Paul Merson called Chelsea's scoreless draw with Crystal Palace during the opening weekend a “concern” and says that West Ham Cole wants to close Palmer to close the creativity of the blues.
Read more while Merson discusses the lack of advanced of Chelsea against Palace, Palmer's struggles and the improvements that West Ham must make …
'Stop Palmer, Stop Chelsea'
The draw against Crystal Palace was delivered to Chelsea.
Chelsea was not good.
If Cole Palmer will not break down a team, I am not sure who is for Chelsea. If opposition teams pick him up and mark him well, I am not sure what Chelsea has. Pedro Neto and Jamie Gittens have pace, but they struggled to beat their defenders on Sunday.
He needs some support.
'Palmer must trust the team and stop falling deep'
Palmer is the city's conversation in team conversations against Chelsea. Teams try to stop him because they think he is stopping him, stop Chelsea. Stop Cole Palmer will be the message for West Ham on Friday. That's just how it is.
Palmer must also have a little faith in the team. He must stay as high as possible on the field, because when he gets frustrated, it becomes deeper and deeper. He becomes shorter and shorter to get the ball and it is so difficult to hurt a team from his own half.
It is difficult for Palmer. You must have runners if you get the ball and for me he doesn't have it.
It is not only all on Palmer because the coach also has to come up with solutions. He has to work out a way to get him the ball in areas where he can hurt teams. But for Palmer, patience is the key. He has to wait a little more for the ball instead of falling deep to come and get him.
You can't hurt anyone on the half line. He needs the ball in and around the box where it is special.
'Palmer will miss Jackson'
Palmer will miss Nicolas Jackson this season.
Jackson was a willing runner for Palmer and he created so much space for him.
I know he was a bit messy with his game and he missed opportunities, but he was playing. He had the ability to take defenders the other way and when you do that, it opens space for Palmer.
If you play as Palmer, you want as much space as possible as you can, and Jackson has helped that.
Now Joao Pedro is not really an out-out center ahead. He also likes to be short and that is not useful for Palmer. If the center of the pitch is stifled, Palmer takes out of the comparison.
I'm not sure if the decision to possibly move on Jackson is the right one. You have to remember how good Palmer was with Jackson. Jackson had Palmer and Palmer Jackson made.
'Eze could have helped Chelsea'
I cannot believe that Chelsea did not go for Ebereechi.
I really don't know what I'm missing.
They buy a winger after a winger, but they need deception. They need more than Palmer.
If you get Eze, you have two players who can break down teams.
They are predictable for me. They play with two Quick Wingers, where Palmer tries to feed them.
'Bigger play for Chelsea than West Ham'
I don't think coming up Chelsea is a bad game for West Ham.
Of course the defeat in Sunderland is a concern. They were extremely bad in the stadium of light, and you can understand the worries of the supporters.
The hammers need more energy in midfield. They were flooded by Sunderland, who carried out a good performance.
In my opinion, the match against West Ham is a larger game for Chelsea.