“He didn’t play so well” - Glen Hoddle claims Chelsea teammate’s position ‘tied down’ Cole Palmer during Arsenal draw
Former Chelsea midfielder Glenn Hoddle has claimed that Blues defender Malo Gusto affected Cole Palmer's game-changing abilities against Arsenal. Both London clubs shared the spoils in a 1-1 Premier League draw at Stamford Bridge yesterday (November 10).
The cagey affair saw Kai Havertz's goal for the Gunners in the 32nd minute ruled out for offside. However, Gabriel Martinelli eventually opened the scoring on the hour mark, beating goalkeeper Robert Sanchez at his near post. The lead didn't last very long, as 10 minutes later, Pedro Neto rifled in an effort from distance to equalize (70').
Cole Palmer particularly struggled to make a major impact on the game. Despite being Chelsea's most important player, his inability to do anything of note raised questions. For Glenn Hoddle, manager Enzo Maresca's decision to play Malo Gusto as an inverted full-back affected the 22-year-old. The pundit said to Stadium Astro (via Metro):
"Because of (Bukayo) Saka’s threat, (Marc) Cucurella stayed out there [on the left] and did his job – he got player of the match and it was probably right because he stopped Saka playing and bursting."
"So they didn’t put him in midfield, they put (Malo) Gusto in midfield from the right-back position which stopped Palmer for me."
Hoddle continued, arguing that Gusto's presence in the center of the park "tied" Palmer down:
"Gusto played in that inside left channel and tied him down a bit. For me, there are times when you have to let that lad play across the arc and play as a ten."
"He didn’t really play as a ten, he was in that inside forward position and Neto was outside of him until he came over to the right in the second half which I was hoping because he’s better on the right. But Palmer I felt was tied down and he didn’t play so well today."
Cole Palmer had four shots at goal, with all four coming from outside Arsenal's box. He created just one chance and made just one successful dribble out of four.
Arsenal fail to make chances count against Chelsea
Arsenal notably failed to make their chances count against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They had 13 shots at goal, with just three on target, but they notably had four big chances to score and missed three.
The Blues had 17 shots, with just three on target as well. However, they had only one big chance, which they missed, essentially making it a bad day in front of goal for both clubs.
Possession was fairly even, with Arsenal having 51%. They also had more accurate passes (375, 88%) than Chelsea (358, 85%).