Cole Palmer is getting more and more frustrated, both with Chelsea’s season and in this game so far.
In this case, the cause of his frustration was Christopher Nkunku. Palmer wriggled himself free in the box and then rolled the ball out to the Frenchman, who saw that it was going to be tough to control the pass, and so just let it go, pointing to his feet where he had wanted it played.
It was like playing 5 a side with your mate’s Dad – you play a 90% perfect pass but he doesn’t even try to get on the end of it, making it look like your fault.
Except your mate’s Dad is 50 years old, so he’s got an excuse. Nkunku is supposed to be on his toes, explosive, ready and waiting to do all he can to get on the end of any pass put within 3 metres of him.
Knowing the cameras would be on him, Palmer turned away and muttered angrily to himself, throwing his arms up in frustration at the lack of effort from his teammate. Fans are on the same page – Nkunku just looks increasingly disinterested in general, and this was an acute demonstration of that apathy.
Palmer gets revenge after angry reaction
Simon Johnson of the Athletic spotted it too, saying that Palmer “reacted angrily” to Nkunku’s lack of effort, which is certainly true.
Not long afterwards, Palmer took a shot from a similar position which he whipped wide, when Nkunku was out wide to his left, begging to be played in. This felt a bit like revenge from Cole, who was basically saying “if you’re not going to run for it, I’m not going to play it to you.”
That’s certainly not the direction you want your team going in, but we understand Palmer’s frustration, who is just not hitting his usual levels right now.
0 Comments