While Liam Rosenior has spent his early months at Chelsea attempting to anchor Cole Palmer to a right-sided profile, Thomas Tuchel has used the March international break to liberate the playmaker.
Under Liam Rosenior, Cole Palmer’s role has been refined into a more half-space position on the right, designed to facilitate combinations with overlapping full-backs.
However, his influence was noticeably stifled during Chelsea‘s recent four-game losing streak, leading to a vocal debate over his positioning.
This comes down to Rosenior handing Enzo Fernandez the license to free roam in a central attacking area.
But there comes a point where you have to play your best players in there best positions all the time, which is something that John Obi Mikel raised when he called for Palmer to be the number 10.
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Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis
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Thomas Tuchel to hand Cole Palmer a free role for England
A report from the Daily Mail claims that Thomas Tuchel has been using Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham in free roles during England training.
After watching England training, this is what they noticed.
Throughout, Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer were the ‘jokers’ – the spare men, central to the chaos, playing for anybody who needed them.
That those two remained in free roles perhaps suggests that Tuchel and Barry wanted to look at the pair’s scanning ahead of the upcoming games.
One of many problems on the pitch at the moment 🤦♂️
Chelsea's Wesley Fofana
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Cole Palmer needs to be Chelsea’s number 10
Moving Cole Palmer into a central number 10 role is no longer just a tactical preference; it is a necessity for a Chelsea side currently over-coached into a creative drought.
Under Liam Rosenior, Palmer has been largely restricted to the right-hand side to maintain width, yet his statistical output has suffered, dropping from 17 goal contributions this time last year to just 10. There’s no doubt he’s world-class, but forcing him to hug the touchline isolates him from the game.
As Thomas Tuchel demonstrated by using him as a roamer for England, Palmer’s elite scanning and spatial awareness are best utilised when he can dictate play from the centre.
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