HANDY COLE
Chalobah says Chelsea have now discovered the secret of becoming a better team ...keep giving ball to Palmer
TREVOH CHALOBAH has confirmed the worst-kept secret at Chelsea – the key to success is getting Cole Palmer on the ball.
Palmer’s 10th goal of the season, and eighth assist, reignited the Blues’ hopes of qualifying for Europe through their Premier League position and lifted the pressure on manager Mauricio Pochettino in Monday night’s 3-2 win against Newcastle.
In front of watching England coach Gareth Southgate, Palmer once again looked a bargain at the £42.5million Chelsea paid to release him from the bench at Manchester City. And defender Chalobah’s appreciation of the 21-year-old winger’s mushrooming talent (training together, above) underlined Palmer’s status as the new king of Stamford Bridge.
He said: “We have quality players, Cole is up there right now and it is important for us to get our best players on the ball. That is what we did against Newcastle.
“What a player he is. The confidence he shows in every moment of the game. You can see he is so relaxed and he knows his ability. He’s the kind of player we need.
“Can he go to the Euros? Most definitely. He’s up there producing every week, so why not?”
Pochettino was subjected to abusive chants from Chelsea fans in the 2-2 draw at Brentford earlier this month, but the soundtrack was more positive as Newcastle’s dire away form betrayed them again.
The gap to seventh-placed West
Ham is now just four points, and although Chelsea still sit in the bottom half of the table, the trajectory is upward, and Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester could lift the mood further.
Chalobah said: “Fans demand a lot. This is a massive club and the expectations they have, we haven’t been meeting them.
“It is a learning process for us. We try to just focus on what is going on in the camp. We’re all together, all for the manager and the manager is there for us.
“We will keep working no matter what the fans say. We want to try our best and make them proud, it will come.
“Consistency is the key. At times this season we’ve been up and down and it is important for us to find our feet and get that consistency in the run-in.
“We know we’ve got the quality, once we get that consistency we will have a very good time on the pitch. We haven’t hit expectations this season but we’re trying every day and we’re going to keep pushing until the end.
“I wouldn’t say it’s been difficult to play at Stamford Bridge this season, but we haven’t got as many wins here as we would have liked.
“It is our first year with new players here and we’re building something.”