Cole Palmer has been one of Chelsea’s most impactful players of the 2024/25 Premier League season so far.
He has been involved in most of the Blues’ wins and crucial actions, leading the team to hold the second spot with 28 points at the moment, seven points away from Liverpool.
With eight wins, four draws, and two losses, Chelsea is actually having a very positive first half of the season.
They are seriously challenging the top four spots and, given their current results and run of form, could challenge the title as well.
Palmer played a significant role in helping Chelsea achieve these results.
He is expected to continue providing assists and scoring important goals for the team that bought him from Manchester City for a £42.5m fee.
Palmer started his footballing career at Manchester City at the age of 10 within the team’s youth sector before joining the senior team in 2020 and gaining a lot of experience with the Citizens until 2023, when he had the opportunity to join the Blues and get more playing time.
In this tactical analysis and scout report on the 22-year-old English international, we will shed light on Cole Palmers stats, his attacking and playmaking abilities, and also analyse Enzo Maresca’s coaching impact on Palmer and how he developed his roles and strengths.
The analysis will, therefore, explore Palmer’s roles and importance within Chelsea’s tactics by focusing on significant examples and statistics.
Cole Palmers New Position & Roles
Following his usage as a right winger for most of the time at Chelsea last season and the start of being used as an advanced playmaker only in the last games of the 2023/24 season, Cole Palmers style of play has developed significantly under the management of the new head coach, Enzo Maresca, as the Italian head coach started using him extensively in this position.
Whether in the usual 4-2-3-1 or formations requiring two attacking midfielders, Maresca found the most suitable position for the English international and started using him consistently as a proper number 10 at a time when advanced playmakers are becoming rare.
Originally a right winger who played as an inverted winger in his best position, Maresca preferred to use him as an advanced playmaker.
He immediately noticed that Palmer had everything needed to succeed in that role.
Given that Palmer masters shooting from distance, running into space to propose passing solutions, providing key passes, applying high pressure on opponents, and retreating to intercept passes or win defensive duels, Maresca opted to preserve the 4-2-3-1 formation for most of the games, with Palmer becoming a confirmed attacking midfielder in his line-up.
Moreover, with the development of set-piece taking and further development of shooting abilities, especially with shots from distance, Palmer has become a reliable attacking weapon for the Italian head coach.
We saw Palmer score numerous crucial goals in the latest period, confirming his continuous development as an attacker.
As we look at this pizza map of Palmer, we can immediately notice his remarkable goal contribution rates, whether through assist-making or finishing, which highlights the player’s attacking impact at Chelsea.
Also, with 78.3% dangerous passes per game, it becomes easier for the whole team to find goalscoring solutions, as Palmer’s quick dribbles and smart passes make finishing less complicated for striker Nicolas Jackson or the two wingers.
Another very important yet not very noticed trait that Palmer succeeded in developing, especially this season, is his ability to win defensive duels and retreat to help his teammates in an impactful way.
With 71.9% of defensive duels won on average, Palmer surely contributes a lot to Chelsea’s out-of-possession phase being quite successful and disturbing to opponents.
He often uses his pace and height to intercept passes between the lines and challenge efficiently when put in defensive duel situations.
Cole Palmer Stats & Radar Map
Cole Palmer’s Goalscoring Traits & Set-Piece Taking
With 45.5% shots on target and 2.96 aimed shots on goal overall, Palmer does not shoot much on goal per game, yet he makes sure the shots he attempts hit the net or cause significant danger to the opponents.
His shooting power, accuracy, and frequency have developed significantly this season, particularly as he started scoring crucial goals from distance, such as his latest goal against Aston Villa.
In this goal a
