Cole Palmer was the man of the match for Chelsea in their 2-1 victory over West Ham as he played a key role in the comeback and forced an own goal to seal all three points. Palmer has been the key man for Chelsea all season and continues to be the club’s best player but his statistics should be so much better.
After the West Ham win, OptaJoe tweeted out a frankly insane stat about Palmer that shows how poor the Blues’ finishing has been despite Palmer’s best efforts.
32 - Since 4 December, Cole Palmer has created the most chances of any player in Europe's big-five leagues (32). Despite that, none of those chances have been converted by his teammates and he has zero assists in that time. Juxtaposition. pic.twitter.com/uOJNtthvmS
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 4, 2025
The number itself is crazy but believable considering how active Palmer is and how often he has been at the center of Chelsea’s attacks but it boggles the mind how bad the rest of his teammates have been. This period since December has been a mix of highs and lows for the Blues as they came back in dramatic fashion to beat Spurs 4-3 at Hotspur Stadium but also drew with Everton and lost to relegation fodder Ipswich 2-0.
Much of the struggles Chelsea have faced has been due to their poor finishing as they have opportunities to close out matches but struggle to extend a slim lead or allow lesser teams to hang around and snatch late equalizers. This stat shows that Palmer is doing his part but the other forwards like Nicolas Jackson or Noni Madueke are failing to take advantage of his hard work.
Enzo Maresca will need to shuffle his hand and see if there is someone else on the squad that can finish the chances created by Palmer or if Jackson can rediscover the form that saw him get off to a great start in the campaign. Jackson has a niggling injury so Maresca will likely turn to Christopher Nkunku who has not played much with Palmer this year but the two could build a connection in the next few matches.
Hopefully before the end of the season we get to see another stat from OptaJoe that talks about all the chances that Palmer has created as he should have 10-15 assists and not just the six he has in the Premier League. Palmer is clearly a world class player and deserves to have more world class talent around him, especially in the roles where guys can bury all of the great chances he creates.