Palmer dashes Rosenior ‘hope’ as Chelsea talisman a bystander in Port Vale rout | OneFootball

Cynics will claim that Liam Rosenior’s decision to hand Cole Palmer the captain’s armband was little more than a bid to placate the Chelsea talisman amid speculation of a big-money move to Manchester United this summer after an international break of rebellion from two supposed Blues leaders condemned to the Stamford Bridge naughty step.

“He deserves it,’ Rosenior explained, speaking before kick-off. “He leads in the way he plays. I think Cole is somebody who, right now, deserves the honour of captaining this huge club, and hopefully he will perform in the manner I expect him to, to show he’s the right captain.”

Marc Cucurella started on the bench after “disappointing” Rosenior with his comments about the club’s transfer policy, managerial changes and after admitting an offer from Barcelona would be “difficult to refuse”.

Enzo Fernandez’s pearly whites were picked up by the cameras ahead of kick off as he shared a joke with Cucurella from just behind him in the stands after he “crossed a line” with his come-and-get-me pleas to Real Madrid and was dropped altogether for this FA Cup stroll against soon-to-be League Two Port Vale.

“You’ll see in the coming weeks, there’ll be things that happen around this football club that will actually speak louder than words, and you’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks in terms of the commitment of the players to this project,” said a bullish Rosenior in response to a fortnight of problems off the pitch to mirror the issues on it in the preceding weeks.

One Premier League win in six has followed four wins on the bounce at the start of Rosenior’s tenure in a period which has also seen Chelsea lose the Carabao Cup semi-final to Arsenal and get unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain.

Anything less than a comfortable victory over Port Vale would have been met with further apathy from an already frustrated Chelsea fanbase, and goals from Jorrel Hato, Joao Pedro, Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel (og), Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Estevao and Alejandro Garnacho ensured the noise surrounding Chelsea and Rosenior’s future will reduce to a low buzz ahead of their crunch Premier League clash against Manchester City next weekend.

What should be questioned is Palmer’s role in this team after a game which at best showed him to be a useful distraction for Chelsea to draw opposition players and at worst a bystander watching some reasonably fluid football being played by his teammates around him.

No Chelsea player lost more duels (7/7), he was dispossessed more (4) than anyone, completed no dribbles and really should have scored when he fluffed a shot off Lawrence-Gabriel as the Port Vale defender put the ball past his own goalkeeper.

For a man “obsessed” with playing through the middle of the pitch, Rosenior hasn’t drilled his players particularly effectively in finding Palmer between the lines and whenever the ball did arrive at the playmaker’s feet he dawdled on it and was swarmed by the opposition.

While the Chelsea improvement in the last half hour was likely due to the depleted energy levels of their vastly inferior opposition, it was notable the uptick coincided with Palmer’s substitution. His impact was in stark contrast to that of Estevao, who was starting his first game since mid-February after recovering from a hamstring injury.

The Brazilian continues to provide blessed relief in the stolid modern game with the joy he brings through his football.

It was if the confidence Palmer built by his promising showing for England against Uruguay was entirely lost through his performance in the subsequent game against Japan to put his place in the Three Lions squad for the World Cup in doubt.

The worry for Rosenior will be how hard Chelsea’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League and going any further in the FA Cup are hit by the prospect of having a now fit but far from firing Palmer rather than the guy who has so regularly carried the entire creative burden for this team on his back since his move from Manchester City. The prognosis isn’t good.