Palmer sad to see Pochettino go, happy to see Maresca come in at Chelsea

Underutilized England winger Cole Palmer talked to the media for a bit yesterday, ahead of England’s Round of 16 matchup against Slovakia on Sunday at Euro 2024, and among the topics he was asked about was the coaching change at Chelsea.

The 22-year-old had already made his feelings clear about Mauricio Pochettino previously, crediting the outgoing manager for the opportunity to shine at Chelsea, and expressing sadness at his departure (by mutual consent with the club). But uniquely among the squad, Palmer also has experience working with Enzo Maresca, who played a key role in our young star’s development back at Manchester City.

And that’s not lost on our young star either (who had 13 goals and 6 assists from the right wing in 16 PL2 games during that 2020-21 season under Maresca).

“[Pochettino] just gave me the opportunity and the freedom and said ‘do what you do’. I was [sorry to see him leave], because he put his trust in me and we built a good relationship. Not just with him but with all his staff who were there. When he left I was gutted.

“He is probably the main reason [I am in the England squad] because a different manager might not have given me that freedom and opportunity to do what I did at Chelsea.”

“Enzo was the one who put me at right-wing. So from the [under] 18s I was playing [number] 10 and when I went to the 23s Enzo played me on the right. That was my first full season on the right. He’s a good coach, a really good coach. I think tactically he knows what he is doing. He will improve a lot of the players.”

-Cole Palmer; source: Telegraph

Obviously Palmer isn’t going to say anything negative, but it’s nice to see a solid endorsement from him for the new man in charge. Given the still young and inexperienced nature of this squad, further improvements will have to be necessary indeed, and those will need to be facilitated by the head coach.