Enzo Maresca said he challenged Cole Palmer to be more creative and “take the initiative” after the complaints of the Chelsea Talisman after the final of the Europa Conference League.
The Maresca team started their club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC on Monday, with goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez who sealed the victory.
The victory of the blues on the MLS outfit was indeed the first competitive encounter between clubs from England and the United States.
Although it did not come to the score sheet, Palmer played a crucial role in the second goal of Chelsea, sliding in debutant Liam Delap, who crossed to Fernandez to go home.
This was Chelsea's first match since the beating of Real Betis with 4-1 last month, making them the first side in history, each of the European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, Cup Winners' Cup and the Conference League.
But after the game in Wroclaw, Palmer hinted with frustration with Chelsea's approach by claiming that he made a personal decision to try to make something happen in the last third part.
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The 23-year-old claimed that he was “sick to go backwards or sideways”, with Maresca revealing that he took Palmer's comments immediately after their victory over Betis.
'I had a conversation with Cole [today] And I told him that I really like the way he was in terms of taking responsibility, taking the initiative on the ball, “said the Chelsea boss.
“He even tried to receive the ball on our side and tried to go one against one against the player. This is the Cole we expect.
“After the final of the Conference League, he said he was bored and received the ball and so he decided to do something else.
The day after that interview I said to him: “But you can do that since the first minute. Why are you waiting for so long? Why are you waiting? Why don't you do the same after a minute? '
“Today he did exactly what we asked him. We are happy when he does because I often said Cole is our best player, he is a top player and hopefully he can continue to do the right things.”
Palmer had apparently taken those comments on board against Lafc and placed more shots (six) than one of his teammates in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
He also played more passes in the last third (32), while only Pedro Neto (five) had more successful dribbles than Palmer (two, level with Nicolas Jackson).