Questions are now being raised about Chelsea and how good they actually are, following another defeat. They lost to Bayern Munich in midweek and following that with a defeat at the hands of arguably the worst Manchester United team in recent memory. And suddenly, a team that was being considered as borderline title contenders not too long ago now look like one that will struggle to make the Champions League spots.
If you think this is an overreaction, it is not. At no point this season have Chelsea looked convincing. And so far, they have won two of their six games across all competitions.
A lot of people might be starting to realise that this is not that good a squad when players like Levi Colwill are out injured. And of course, Enzo Maresca needs to be questioned as well, after some terrible decisions in the loss to Manchester United.
Cole Palmer was one of the players taken off on the day early in the first half and it was not a tactical change. As reported by Football London, Maresca said after the game:
"Cole, he tried this morning, he had a test this morning to play this game, he was not 100% fit, he made a fantastic effort to play this game, but he was not 100%."
Chelsea boss confirms bad news about Cole Palmer after Man Utd game
Further elaborating on the matter and why Palmer was taken off, Maresca went on to add:
"Again, he did this morning a test, he wanted to play this game for the team, to be close, so the effort has been huge from him, but then after 20 minutes he started to feel something, so we decided to change him."
This is an issue that has been following Palmer since the start of the season. And it might be a good idea to give him some time to recover fully instead of pushing forward his return to the pitch before he is 100% fit and then risk further aggravating the issue.
That is easier said than done though. Chelsea are struggling already and now could be without their star man for a while. Incidentally, the only two games they have won this season are the ones Palmer was not involved in.
We can only wish Cole a speedy recovery. Hopefully, he returns to full fitness as soon as possible and is back on the pitch, doing what he does best.