Chelsea were without Cole Palmer for their 5-0 defeat against Arsenal last night.
Not having Cole Palmer was a huge blow for Mauricio Pochettino, with the attacker being Chelsea‘s best player this season.
In 27 Premier League appearances, he has scored 20 goals and provided nine assists.
Palmer missed the game because of illness and Pochettino says he does not know if the 21-year-old will be back for Chelsea’s match against Aston Villa at the weekend.
His absence at the Emirates last night, though, was no excuse for the Blues to lose 5-0.
Mauricio Pochettino discusses Cole Palmer absence in Chelsea’s 5-0 defeat to Arsenal
Losing a player of Palmer’s quality obviously impacted Chelsea in their London derby against Arsenal.
However, Pochettino thinks the result still could have been the same if he did manage to play.
“Maybe with him, the team today, it could be in the same situation,” the Argentine told football.london and the rest of the English media after the game.
“But of course Palmer is doing well for us and he is the only player we have to link all the lines of the team. When you miss a player like this, it is not easy. It was a great opportunity for some players to step up.
“We are showing this inconsistency and that is why we are where we are. We are able to have an amazing performance [against Man City] and then one like this. When we have bad days, we are so bad.”
Have Chelsea become a one-man team?
Right now, it does not look like Chelsea can survive without Palmer. He scores the team’s goals and creates them.
Illness kept him out of the Arsenal match and Chelsea now need to hope that that is the only thing that sidelines the Englishman from now until the end of the season.
Without Palmer, they have no chance of qualifying for European football, which is a difficult task even with him.
The England international has been a great addition to Chelsea, one actually worthy of being in the club’s top 10 most expensive signings. However, having cost just £45m, which now looks like an absolute bargain, Palmer is not on that list.