Cole Palmer: Chelsea’s ‘new Kevin De Bruyne’ could be one of the best in the world, says Pat Nevin | OneFootball

This week former Chelsea and Everton midfielder Pat Nevin spoke to Squawka about the Blues’ start to life under Enzo Maresca, Cole Palmer’s ceiling and the Toffee’s chances of staying in the Premier League.

Nevin also spoke about Enzo Fernandez losing his spot in the Chelsea starting XI and whether the Blues should try to win the Europa Conference League.

We’re now 10 games into the new Premier League season, what have you made of Chelsea’s start under Enzo Maresca?

It’s what I expected before the start of the season. Obviously I work for the BBC, and we all have to give our predictions. And for the first time in quite a long time I thought, ‘Yeah, top four Chelsea’. I actually think that. I was surprised not many people went for it, for Chelsea to get there. But because they brought such a young team together over the last couple of years, it was never going to work right away.

But I looked at the basics of it and thought there are enough decent players there. And you’ve got Cole Palmer. So this season I thought ‘Yeah, there’s enough there now’. They’ve now got a little bit more knowledge of the Premier League. There are a lot of players that were bought that are not going to work. We’ve waited two years and it’s not worked, and it’s not going to work. The problem is you’re not going to get the money back on some of them, but there you go. I’m sure that’s part of the game plan.

At the start of the season, (Enzo) Maresca kind of clarified what was needed. And everybody knows, it was a settled looking squad, people who knew roughly that they’d be playing. A little bit of time to learn and run with each other and understand each other. It’s a weird way he’s had to do it, almost separating two teams. They call them the second XI that are playing in Europe and the League Cup. I was at the game against Newcastle the other night, and the temptation is to call them the stiffs, because that’s what they are, the rezzies [reserves].

But he’s managed to find a way, and we’re right in the middle of a hard time and a very interesting time for Chelsea. Because if you look at what we’ve got now for the games coming up, it’s a run, this is going to tell. So far, it’s kind of where I expected and almost where you’d want to be. But you got the games coming up. If you think about it, Newcastle was a tough one. They’re on a decent run, Chelsea beat them at home. The League Cup game, it doesn’t count because it was the second team. Man United away, a draw. Look, they’re not doing well but a draw up at Old Trafford is always not bad. Then you’ve got Arsenal coming up and then just after that you’ve got Aston Villa, the game after Leicester, then Spurs the game after that. You’ve got three big games out of the next six in the league. If Chelsea are still in the top four after that, Chelsea are staying in the top four. And I have a suspicion they will be.

Nicolas doesn’t look to me like a natural goalscorer, because you get used to having people around at the very top level as natural goalscorers. But again, a couple of games into the season, I said I think he’ll get 20 goals, which is kind of the standard. If you can get to 20, not necessarily in the Premier League, but 20 over a season, that should be the standard of a really good centre-forward.

I think he’ll get there. And the reason being is he gets himself into brilliant positions. His hit rate isn’t always perfect, he misses some chances that other centre-forwards take without even thinking. And on top of that, he’s got creativity all over the place around him. If you keep on getting that amount of chances, you just need to be a decent scorer. I say scorer, you know, a natural scorer or a scorer. He’s kind of a decent one, so that’s probably enough.

What he’s more than decent at, is his pace is stupid. The ridiculous pace. Now if you get that sort of pace and your movement gets more intelligent, you’ve got a chance. Wow, you really have a chance. And his movement has become more intelligent. And it’s not a sniffer’s kind of movement around the box, it’s knowing when to run from deep into spaces, so I’m quite impressed.

I think there are a number of players that get stuck in centre-forwards like that. You know, you’re the best player in the world if you have the worst game in the world and you score two goals. That’s the way it is with strikers, and they have to live with that. You can have a brilliant game, but if you miss a chance, you’re having a stinker. So it’s not like other positions and people are about getting another big-name striker, and they’ve said that consistently, I’m not sure. Unless you can get about five or six off the wage bill, which they could easily do without making the team worse. The problem is, will they be able to do it with the money they spent on these players? But Nicolas, don’t worry, he’s alright. Your problem is not there if you’re Chelsea.

Again, I have to go back to when I was doing my first and second games that Cole Palmer played for Manchester City, he came on as a sub. And he gave the ball away three times. He only had it four times, he gave it away three times. And my commentary was ‘I think I’ve seen the new Kevin De Bruyne’. And everyone’s looking at me going, ‘What? Who? Which one? What are you talking about?’

For someone like myself who played in a creative position, he sees everything. And to be honest, I’ve kept on saying that for more than two-and-a-half years now. Saying to people, ‘No, no, the new Kevin De Bruyne’ and they’d go ‘Well, I’m not going for it’. When he played that ball out to (Pedro) Neto [against Newcastle], come on. Come on, seriously. Kevin De Bruyne was standing up there going, ‘Oh yeah I’ll have that all day long’. So he’s extra special. And you never know how far it can go.

If he keeps his head where it is, which is a brilliant place which I love. Some of the very best players just look so laid back, with a laissez faire attitude about life. Cool as you like, never ever spooked, don’t seem to feel the pressure. If he can keep that, if he stays clear of injury, his head isn’t turned. There are quite a few ifs, but they’re all quite possible, he’s going to be one of the best in the world. So that’s quite a few ifs and all, but notice the if I don’t put in there, which is will he be good enough talent wise. No, that’s not even an if. Yes, he already is so fabulous to watch.

I took my son along to the Chelsea vs Newcastle game up at Newcastle during the week and you’re gutted when he’s not on. You understand that he wasn’t going to get played, but you’re kind of gutted because at least once in each game, but usually much more than that, he’ll do something that you just stand and think, nobody else does that. And it’s a joy, it’s great to watch.

At the other end of the scale, Enzo Fernandez looks to have lost his place in Chelsea’s midfield to Romeo Lavia. Why do you think he’s struggling at the moment?

It’s very difficult to see, because there was a period of time where he was stuck up top and it was suggested they thought he was going to be a No.10 sort of player. And I can’t see that. He’s not pacey enough, there’s not enough passing for that position. Not in comparison to Cole Palmer, not in comparison to Joao Felix, not in comparison to (Kiernan) Dewsbury-Hall, absolutely not. They are really brilliant in that position.

So the position is that kind of No.6, or the more defensive midfielder. The problem is you’ve got (Moises) Caicedo playing well and Lavia, and it’s kind of tough to get into that team. I don’t think his position in the squad is in doubt. I suspect he’ll be there for quite some time, again for a number of reasons.

Okay it’s not going great, he’s still young and he’ll do a good job there. I think everyone thinks because it was £100 million or whatever, people think you’ve got to be X because you cost that. Well, he didn’t come up with a fee. It’s nothing to do with him. I think he can be a good, useful, strong player for Chelsea for a decent amount of time, a long time if you just ignore the cost. Because in the end, you’re never going to get that money back for Enzo, and he’s not that type of player.

So yeah, did Chelsea over pay? Yeah. Is he a player that will be able to do a job over a period of time? Yeah, absolutely. There are others in the squad and in the wider squad that probably have more worry about leaving.

Are they bothered, really? I know from the club you’ll never hear anything other than ‘Yes, we want to win it. We’ve never won this trophy before’, all the positives. Will there be wailing and gnashing of teeth if they went out? Absolutely not. It’s not the core of what you need to do as a group.

What it is, I think, is very handy. Really handy. There are a number of players who would be very, very put out just now if they weren’t getting any games at all. Whereas you’ve got a number of players now that are playing quite regularly, European football, sometimes League Cup but no longer that because you’re out of that now after getting beat by Newcastle. So it’s been a bit of a lifesaver. It’s also a chance, when you’re listening to Pep Guardiola who’s always talking about the right number of minutes. If the players are not getting enough minutes, there you go, you get minutes. And if you’re getting too many minutes you can get dropped into that group and you don’t have to play for a while, and you can come back out.

It’s actually kind of falling nicely into the manager’s lap that competition. Should you try and win it? Yeah, try and win it. Should you go and put your top team out at any point? I don’t think you can because you’ve not named them all anyway, but is it the end of the world if you don’t? Not at all, I’m afraid. No, it’s not up there. And neither should it be, because Chelsea Football Club and its recent history and the money it’s spent, you should be aiming much, much higher than that.

Do you know what? I thought they were okay at the start. The results weren’t going well, but I thought there were reasons for it and I understood it completely. And so, again, I’ve been talking to a lot of people on broadcasts saying everything will be okay, even though they were getting hammered. The one bad one was Spurs away from home. I was at that game, they stunk. But apart from that, the basics are fine, the structure is fine.

Look at the amount of chances and goals they’re giving away at the moment. Very, very few. Look, are they good to watch? No, not particularly. Everton fans know that. Is there an organised enough unit with a group of players that know what they’re doing to get away from the bottom three? Yeah, I think so. And I’ve not changed. I’ve not thought at any point that there has been real danger, even through those really bad results.

And the thing is, they could do with getting no injuries to their forward attacking players. So (Iliman) Ndiaye, keep him fit. Dominic (Calvert-Lewin), try and keep him fit as long as you possibly can. And if you can do that, my worries about Everton are absolutely limited. Nothing’s changed. Just eventually the luck has come back to them a little bit. Until this weekend, but for 27 seconds, Everton would be sitting there on 12 points, mid-table, level with Man United and Fulham, which wouldn’t sound really bad. It shows you how it’s wafer thin, it’s tight as tight can be. Everton will be okay, I’m pretty comfortable with that.