Cardiff City’s manager Brian Barry-Murphy is quite familiar with Enzo Maresca and Cole Palmer from his time at Man City.
In order for Chelsea to go through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, they must get past Cardiff on Tuesday night.
In the opposing dugout will be an old pal of Maresca’s, who took over his role as head coach of City’s Under 21s a few years back. At that time, Palmer was an academy star, tearing it up for both Maresca and Barry-Murphy.
Sitting down for an interview in the buildup to what is a massive game for the Welsh outfit, Barry-Murphy discussed the prospect of facing Chelsea’s returning star.
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Brian Barry-Murphy speaks on Cole Palmer at Man City
One of the most discussed moments of Palmer’s short career at the Etihad was when he came on as a substitute for the senior team in a Premier League clash with Burnley, before heading across to the academy stadium and bagging a hat-trick for the U21s.
Barry-Murphy was in the dugout for his evening masterclass, and the display stuck with him. He can’t say enough about the Englishman’s quality.
As he tells The Guardian: “A lot of players would view coming back to the under-21s as a drop down. But he just wanted to play.
“So many times I saw him FaceTime his family and friends, telling them what he was going to do and, more often than not, he would do it. In those games, he would pick up the ball and go past five, six players. He made me look like a really good coach.”
Even in a star-studded City youth sides boasting talents such as fellow Chelsea teammates Liam Delap and Romeo Lavia, Palmer’s talent stood out.
Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer warming up before Manchester City against RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
City were at the peak of English football when they decided to sell Palmer. It was accepted as a necessary decision given the depth of talent in the squad.
But he consistently showed the potential to be a top player in the Premier League, and he didn’t take long at all to reach that level after joining Chelsea. No doubt, a decision regretted by most in Manchester.
Luckily for Barry-Murphy, Palmer has been ruled out for Cardiff.
Barry-Murphy was in and around the dressing room at City when Maresca was assisting Pep Guardiola.
Maresca was ready to take the next step in his career and has grown into the larger role since arriving in West London.
The Irishman followed the same path, grabbing the opportunity to be the main man. Cardiff’s cup run this season has proved that to be the right decision, and it looks like he could be in the Championship in the near future.
That would put him in a similar standing to Maresca at Leicester and could propel him to an even bigger job.
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Paul Winstanley with Chelsea owner Todd Boehly
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
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The recent clash between Maresca and Chelsea has cast a cloud over his future, but there’s no denying he has proved himself a capable head coach.
It might be a familiar face in the opposite dugout on Tuesday night, but he will be laser-focused on getting a win to quiet the concerns that have been flying his way.
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