Enzo Maresca responds to Cole Palmer criticism as Chelsea star fumes after Fulham defeat

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has responded to Cole Palmer’s piercing comments after the Blues suffered a late collapse in their 2-1 defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day.

Maresca’s side were looking comfortable after leading through Palmer’s 12th league goal of the season, with the 22-year-old dancing through the Fulham defence before slotting home to become Chelsea’s all-time leading scorer in a calendar year (26 goals).

But the visitors fought back and Marco Silva’s substitutes paid off when Harry Wilson scored from the bench and Rodrigo Muniz netted a deserved stoppage-time winner.

Palmer was critical of Chelsea’s inability to keep control of the game, which some might have interpreted as a slight dig at his manager, who made just one change as opposed to Silva’s maximum of five.

“We were winning for the majority of the game, but to lose at the end, it’s difficult,” Palmer told Amazon Prime Sport.

“I think the first half we played well, we controlled the game. We had quite a few chances. In the second half, we just lose a bit of control.

“They are good transition team Fulham, direct, so we got caught up with their game and paid the price. I don’t think we lost any intensity, we just lost control of the game and turned it into a game that they’re better at, running and stuff.

“We need to try and manage the game a bit better.”

And Maresca responded by admitting Palmer was “right”, with the Italian conceding his side did not cope well with Fulham’s threat on the counterattack.

When asked if Chelsea’s game management was the issue as Palmer said, Maresca replied: “Yes, it’s exactly what I said to them.

“We can manage the game better. We have to control the game, it’s a game we can learn many things [from].

“We knew it would be a game potentially where they could transition many times because they have very good players. We could avoid that, some moments we avoid, but we concede too many transitions. We need to work on that.”

It is the first time since 1979 that Fulham have won at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea’s first home defeat since the opening day of the season, dealing a major blow to their title hopes.

Maresca’s men remain second but they are now four points behind Liverpool, who have two games in hand and play Leicester at Anfield on Boxing Day evening.

The 44-year-old has consistently said that his Chelsea team are not ready for a title race despite their impressive position in the table and he

“I said many times, it’s not because we win a game or lose a game, we are inside the reality [of not being ready]. We take it game by game and we focus on that.”