‘You can’t’…Fulham captain Tom Cairney slams Chelsea attacker during win against Crystal Palace

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Tom Cairney was critical of Noni Madueke for the role he played in Chelsea conceding an opening goal against Crystal Palace on Monday night. 

Even though Chelsea were dominating possession during the early stages of the game, it was the home team who were creating the better chances.

That’s when Noni Madueke was dispossessed of the ball in Crystal Palace’s final third and then Jefferson Lerma took advantage by curling in an outstanding effort into the top corner.

Tom Cairney was critical of the Chelsea winger and how he ‘has to do a lot more’ and how he simply couldn’t lose the ball in that area, as he told Premier League Productions (12/02/24 at 8:55 pm).

Chelsea went into the half-time break losing and fearing the worst once again, with Mauricio Pochettino pulling no punches and substituting the 21-year-old.

That worked a treat because the introduction of Christopher Nkunku allowed space in behind the forward areas for Conor Gallagher to exploit, and he did just that by netting himself a brace.

Whilst at one point it was looking like another morale-sapping defeat for the big-spending club, thanks to Conor Gallagher, it was the complete opposite, which Noni Madueke will be relieved about.

Noni Madueke’s mistake for Chelsea

“I think Madueke has to do a lot more here,” said Cairney. “You can’t lose the ball in that type of area.

“That’s incredible technique (from Jefferson Lerma), that’s not incredible technique (from Madueke), but the strike after is unbelievable.”

Keep Noni Madueke in the XI

Yes, it was 45 minutes to forget for Madueke and it was a ruthless call from Pochettino to sub him off.

But the Chelsea boss should keep the youngster in his XI, in order to get consistent performances out of him, because he was unbelievable against Aston Villa recently.

If Pochettino continues to chop and change, then he just won’t find his best XI and that has been one of his biggest issues since joining the club.

And with the League Cup final coming up, he will want to know his best XI as possible because, after getting thumped by Liverpool recently, they simply don’t want to be served the same type of embarrassment.