Cole Palmer Thrives Under Alonso as Chelsea Star Shows New Freedom
Cole Palmer looked like a man unshackled on Monday night. Chelsea edged Fulham 3-2, but it was the 24-year-old who stole the show – and then used the spotlight to make it very clear how different life feels under Alonso.
The forward roamed, probed, and ultimately decided the game with a brilliant goal, drifting right across the pitch to finish off a move sparked by Joao Pedro. It was the sort of run that used to be off-limits. Now, it is actively demanded.
“He [Alonso] just said I'd have more freedom to drift about the pitch. Just like you saw with the goal I scored,” Palmer told Sky Sports. “Last season, I wouldn't have even made that run because it's not a 'safe zone’.”
That one line said plenty. The numbers filled in the rest.
Palmer dominated the contest. He led the match for shots with five, completed five dribbles, won ten duels and racked up nine touches inside the Fulham box. Every Chelsea attack seemed to find him, or be found by him.
The performance felt like a statement of what he can be when the reins are off. Palmer made it clear that this is not just form, but a shift in instruction. His movement for the goal, he said, came straight from Alonso’s playbook and stands in stark contrast to the tactical limits imposed by previous coaches.
Without naming them directly in his criticism, he pointed back towards former Chelsea managers Enzo Maresca, Liam Rosenior and Calum McFarlane, insisting that the goal he scored against Fulham simply would not have happened under their guidance.
The message from Alonso has been simple, and Palmer repeated it: break the lines, ignore the old borders, take responsibility.
“He's saying 'move across that zone, drop into play, come get on the ball, create and just do what you do',” Palmer explained. It is the kind of licence that can transform a good attacker into the centrepiece of a system.
It all feels a long way from last season’s grind. Palmer’s previous campaign was defined by frustration and a stubborn groin problem. He missed 11 games, saw his Premier League goal tally slump to 10, and never truly looked at ease. This from a player who had hit 22 and 15 league goals in earlier seasons.
The injury arrived at the worst possible time. With a World Cup looming and Thomas Tuchel’s England squad in his sights, Palmer admits he pushed his body beyond its limits in a desperate attempt to stay in contention.
“Before my groin injury, I'd never really been injured. Well, rarely [injured]. So then I would just come back and play when I shouldn't have played,” he said. “Obviously the World Cup was coming up, so I was in a bit of a dilemma thinking: 'If I don't play I'm not going to go. But if I play then, I can't play [properly]'.”
He described it as “a bit of a sticky situation”, shuttling between different specialists and different opinions, searching for answers while the clock to Qatar ticked down. The more he chased fitness, the further it seemed to drift away.
Now, the tone has changed. Since returning, Palmer has thrown himself into the daily grind of prevention work, determined not to let the same issue derail him again.
“Since I've come back I've been working every day to obviously stop it happening again. I just want to stay injury free, and if I'm on the pitch then I know what I can do,” he said. “Physically I feel good, probably the best I've felt in ages, but I think I can [get fitter] with games and more minutes.”
A fully fit Palmer, with the handbrake off and a manager urging him to roam, is starting to look like Chelsea’s most dangerous weapon. If this is him still playing his way back to peak condition, what does the finished version do to Premier League defences?
