Life under Enzo Maresca at Chelsea has had its ups and downs – and that was certainly the case once more as the Blues took on Ipswich Town in the Premier League.
The Blues started the season strong, picking up 14 points from their opening seven games—their best total since 21/22 under Thomas Tuchel.
There was a lot of noise going into the campaign about the Chelsea ownership’s power struggles and transfer practices but as the games kept coming, Chelsea kept performing. Maresca had his preferred squad and the football they were playing was fast-paced and free-flowing.
By Christmas, the London side sat in 2nd—just four points behind Liverpool—and whispers of a Premier League title challenge entered the minds of not just fans, but pundits as well. Now, almost four months later, the vibe has changed.
The team has looked a shadow of their former selves in recent weeks. Chelsea’s goalkeeping woes continue to plague them, and going forward, there has been a real lack of creativity.
But one ‘special’ Chelsea talent has experienced a notable dropoff in form when compared to the heights of last season.
Chelsea fans highlight Enzo Maresca’s effect on Cole Palmer
The latest disappointment was a salvaged point at home to Ipswich after going two goals down in the first half hour. Failing to beat a side fourteen points adrift from safety at home is a result that would enrage any frustrated fan.
Many swarmed to social media to vent about Maresca’s use of Cole Palmer.
“Palmer without a goal in 13 games under Maresca. Hire a championship manager and get championship performances”, says one disgruntled Chelsea fan.
There seems to be a sentiment building amongst certain fans, regretting replacing Pochettino with Maresca.
One Reddit user wrote: “Most of you will never accept this but Poch would’ve gotten us top 4 easy had he stayed. The team was only improving with every game last season.”
Certainly, some fans are doubting Maresca’s suitability to the job.
Some are finding blame for both the gaffer and the star man.
One user on X asks a difficult question: “Maresca deserves the blame but NOT on Palmer’s form. Can we just all accept that he’s been bad for the last 3 months INDIVIDUALLY? How can you blame the manager for him not being able to play through balls?”
Another fan thinks the players are getting off easy.
There is plenty of blame to go around at the club. Maresca’s popularity has declined and fans are losing patience with the players’ lacklustre performances.
Palmer’s worrying stats
Palmer set the bar incredibly high during his debut season at the Bridge, putting up 33 goal involvements in 33 games as Chelsea made a late-season surge from the bottom half up to sixth.
His efforts would earn him the PFA Young Player of the Year award and establish the young Englishman as one of the league’s top talents.
This campaign, Palmer has 14 goals and 8 assists in 31 games. Only Alexander Isak, Erling Haaland and Mo Salah have more goal contributions. Yet, the feeling among Chelsea fans is that he is having a bad season.
That’s likely because he did most of these numbers before the New Year.
Since this tweet, Palmer has just two goals, with the latest coming in the middle of January. The numbers regression coincides with an injury to Nicholas Jackson, though the strength of the correlation is up for debate. Really, Chelsea have just looked flat in every department since the turn of the new year.
With six games to go and Champions League qualification to play for, Chelsea fans will be hoping for a turnaround.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 4 |  NewcastleNewcastle | 31 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 56 | 40 | 16 | 56 |
| 5 |  Man CityManchester City | 32 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 62 | 42 | 20 | 55 |
| 6 |  ChelseaChelsea | 32 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 56 | 39 | 17 | 54 |
| 7 |  Aston VillaAston Villa | 32 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 49 | 46 | 3 | 54 |
| 8 |  FulhamFulham | 31 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 47 | 42 | 5 | 48 |
But with teams like Newcastle and Manchester City ahead of them, and Aston Villa on a four-game win streak just behind, a return to Europe’s top competition will require a turnaround in form from Palmer, and according to Chelsea fans, a major improvement from the gaffer, Enzo Maresca.
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