Cole Palmer might now be Chelsea's biggest threat going forward
Cole Palmer may have been the only bright spark in Chelsea's deflating loss to Brentford. Plain and simple, Chelsea did not take advantage of all their possessions and should have been 2-0 or 3-0 up at half-time. Well, Ethan Pinnock's goal came out of nowhere, and honestly Chelsea looked very unlikely to score a response goal.
However, Cole Palmer was nothing short of genius with his passing in the game. Palmer put in so many good crosses and clever lobs into the Brentford box that went unpunished. Cucrella's good volley chance was directly off the back of Palmer picking him out with a clever ball over the Brentford defenders. Another potential no-penalty call for Chelsea was orchestrated by their number 20.
Palmer has settled well at Chelsea since they paid €47 million to Manchester City late in the summer transfer window. The Englishman showed his coolness from the spot as he scored penalties against Burnley and Arsenal. The 21-year-old is just so silky and clever on the ball whether he's on the wing or as Chelsea's false nine.
It's been long overdue for Chelsea to have a cold-blooded striker. Tammy Abraham has been their most dangerous striker since Morata, but he was sold to Roma. Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were hardly too impressive when they were asked to play up top. Cole Palmer has played there but you would figure they'll want to play him on the wing or a step back in the CAM position.
There are difficult fixtures upcoming for Chelsea and they need Palmer to put the team on his back.
Cole Palmer will soon get a chance at revenge vs Manchester City
It's interesting that Pep Guardiola was willing to let Cole Palmer go in the summer. The 21-year-old played only 41 times for Man City but featured heavily in the pre-season and with Riyad Mahrez gone you would have expected him to stick around for the depth. That did not happen and Man City signed Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez has been brilliant lately.
Wedged between the Tottenham and Newcastle games is Chelsea hosting Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. It's looking a bit grim for Chelsea as they face Manchester City's Erling Haaland, who can't stop scoring goals.
It would be a good time for Mauricio Pochettino to pull off his best performance yet as Chelsea manager and Cole Palmer may be pivotal to any chance Chelsea have.