Cole Palmer 'has to learn' to adapt to man marking: Maresca

London, Oct 27 (IANS) Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca believes Cole Palmer will have to adapt to being marked man-to-man regularly as the England international’s stock continues to rise.

Palmer enjoyed a remarkable 2023/24 campaign following his move to Chelsea, scoring 27 goals and creating 15 assists in all competitions.

Palmer’s stock has elevated further this season under Maresca, scoring six goals and creating five assists in eight games which also included winning the Premier League’s Player of the Month award for September.

His consistent performances over the last 12 months means Palmer is now regularly marked man-to-man in matches, as was the case last weekend against Liverpool.

But the increased attention on Palmer, and the impressive strength of the Blues squad, does mean opportunities will be presented to his teammates, with Nicolas Jackson (5 goals, 3 assists), Christopher Nkunku (8 goals), Mykhailo Mudryk (1 goal, 5 assists) and Noni Madueke (5 goals) all having five or more goal involvements this season, with the likes of Pedro Neto (2 goals, 1 assist) and Jadon Sancho (3 assists) among the others to make a real impact thus far.

The Italian coach went on to suggest that his star player, who has been in scintillating form, has to get used to playing with the situation.

"We use the weapon of the other team that if they want to man-mark Cole then we probably need to find another solution,” Maresca told Chelsea's official website.

"But also the next step forward for Cole is to get used to playing with that situation – he has to learn and you can see sometimes he gets frustrated because it is not easy being man-marked for 90 to 95 minutes but all of the players at that level get used to being marked man-to-man." he added.

--IANS

aaa/ab