Pochettino credits two Chelsea players with inspiring turnaround in form

12 October 2023 , 21:07

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Mauricio Pochettino has been impressed by Cole Palmer (Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has praised stand-in captain Conor Gallagher and new signing Cole Palmer for helping the Blues find some much-needed form before the international break.

Pochettino was appointed Chelsea manager following the club's worst-ever Premier League campaign and has not enjoyed an easy start to his tenure. They currently sit 11th in the league and have suffered disappointing defeats against the likes of West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.

However, they have now won three games in a row across all competitions, with academy graduate Gallagher captaining the side with Reece James out injured, and Palmer enjoying an impressive start to life at Stamford Bridge. Palmer was a surprise summer signing, with Chelsea forking out an initial £42.5million for the talented youngster despite him only having three Premier League starts under his belt.

But Chelsea's upturn in form has coincided with Palmer breaking into the starting line-up, with his first start the 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Brighton where he assisted Nicolas Jackson's winner. The 21-year-old then started Chelsea's wins over Fulham and Burnley, chipping in with a goal and an assist in the 4-1 victory at Turf Moor.

And Pochettino has been very impressed with Palmer's displays, saying: "Cole Palmer is a good link player and links with all his teammates. We are giving him a starting position on the right to play in between the lines because he is ready to be unpredictable.

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"Football is a game where you need to be unpredictable and he has the capacity to do this." Pochettino also hailed Gallagher's displays in midfield, with the England international forming part of a midfield three alongside big-money signings Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.

"Conor is a player who can run a lot and this is massive," Pochettino added. "He is a great professional and he can play in different positions as a No8, No10 or a No6. He is box-to-box, he can run and can finish and assist, like he did for Raheem Sterling [against Burnley]. We are so happy with him."

Conor Gallagher has been captaining Chelsea with Reece James out injured (Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

While the international break has come at a time when Chelsea were enjoying a run of victories, Pochettino is hoping it means that some of the Blues' many injured players will be fit for their next game against Arsenal on October 21. "We have many players injured, key players who cannot compete and train with us," he explained.

"That is so important. You can see how different it is for a club like Manchester City, how affected they are, when there is no Rodri of [Kevin] De Bruyne, and that’s only two players. For us, we miss many key players that can help us develop and improve the team faster.

"Yes, in this way, when we recover all the players, for sure we will be ready to compete for big things. Even now, we need to believe that we can compete for big things despite the circumstance."

Matthew Cooper