Angry Cole Palmer blames Chelsea teammates after Burnley draw

Angry Cole Palmer blames Chelsea teammates after Burnley draw

Cole Palmer accused Chelsea of complacency in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Burnley at Stamford Bridge.

Mauricio Pochettino’s expensively-assembled side looked to be in the driving seat when Burnley’s Lorenz Assignon was shown a second yellow card for bringing down Mykhailo Mudryk and top-scorer Palmer converted the resulting penalty in the 44th minute.

But Josh Cullen stunned Stamford Bridge by scoring two minutes into the second half with a fine shot from outside the box.

Chelsea struggled to make their numerical advantage count before restoring their lead in the 78th minute when Palmer scored again, this time with a low shot.

But Burnley were level again three minutes later, however, when Dara O’Shea headed home from a corner to leave Chelsea languishing in mid-table obscurity.

Pochettino, meanwhile, was equally frustrated at watching his side surrender another lead, particularly against opposition that appear destined for an instant return to the Championship.

He said: ‘We miss energy, the capacity to deal with the situation, we missed communication between us.

‘After Wolverhampton, I think the team were celebrating every tackle. Today we were not the same, the energy, maybe for a different reason.

‘We have a clear idea in each way we need to improve. That is the fact, that is the reality. We cannot analyse in a different way. That is the key.

‘The way we concede the first goal, they have one less. They need to realise we need to increase our work levels. It’s not to blame the players, it’s to blame everyone.

‘We need to be tougher when we have the players. We need to be a team, find better communication and be more competitive.’