By Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Cole Palmer will undergo a period of rest to fix an ongoing groin issue, Palmer, who was withdrawn after 21 minutes at Man Utd last weekend, is likely to be missing until after the next international break.
And the fact he was rushed back from a groin problem to play against Manchester United at the weekend, before being forced to withdraw after 21 minutes is further proof, even half fit, Palmer’s inclusion was deemed a risk worth taking.
In that time, Chelsea must negotiate fixtures against Brighton and Liverpool in the Premier League, and a European meeting with Benfica now managed by former Blues boss Jose Mourinho.
Maresca said “We decided to protect Cole, so it doesn’t get worse in the injury, so we will rest him for the next two or three weeks until after the international break, to see if the rest means he can recover 100 per cent.
“It’s just managing the pain in his groin, the amount of games, this can happen, we try to be a bit conservative with him and hopefully he can be 100 per cent after the international break.”
It feels like a very big week for Chelsea after a challenging 10 days or so, the late draw against Brentford, defeat in Munich then at Man Utd was followed up with a win in the League Cup against Lincoln City, but only after going behind.
Next up is Brighton, the visit of Jose Mourinho and Benfica, before meeting Liverpool, it’s too early to be defining, says Enzo Maresca, but we are about to learn a lot more about this Chelsea side before the next international break.
The biggest of those questions Maresca needs to answer is how they can create, score and win without Cole Palmer, it was a risk that didn’t pay off last weekend, and Palmer limping off in the pouring Manchester rain is the last Chelsea fans will see of him before the October international break.
The hope is a period of rest will finally cure his groin injury, and Palmer will have Wesley Fofana for company, the defender has been ruled out for 12 days with concussion after colliding with his own goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen.
Tosin has a calf problem and with Levi Colwill recovering from an ACL surgery, Chelsea have limited options in the central defence, Maresca shut down any suggestion he might go and give Axel Disasi a tap on the shoulder to welcome him back into first team fold, preferring to talk up youngster Josh Acheampong instead.
Somehow, despite a big summer spend, Chelsea find themselves short at the back and up front, Maresca needs to find some solutions and quickly.
We try always to rotate, that has to be the main target because of the amount of games and injuries, sometimes you can’t rotate because the position doesn’t have the right numbers, if we have three games in a week we try to rotate, but some players have to play nearly every game.
“Unfortunately, we have seven or eight players out, is this a consequence from last season? We don’t have the answers to that, but we’re going to try to adapt.”
Cole Palmer has suffered a drop off in form and picked up a groin injury, ruling him out until mid October, but he is still Chelsea’s best player.
It’s a bit early to think this will define the season, it’s too early, the main things are growing and improving, this is important for me as the manager.
