes after the opening weekend defeat to Manchester City, and now just one from the win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
With a disappointing draw against Palace leaving Chelsea still winless at home in the league, admittedly in the very early stages of this campaign, many Stamford Bridge regulars are not too impressed by what they have seen so far.
Only one of Chelsea’s 12 signings this summer got into the line-up to face Palace, with Pedro Neto starting a Premier League match for the first time for the Blues. Up to now, he is the solitary new arrival to play a league game from kick-off.
Neto ended up as the first player to be substituted, straight after Palace’s equaliser at the beginning of the second half, but not before he had confirmed that he is a beautiful crosser of the ball from the wing, something which hints at plenty of promise for the future.
Mykhailo Mudryk similarly showed how productive he can be in running and crossing from the left when he came on as a substitute, but it is entirely futile if the only option as a target in the centre-forward position is Nicolas Jackson.
Although Jackson’s 8th goal in his last eight matches gave Chelsea a half-time lead, he was as ever wasteful with several other opportunities to score - and his contract extension announced by the club after the game was something of a surprise.
Jackson’s new nine-year deal equals Cole Palmer’s recent agreement to prolong his stay at Stamford Bridge until 2033. Yet there remains a vast difference in how much the two of them are appreciated by Chelsea fans.
Having seen his salary raised reportedly from an initial £80,000 to £120,000 a week, Palmer already appears to be justifying another upgrade, as against Palace his performance was once more worth the admission price on its own.
After starting against Manchester City a couple of weeks ago on the right wing, where he had almost always been used by Mauricio Pochettino last season, Palmer has subsequently taken over the number 10 role for which he seems to be a natural fit.
It is a position that allows Palmer to demonstrate his full versatility, dropping deep to pick up the ball as a “quarterback”-style playmaker with a stunning range of passing, while also getting forward to provide a direct threat on goal.
Palmer’s run in-behind the Palace defence and poke past the goalkeeper produced Chelsea’s goal, with Jackson’s touch over the goalline being one of the easiest finishes which he will have in his entire career.
The assist increased to 45 the number of goal involvements, including scoring 26 times, which Palmer has registered as he celebrated his 50th appearance for Chelsea on the first anniversary of his £42.5 million move from Manchester City.
And Palmer came closest to winning the game in the second half, with a free-kick which Dean Henderson did brilliantly well to turn away as it headed for the top corner of his net. But otherwise Chelsea seemed mostly ineffective in front of goal.
For all their attacking talent, Jackson, Noni Madueke, plus subs João Félix and Christopher Nkunku, each in turn tried and failed to score a winner on their own, seemingly not trusting teammates or any interplay which might have been worked on in training.
Clearly, Chelsea remains a work in progress, perhaps permanently so, given the perceived flaws in the club’s enormous restructuring in the 2 years and 4 months since Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali’s takeover.
Even the categorising of their transfer activity is immensely confusing. The best estimates of this summer’s spending suggest a figure of over £203 million, taking Chelsea’s total outlay under the new owners to more than £1.3 billion.
And that is without bringing in a reliable goalkeeper or a proven striker. Nor have they obviously unearthed any new superstars apart from Palmer, although hopes remain that Romeo Lavia, João Félix, Pedro Neto, or even Jadon Sancho might turn into something special.
While adding 12 new players in the latest window, at least they managed to permanently move on 10, resulting in a relatively modest net spend this summer of around £46.5 million, which is only the 8th highest among Premier League clubs this time.
As for Palace, they will be utterly delighted to have kept hold of Eberechi Eze, who showed skill and composure to get the vital equaliser at Stamford Bridge and earn the Eagles their first point in the Premier League this season.
It was far from pretty in a 5-2-3 formation with everyone behind the ball as much as possible when Chelsea were in possession. But there was a determination not to emerge pointless from Palace’s difficult start of three London derby matches.
Will Hughes would almost certainly have been sent off on another day as he struggled to stop Palmer, but referee Jarred Gillett was in a surprisingly lenient mood, before Oliver Glasner sensibly substituted the midfielder at the earliest opportunity.
Palace’s gritty approach may have had some fans already becoming nostalgic for the football played under Roy Hodgson. If it was not for Eze and his capability to create a moment of magic.
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