How Cole Palmer restores Pochettino’s relationship with the fans
Cole Palmer took Chelsea from agony to ecstasy inside 81 seconds on Thursday night, scoring the latest ever winner in an instant Premier League classic, and he may yet go on to achieve the impossible — rescuing his manager’s fractured relationship with the fans.
Mauricio Pochettino was praying for a hero 99 minutes into this epic and 3-2 down in a match the Blues had led 2-0 after 19 minutes. Palmer filled that brief — and then some — when he stepped up to coolly equalise from the penalty spot before ramming the ball home from the edge of the box a minute later to spark wild celebrations.
None felt the elation more than the Argentine, having come under intense pressure from large sections of the fanbase. He spoke afterwards about feeling an emotional connection with the fans for the first time, and while he needs to back up this win with further victories, it was at least something positive for him to build on at last.
As for Palmer, Chelsea’s standout star since his steal of a £42.5million transfer from Manchester City, it was his first senior hat-trick and one against the club he supported as a boy.
His 16 goals and eight assists in 25 Premier League matches have put him in the race for the Golden Boot. He is second in the charts with nine games to play, elevating Chelsea back into the race for Europe. Few players are as confident as Palmer right now. He has more goals and assists (24) than any under-23 player in Europe’s top five leagues.
Palmer is now surely the frontrunner to win this season’s Young Player of the Year award After making his debut for England in November, he is also well-placed to make Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad.
Many of Palmer’s goals have come from the penalty spot, but scoring all of his first eight spot-kicks is a feat matched by only two players in Premier League history, Yaya Toure and Dimitar Berbatov.
What Palmer is achieving is exceptional. Sometimes, it also feels like he is on a one-man mission to keep Pochettino in a job and help Chelsea salvage something positive from a difficult season.
It feels like Palmer is on a one-man mission to keep Pochettino in a job
Chelsea started well in the first 30 minutes and appeared to take on Pochettino’s message about not playing like an “exhibition team” by showing the right intensity and fight. Conor Gallagher swept in Malo Gusto’s deflected cross and Palmer converted a penalty after Marc Cucurella was brought down in the box to put Chelsea 2-0 up after 19 minutes.
But one mistake from Moises Caicedo gave Alejandro Garnacho the chance to pull one back and saw Chelsea’s game plan collapse. Everything that worked well faded away and when Pochettino watches it back, he will again see problems that desperately need fixing.
Not one of four defenders in the box picked up Bruno Fernandes, who equalised with a header just before half time. Garnacho added a second on the counter-attack after Benoit Badiashile gave away the ball in midfield. Axel Disasi had went unpunished for a similar mistake moments earlier.
United then got their foot on the ball and were coasting to victory. Discontent was simmering in the stands after Mason Mount, who was booed as he came off the bench, looked set to win on his return to west London, having left Chelsea in the summer.
Many had already left, thinking that Chelsea’s ill-discipline and lack of structure would see them suffer a limp defeat. But, in fairness, Pochettino’s substitute Noni Madueke made an impact to win a penalty for Palmer to equalise in the 99th minute. A minute later, Enzo Fernandez’s quick-thinking from a corner provided Palmer a shooting chance, which won the match.
What mattered more was the result, not the performance, and Pochettino played the optimist as he insisted his team “deserved” to win, adding this would be the “turning point” for his Blues project.
There remains a disconnect between supporters and those who play at, work for, own and manage Chelsea, but results build relationships and the club is quietly improving those results, having not lost a game over 90 minutes in 10 consecutive matches.
They are up to 10th in the Premier League, which remains below expectations. However, qualifying for Europe is a realistic prospect as Chelsea have games in hand over United, West Ham, Brighton and Newcastle.
There is much still to play for, with an FA Cup semi-final also to come against Manchester City.
Chelsea may not have had an outstanding performance against United last night, but Pochettino was smart to try to bottle up that feeling — one delivered almost exclusively by Palmer’s left boot.
