Mauricio Pochettino says “unpredictable” Cole Palmer has been the difference for a Chelsea team that has now won three games in a row following a tough start.
The £45million signing from Manchester City made his first Chelsea start in the Carabao Cup win over Brighton and kept his place for the wins over Fulham and Burnley last week.
The winger also scored in the 4-1 win at Turf Moor to make it one goal and two assists in his three starts in west London.
Pochettino praised Palmer during an interview with the club’s channels during the international break. He said: “Cole Palmer is a good link player and links with all his teammates.
“We are giving him a starting position on the right to play in between the lines because he is ready to be unpredictable.
“Football is a game where you need to be unpredictable and he has the capacity to do this.”
Chelsea’s timely uplift in performances and results has come with Conor Gallagher taking the captain’s armband and excelling in a midfield three alongside Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.
Pochettino added that “the midfield area has started to connect and create a good link” before going on to praise his temporary captain, amid Reece James’s absence: “Conor is a player who can run a lot and this is massive.
“He is a great professional and he can play in different positions as a No8, No10 or a No6. He is box-to-box, he can run and can finish and assist, like he did for Raheem Sterling [against Burnley]. We are so happy with him.”
Chelsea remain without a host of players through injury, with Axel Disasi and Nicolas Jackson pulling out of international duty due to minor issues.
They hope the duo will be available to face Arsenal next week with Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile all pushing for their returns.
“We have many players injured, key players who cannot compete and train with us,” Pochettino added. “That is so important.
“You can see how different it is for a club like Manchester City, how affected they are, when there is no Rodri or [Kevin] De Bruyne, and that’s only two players.
“For us, we miss many key players that can help us develop and improve the team faster. Yes, in this way, when we recover all the players, for sure we will be ready to compete for big things.
“Even now, we need to believe that we can compete for big things despite the circumstances.”
