Enzo Maresca says that Chelsea cannot always expect Cole Palmer to hit the dizzying heights that he reached last season, after the supporting cast of the blues performed in a 4-0 win over Southampton.
Palmer, who scored 22 goals and provided 11 assists in the Premier League in 2023-24, has been struggling for form since the turn of the year.
Tuesday's 4-0 victory at Southampton was his seventh consecutive game in all competitions without a target involvement-a run that fired him 26 shots worth a total of 2.8 expected goals (XG).
He missed two good first half opportunities against the lower club of the Premier League, but his struggles did not matter for Chelsea such as Christopher Nunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella came to the Scoresheet.
Maresca has previously warned that Chelsea is too dependent on Palmer, and when he spoke to TNT Sports after full time, he said that the 22-year-old was a bad patch.
“We are all former players. We all went through a number of bad moments,” said Maresca.
“You can't expect Palmer as he was last season, or how he was in the first part of the season.
“It's normal. He is human. I told him it was normal. He is happy. He's fine.
“He shared the dressing room with some top players and he knows that every top player is going through bad moments.
“It's about how you react. Keep working, keep laughing, stay calm, be happy and enjoy football. It's all you have to do.”
Chelsea had lost three consecutive games in all matches before the match of Tuesday, sliding to the seventh in the Premier League table and leaving the FA Cup.
Their victory brought them back to the top four before Newcastle United and Manchester City played on Wednesday, and Maresca knew the importance of earning three points.
“We needed all of that. We were in a bad run in the field of results. The performance was always there, except Brighton. The club needed that,” he said.
“This month it has been when I pushed players even more to believe in the process. Since we started we have almost always been in the top four.
“But now it is normal to go through a number of bad moments. It's about how we react and how we continue to believe in what we do. The players are fantastic and work hard every day.”
Chelsea now has a week off before you are confronted with Copenhagen in the first stage of their Europa Conference League Last-16 draw on March 6, with Maresca's former club Leicester City that visits Stamford Bridge three days later.
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