“Magic” Cole Palmer compared to Leeds player by former Chelsea man | OneFootball

Chelsea face Tottenham today, and while we can all be hopeful of getting a good result, we’d all be a lot more hopeful if Cole Palmer was in the team.

The attacking midfielder has barely featured this season thanks to injury, and the team looks bereft of ideas without him.

“Magic” Palmer a throwback to the past

Cole Palmer grabs the ball (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Speaking in a really interesting interview with FourFourTwo, former England player Tony Dorigo waxed lyrical about Palmer and how he is part of a dying breed of player:

“You looked at the players that had come out in Manchester City’s academy in the past – even those that had made their names elsewhere – and Palmer felt like a decent gamble. Clearly, that’s why Chelsea bought him. Many people saw Palmer as a young player that could be introduced slowly, though.

“In the ’80s and ’90s you could really be yourself. You could say or be whatever you wanted, without fear of backlash. Now you can’t.

“These kids get coached within an inch of their lives. Personally, I think he’s really refreshing. He reminds me a bit of my old Leeds team-mate David Batty, because Batts couldn’t give a hoot about what anybody else thought of him. I hope Cole never loses that, because it’s a bit of magic.”

We completely agree – that’s our favourite thing about Palmer. He’s a true throwback to a maverick age. It’s delightful he escaped Pep Guardiola before he was turned into a robot. Let’s hope Maresca gives him the freedom to shine when he’s fit again.

In other news…

Maresca has some interesting team news questions to sort out for the game against Tottenham today, and we ran through what we think he’ll do in our predicted XI, here.

Thomas Frank spoke about today’s game and his admiration for Enzo Maresca, who he called “amazing.” It’s a classic case of manager bigging each other up before a game – we will see what happens when they’re on the touchline together tomorrow.