Maresca not worried by Palmer form or body language

Enzo Maresca, the manager at Chelsea, claims Cole Palmer’s appearance and body language don’t bother him.

The Italian manager addressed the issue of the England international’s dip in form amid Chelsea’s run of two wins in 10 matches in all competitions.

The 22-year-old forward has not recorded an assist in any of his past 13 games and has not scored in any of his previous six games in all competitions.

But he added 26 goals and 13 assists to Chelsea’s total for the previous calendar year, more than any other Premier League player.

Asked about Palmer’s struggles before Southampton’s visit to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Tuesday, Maresca said: “No, I am not concerned about him.

Because Cole is a human being and can sometimes struggle a little bit more during a season, I’m always concerned about general performances, but not Cole.

“Every game we expect a goal or an assist, but it is difficult. His current team performance reflects how difficult it is for him to score goals. When given chances, we must be more objective.

Cole simply feels frustrated that we aren’t winning games. It is nothing more than that. “

Maresca listed Palmer’s missed chances against Manchester City and Aston Villa when denying that he, as a star player, seems angry at his team-mates, but seemed to admit that Chelsea are over-reliant on him being the match-winner.

Maresca said:” The problem with Cole is we rely on Cole for everything.

“I’ve said it from the beginning that everything depends on the team.” We are not concerned about Cole at all, but there are certainly other top players like him.