Shaun Wright-Phillips Backs Chelsea Front Three as Top-Flight Best
Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Chelsea’s brightest attacking talents, have rarely looked this dangerous going forward. Add Joao Pedro to the mix and, according to Shaun Wright-Phillips, Chelsea now have the best front three in the Premier League this season. The former Manchester City and England winger rates them above anything else in the division right now.
“Definitely. I’ll definitely put them up there in the top attackers in the Premier League for this season,” Wright-Phillips said, speaking to Football.London about Xabi Alonso’s rebuilt attack.
It’s a bold shout given the competition from Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, but Wright-Phillips isn’t hedging it. Palmer, Rogers and Joao Pedro form a genuine top three in his eyes, assembled only recently and already delivering as a unit. For many of us who watch every week, that verdict already feels obvious.
Inside the £219m Investment Driving 80 Percent of Chelsea’s Goals
The financial outlay behind Chelsea’s front three of Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro explains plenty of the excitement building around Stamford Bridge this season. Chelsea have paid just over £219 million in total to sign the trio, and the early return already looks like smart business. Between them, Palmer, Rogers and Joao Pedro have scored eight Premier League goals for Chelsea this season.
Wright-Phillips singles out Palmer’s touch as the difference maker. “Cole Palmer, you know what he’s like, I won’t say he’s similar to [Rayan] Cherki, because he can handle the wing side I think better than Cherki, but he’s great. His creativity is something else,” he said.
He pointed to a specific example too. “I saw his goal against Leeds the other night, where he goes to volley it, but he feints his body and just kind of passes it around him. He’s an unbelievable player.”
Rogers gets similar praise, with Wright-Phillips crediting the move from Aston Villa for lifting his level. “Everybody saw what Morgan Rogers could do at Aston Villa, and for him to go to Chelsea with a lot more attacking players around him of his standards and understanding makes a hell of a difference,” he said. “I don’t think people on the outside will ever get how much of a difference it makes, but it makes a hell of a lot of difference.” It puts Rogers in rare company at Stamford Bridge, chasing the standards set by some of the greatest Chelsea strikers of the modern era.
On Joao Pedro, Wright-Phillips was just as complimentary. “Joao Pedro, he’s just special, isn’t he? How he didn’t go to the World Cup, I honestly have no clue. But he’s a fun player to watch as well. So yeah, I’ll definitely put them up there.”
Tactical Freedom and the Florian Wirtz Blueprint Under Xabi Alonso
Wright-Phillips believes Alonso’s setup is the key to getting the best from Palmer. “His best position is to let him be free. Let him be able to express himself,” he said, rather than locking Palmer into a fixed role or zone.
He drew a direct comparison with Alonso’s previous work in Germany. “And people have asked me that question before and I always say, ‘well, Alonso got the best out of Florian Wirtz.’ So, if he knows how to make Wirtz play, he knows how to make Cole Palmer play,” he said. Chelsea fans got an early glimpse of how much licence that freedom brings during the defensive test against Brentford, where the balance between attacking freedom and defensive structure was put under real scrutiny.
Midfield reinforcements should only add to that freedom. “If he builds up that team, especially when Moises Caicedo comes back in that midfield, that frees Palmer up a little bit more,” Wright-Phillips said, a point that ties into the wider squad management decisions under Alonso this season.
Palmer’s early form has fed his confidence too, according to Wright-Phillips. “He’s started off on fire and normally, when you have players like that that start off with goals and assists, they tend to continue that way. So, his confidence will be sky high now.”
International Break Injury Scares Highlight Chelsea’s Reliance
The one shadow over this front three’s start came during the international break. Palmer withdrew from the England squad with a muscular injury, and Joao Pedro pulled out of his call up with a knee issue. Neither withdrawal has been described as long term, but both were enough to end their involvement with their countries for now.
Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Chelsea’s front three, have carried so much of the goal threat this season that any spell out for either player would be felt immediately. Alonso will assess both after the break, and with this trio shouldering that much responsibility, their fitness sits close to the top of his priorities heading into the next round of fixtures.
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