Cole Palmer Unleashed at Chelsea Under Alonso
Cole Palmer says he is finally playing with the “handbrake off” at Chelsea under Alonso – and he didn’t hide where the blame lies for the shackles he felt before.
The 24-year-old was electric in Monday night’s 3-2 win over Fulham, the standout performer in a chaotic derby that kept swinging but always seemed to bend to his rhythm. His goal summed it up: drifting right across the pitch, ghosting into space, and finishing off a move sparked by Joao Pedro. It was the sort of run he insists he simply wouldn’t have been allowed to make last season.
Palmer unleashed under Alonso
Palmer’s numbers told the story of a player cutting loose. He led the match for shots with five. He completed five dribbles. He won ten duels. He took nine touches inside the Fulham box. Every time Chelsea surged forward, he seemed to be at the heart of it, either carrying the ball, demanding it, or finishing the move.
That freedom, he says, comes straight from Alonso.
“He just said I'd have more freedom to drift about the pitch. Just like you saw with the goal I scored,” Palmer told Sky Sports. “Last season, I wouldn't have even made that run because it's not a 'safe zone’.”
The message from the new head coach has been clear: stop thinking in straight lines, stop worrying about zones, and start doing damage.
“He's saying 'move across that zone, drop into play, come get on the ball, create and just do what you do',” Palmer added.
The contrast with what came before could hardly be sharper. Without naming names directly in his criticism, Palmer’s comments were a pointed reference to former Chelsea bosses Enzo Maresca, Liam Rosenior and Calum McFarlane, under whom he felt boxed in by rigid tactical demands. That Fulham goal, he insisted, “would never have happened” under their guidance.
From pain and frustration to full throttle
This version of Palmer – sharp, aggressive, constantly on the move – feels a long way from the player who limped through last season.
A groin problem wrecked his rhythm. He missed 11 matches. His Premier League goal tally slumped to 10, a steep drop from previous returns of 22 and 15. For a forward who thrives on flow and repetition, it was a brutal stop-start campaign.
He admits he pushed his body too far in a desperate bid to make Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup.
“Before my groin injury, I'd never really been injured. Well, rarely,” Palmer said. “So then I would just come back and play when I shouldn't have played.
“Obviously the World Cup was coming up, so I was in a bit of a dilemma thinking: 'If I don't play I'm not going to go. But if I play then, I can't play [properly]'.”
He called it “a bit of a sticky situation” – shuttling between specialists, chasing different opinions on what was wrong and how to fix it, while the games kept coming and his form ebbed away.
Since returning, the approach has changed. No shortcuts, no gambles.
“Since I've come back I've been working every day to obviously stop it happening again. I just want to stay injury free, and if I'm on the pitch then I know what I can do,” he said. “Physically I feel good, probably the best I've felt in ages, but I think I can [get fitter] with games and more minutes.”
Right now, with Alonso urging him to roam and create, Palmer looks like a player ready to climb back to those 20-plus goal heights. The question for the rest of the league is simple: how do you stop him when the handbrake’s gone?
