7 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

Yeah, and look at the g/a statistics for Jackson, and he spent the whole of last season running round with a huge chip on his shoulder. Did he complain, I think not.

Sorry we’re discussing footballers here.

Arsenal would be very happy to see any of Palmer, Estevao and Santos on the bench rather than starting, and on that basis I'd start all three of them.

Santos and Caicedo is the pivot.

Palmer/Estevao can be #10 and RW.

CF take your pick out of Neto, Delap, Guiu or Joao Pedro.

LW probably Garnacho but I'd even consider playing Fernandez there if benching him is not an option for Clearlake, seeing as how Enzo spends a lot of the game in that space anyway :-)

Heatmap vs Barcelona for example :

Yeah that daft LB hybrid they have him playing when he’s not in Palmer’s way.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

Arsenal would be very happy to see any of Palmer, Estevao and Santos on the bench rather than starting, and on that basis I'd start all three of them.

Santos and Caicedo is the pivot.

Palmer/Estevao can be #10 and RW.

CF take your pick out of Neto, Delap, Guiu or Joao Pedro.

LW probably Garnacho but I'd even consider playing Fernandez there if benching him is not an option for Clearlake, seeing as how Enzo spends a lot of the game in that space anyway :-)

Heatmap vs Barcelona for example :

If he can drop Enzo then having a Caicedo and Santos pivot might do the trick, and we would all love to see Palmer and estevao together.

I'd be shocked If we don't see a midfield 3 of Enzo, Caicedo and one of Gusto/James/Santos.

7 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Yeah that daft LB hybrid they have him playing when he’s not in Palmer’s way.

Perhaps the plan is the confuse Saka as to why Enzo would be trying to keep up with him.

Start esteveo, bring on Palmer at 60 minutes. Either for Stevie or for someone else, dependent on the game situation.

We need to play slow, measured, controlled football don't we ??

😂

Of course he’s going to play Enzo, no doubt whatsoever. The doubt is whether he’ll play James in midfield and Gusto at RB, or play James in midfield and Caicedo at RB. Santos and Estevao on the bench. That’s just the way Maresca is. He can’t bench Enzo or play other players in their best positions.

On 28/11/2025 at 03:50, Deino said:

I'd laugh my heart out if this was all a ploy to surprise Arsenal with his sudden inclusion

BBC Sport

Cole Palmer injury update: Chelsea forward fit for Premie...

Cole Palmer is available to play for Chelsea against London rivals Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.

Amazed if he starts.

palmer is out of Atalanta game

but will play against Everton

20 hours ago, Caps_Lock_King said:

palmer is out of Atalanta game

but will play against Everton

Sensible. Bergamo will by icy cold. He doesn't need the flu.

3 hours ago, Bob stark said:

Feel it was a bit irresponsible to start him v Bournemouth when he has been out for 3mths, and it was obvious he looked rusty and not sharp. I know Maresca is desperate but just hope he restricts him to 20min sub appearances and lets him work his back.

4 hours ago, Bob stark said:

If he is feeling pain in his groin, then he hasn't healed from his injury. This feels like yet another case where we have held out on surgery for too long and he is going to be forced to have it anyway.

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

If he is feeling pain in his groin, then he hasn't healed from his injury. This feels like yet another case where we have held out on surgery for too long and he is going to be forced to have it anyway.

At this stage I'd be worried it's chronic pubalgia, which more or less means it's going to flare up because of overuse. It will come and go. The Athletic just did a piece.

One-footed wingers and the style of play encouraged by Maresca are going to make things worse. The only cure is age and work in the gym.

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

At this stage I'd be worried it's chronic pubalgia, which more or less means it's going to flare up because of overuse. It will come and go. The Athletic just did a piece.

One-footed wingers and the style of play encouraged by Maresca are going to make things worse. The only cure is age and work in the gym.

Enzo had the same thing under Poch. Got the surgery and it seemed to work with him.

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

If he is feeling pain in his groin, then he hasn't healed from his injury. This feels like yet another case where we have held out on surgery for too long and he is going to be forced to have it anyway.

In this case, maybe Palmer doesn't want the surgery simply because its a World Cup year.

So next season is a write off as well.....

Just makes the simple things look so easy and executes it well.

good to see the man back.. that goal will help immensely.

12 hours ago, KonaKai Blue said:

Just makes the simple things look so easy and executes it well.

We don't win that game without him imo.

He created that goal. Pointed to the first pass into Gusto to then unlock him.

That's a level of awareness and movement we've been lacking. Our defensive line just doesn't have the awareness on how to move forward the ball into our attack.

I think he has the confidence to say f**k you Maresca, i'll play how i want, because i know nearly every team in the world who can afford me, will want me.

On 14/12/2025 at 10:08, bisright1 said:

We don't win that game without him imo.

He created that goal. Pointed to the first pass into Gusto to then unlock him.

That's a level of awareness and movement we've been lacking. Our defensive line just doesn't have the awareness on how to move forward the ball into our attack.

It's something lacking in this group. Not enough players telling others where to play a pass or instinctively knowing where to be, football intelligence basically. Fabregas was a master at telling players where to be and what passes to play. Lampard was another, his head was always moving left and right and scouting the pitch.

4 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

It's something lacking in this group. Not enough players telling others where to play a pass or instinctively knowing where to be, football intelligence basically. Fabregas was a master at telling players where to be and what passes to play. Lampard was another, his head was always moving left and right and scouting the pitch.

The only instructing from this group is when they wail their arms blaming their teammates from mistakes they themselves made.

Tosin and Enzo biggest culprits of that.

Unbelievable that this topic was on the second page.

If I was Palmer, I'd be asking my agent to plan for an exit. A player of his calibre would want to be part of a team that's winning leagues and CLs.

Edited December 27, 2025Dec 27 by Girish

29 minutes ago, Girish said:

Unbelievable that this topic was on the second page.

If I was Palmer, I'd be asking my agent to plan for an exit. A player of his calibre would want to be part of a team that's winning leagues and CLs.

Downside of these long contracts. Had the leverage after his 1st two season to put pressure on them, and force them to show intent to compete. Instead extended on a pittance, and now stuck with an 8yr contract playing with bums.