Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has explained his decision to omit Cole Palmer from the Europa Conference League squad, citing a need to manage the player’s workload.
Palmer’s absence from the squad list for the group stage caused confusion among fans, as the 22-year-old has been one of Chelsea’s standout performers.
Maresca revealed that Palmer, who played almost every match last season, is being carefully managed to ensure his fitness is maintained over the long campaign.
By keeping him out of the initial stages of European competition, the club hopes to avoid burnout and injury.
Fortunately for Chelsea, they will have the opportunity to revise their squad after the group stage concludes in January.
Should they progress to the knockout rounds, Maresca can opt to include Palmer at that point.
Cole Palmer, who watched from the stands during Chelsea’s midweek European fixture, will now be fully rested and ready for their Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The young forward will look to build on his impressive performance from last weekend, where he scored four goals against Brighton.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s match against Gent, Maresca said: “We played some games without Cole, but sure and for us, Cole is something extra that you need.
“We also need to think a bit to protect some players.
“They need that.
“There is a reason behind it and I think Cole needs to be protected.”
On what he wants to see from his players tomorrow against Gent, Maresca added: “Against Brighton, I was for sure more happy about the second half than the first half.
“The reason why we conceded something in the first half was not because of the players, it was because we analysed Brighton and we expected them in two different ways – how they were playing at the start of the season.
“They did something completely different and surprised us a little bit in the first half.
‘At half-time we adjusted the way we were pressing, and second half it worked much better.
“For sure we would like more control, but sometimes you have to see there is another team that wants control, that wants to attack, and it’s not possible.
“But overall we would like more control like the second half or the West Ham game.
“You can analyse the result, but I analyse the performance.
“In the second half we created five clear chances, three of them one-on-one.
“The performance was good, we created many chances, we controlled the game better, and we didn’t concede chances.
“This is why I was happier with the second half.”
Read more: Erik ten Hag reveals talks with Sir Jim Ratcliffe after Man United’s defeat to Tottenham
Wojciech Szczesny joins Barcelona on free transfer
Chelsea reportedly turned down lucrative front-of-shirt sponsorship offer
