A shimmy into the right half-space followed by a left-footed curler into the corner of the net.
Cole Palmer’s goal against Aston Villa on Sunday was the type he has scored several times since joining Chelsea last summer. These actions, along with consistency from the penalty spot and perfectly weighted passes, are what most fans and pundits would associate him with.
But what many do not see, especially in Palmer’s new role under Enzo Maresca, are his contributions when he does not have the ball.
On Sunday, Stamford Bridge saw the promising signs of Palmer proving his worth out of possession, and his defensive activity set up a 3-0 win after Nicolas Jackson’s seventh-minute opener.
The player dashboard for Cole Palmer on Sunday
Villa’s build-up shape early on Sunday was a familiar one: Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara dropped to the edge of their own box, with their centre-backs fanning wider and one of the full-backs offering support.
Chelsea countered Villa’s approach by going man-to-man in midfield with Enzo Fernandez and Palmer, while wingers Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto stood ready to press Villa’s full-backs.
As seen above, Maresca tasked Palmer with marking Tielemans, who has been crucial to Villa’s build-up play. The Belgium international leads his team in the league in passes per 90 minutes into the attacking third (11.7) and progressive passes per 90 (5.1).
Tielemans ended Sunday’s match with four progressive passes and 10 passes into the attacking third but managed only one and three in the first half. Those numbers speak to the effectiveness of Palmer’s defensive work.
It was not without some initial hiccups, though. Here, within the opening 60 seconds, Tielemans was able to get away from Palmer and pass on the turn, with the move ending in a foul on the retreating Ollie Watkins.
It happened again from the resulting free kick as Tielemans passed out wide to Jaden Philogene, whose heavy touch allowed Fernandez to intervene and pass the ball back to Robert Sanchez.
On both occasions, Neto and Palmer seemed to miscommunicate on who to press. Before the second instance, Neto even signalled to Palmer to stay close to Tielemans.
Tielemans skipped away again in the sixth minute to find Morgan Rogers, who turned and ran at Chelsea’s defence, forcing a successful Levi Colwill recovery. Neto’s reaction to Tielemans finding space is noticeable…
After Jackson opened the scoring in the seventh minute, Palmer’s off-ball performance improved.
As Villa play the ball back to Emiliano Martinez from kick-off, notice how much tighter Palmer is to Tielemans. He also signals for Sancho to press higher.
This was important for Chelsea to establish control on and off the ball after scoring. With Palmer staying touch-tight to Tielemans when Villa built up from the back, the visitors needed one of their forwards to drop. This provided fewer options against Chelsea’s rest defence (the positioning of defenders in attack) of Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and one of Colwill or Moises Caicedo, and resulted in more Villa turnovers.
Chelsea’s shape, as seen below, often meant Martinez was forced to go long, with only Watkins as a target.
Tielemans escaped Palmer’s clutches a couple of times higher up the pitch, but his impact was limited when Villa tried to build from the back, which contributed to turnovers in their half.
In the sequence below, Palmer left his assignment to press Martinez but decelerated to turn back and tackle Tielemans at the edge of Villa’s box. The resulting shot was saved by Martinez, but led to the rare sight of an indirect free kick in the box after Pau Torres touched the ball into Martinez’s arms. Martinez saved Palmer’s subsequent effort.
Even when Tielemans got to the ball ahead of Palmer, the Chelsea forward had ample support from team-mates operating behind him.
In this instance, Fernandez is watching Kamara closely, while Colwill and Romeo Lavia are tight to Rogers and John McGinn. Tielemans is forced to go long towards Watkins, but Cucurella is in a position to cut it out and get Chelsea moving forward again.
Once Chelsea went 2-0 up courtesy of Fernandez’s 36th-minute strike, Palmer could conserve energy as his team controlled possession. He was constantly scanning his surroundings to stay wary of Tielemans’ movement while growing more influential in attack.
In the example below, Palmer forces Tielemans to pass back and proceeds to press Martinez before retreating to close down Tielemans again. This, combined with Jackson, Sancho and Fernandez pushing Villa into a corner, forces Ezri Konsa to play a long pass, which Colwill wins.
Kamara picks up Colwill’s clearance and holds off three players and the ball is worked to Tielemans, with Palmer failing to stop the pass into the Belgian. This time, though, Neto takes it upon himself to win the ball back by outpacing Tielemans.
That was a sign that Tielemans and Kamara were starting to figure out how to navigate Chelsea’s press, but Villa’s final pass was often poor. Maresca’s ploy had clearly worked with Chelsea leading 2-0 and limiting Villa to three shots in the first half.
Unai Emery’s side grew in confidence after the break, but Palmer stayed tight to Tielemans, forcing him to pass back rather than forward.
The introduction of Ross Barkley, who provided freshness and forays forward, in place of Kamara in the 62nd minute helped Tielemans, who had more freedom as a single pivot against a tiring Chelsea.
Palmer took it upon himself to end the game with his goal in the 83rd minute before being replaced by Joao Felix.
After the match, Maresca praised Palmer, saying he was “the reason people pay for tickets — Palmer can see things, like Joao Felix, that the rest cannot see”. Sunday’s performance, though, illustrated Chelsea’s ceiling when Palmer’s attacking output is complemented by his fledgling progress in out-of-possession situations.
Palmer made errors, which can be expected as he adapts to a deeper role with defensive responsibilities under Maresca. But when he erred, the rest of this constantly improving Chelsea side backed him up to ensure those mistakes were not costly.
This team, unlike last season, looks closer to being the sum of its expensive parts — and Palmer’s largely unheralded contributions without the ball are crucial.
(Top photo: Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
