What Cole Palmer can’t do that Florian Wirtz can; will force tactical changes from Alonso | OneFootball

Cole Palmer has been touted as Alonso’s new Florian Wirtz – but one writer has pointed to a pretty key difference between the two.

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Umir Irfan’s piece for the BBC today about Xabi Alonso’s tactical principles at Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid and how they might be applied at Chelsea is really interesting, and we have picked out a part here about Cole Palmer.

Rangy Palmer not a Wirtz clone

We have already noted that Palmer is the perfect man to play the role that Florian Wirtz did for Alonso at Leverkusen. He certainly has the creativity and technique. But Irfan notes that they’re not exactly the same:

“Florian Wirtz, at Leverkusen, was allowed to roam across the width of the pitch, and his quality between the lines made him the perfect profile of player for Alonso’s approach,” Irfan wrote.

“Although less suited to playing in very small spaces, there is the potential for Alonso to trust a player of Cole Palmer’s quality with a more free role.”

Palmer is just taller with a longer stride than the scuttling Wirtz. It makes him better in open spaces, but it’s true he’s not as nimble in tight spots.

It will be really interesting to see how Alonso intends to use our talisman, given that.

In other news…

Geovany Quenda has yet to play a minute for Chelsea but some are already speculating about how he might be used next season for Alonso.

The season is almost over and transfer talk is only going to increase from here, with talk of Atletico Madrid interest in a Blue starting today.

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