‘We rely on Palmer for everything’ – Maresca on Chelsea’s dip in form | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca says he is not concerned about Cole Palmer’s dip in form amid Chelsea’s poor string of recent results.

Chelsea have won just three matches in their past 10 across all competitions, while the England international has not scored in his past six matches, and not registered an assist in 13.

After the weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Villa Park, the Chelsea boss addressed the issue of Palmer’s form and the Blues’ reliance on him ahead of Tuesday’s match against Southampton.

“No, I’m not concerned,” Maresca said. “I’m always concerned about general performances, but I’m not concerned about Cole because he is a human being and during the season, he can have some moments where he struggles a little bit more.

“The problem is that we rely on Cole for everything and I’ve said from the start, we need to rely on the team. For sure, we need big players, top players like Cole, but we are not worried about Cole at all.

“[He] just [needs to] continue working in the way he is working. Every game we expect from him a goal or an assist, so it is difficult. He is a human being and player. In this moment, his performance also reflects the team’s performance that we struggle to score goals and we need to be a little bit more clinical when we get the chances.”

Chelsea, who sit seventh in the Premier League, face bottom-placed Southampton on Tuesday night, a team who have only managed to accrue nine points all season.

The Italian manager believes his team can turn things around with their strong identity.

“The identity is there,” he added. “At this moment, it is just a matter of results. I have the feeling that by winning one, we can have a good run again and we build a good momentum again. This is what the players need.

“In the last seven, eight, 10 games, the huge difference has been especially inside the box – in both boxes. Apart from in the Brighton match, we always create chances, we almost always score.

“So the difference has been inside the box. We need to be defensively more strong and more clinical when we get the chance.”

Despite Filip Jorgensen’s costly error at the weekend which resulted in Aston Villa’s winning goal, Maresca said he will start in goal again on Tuesday.

He also said defender Trevoh Chalobah will be out for “a week to 10 days”.