Челси Фулхэмийг 3-2-ын харьцаатай хожсон тоглолтод Коул Палмер шилдэг тоглогчоор тодорч, өөрийн тоглолтын оргил үедээ эргэн ирснээ харууллаа.
Премьер лигийн хүрээнд болсон Фулхэмийн талбай дахь тоглолтод Коул Палмер гоолдож, багаа ялалтад хөтөллөө. Тэрээр 49 дэх минутад Жоао Педрогийн дамжуулалтыг ашиглан хаалгачийн хөл завсраар гоолын салхиа хагалсан юм. Тоглолтын туршид Палмер уран нарийн дамжуулалт, хууралт, болон хамгаалалтын бүсэд идэвхтэй оролцсон үйлдлүүдээрээ Челсигийн довтолгооныг удирдав.
Дасгалжуулагч Алонсо тоглолтын дараах хэвлэлийн бага хурал дээр Палмерын эрх чөлөөтэй, хариуцлагатай тоглолтыг өндрөөр үнэллээ. Тэрээр багийнхаа довтолгооны гурвал болох Жоао Педро, Морган Рожерс болон Палмер нарын хоршил нь ирээдүйд илүү хүчирхэг болох боломжтойг онцлов. Палмер өөрөө бэртэл гэмтлийн улмаас өнгөрсөн хүндхэн улирлыг ардаа орхиж, шинэ улиралд бэлтгэл сургуулилтаа эрчимжүүлснээр талбай дээр дахин шилдэг тоглолтоо үзүүлэхэд бэлэн байгаагаа илэрхийлсэн юм.
Челсигийн хувьд энэ ялалт нь багийн довтолгооны шугамын шинэчлэлт болон тоглогчдын хоршил жигдэрч байгааг харуулсан чухал алхам боллоо. Тоглолтын төгсгөл хэсэгт Палмерт булчингийн таталт мэдрэгдсэн ч багийн зүгээс үүнд санаа зовох зүйлгүй гэдгээ мэдэгдсэн байна. Ийнхүү Палмер өөрийн ур чадварыг талбай дээр дахин бүрэн гаргаж эхэлсэн нь Челсигийн хувьд улирлын эхлэлийг эерэгээр эхлүүлэхэд гол түлхэц болж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
“Did you not watch the game?”
Chelsea have missed Cole Palmer’s cheekiness.
The mock indignation, followed by the charmingly broad grin, when he was asked by Sky Sports how ready he is for this season after winning man of the match in a 3-2 victory over Fulham, was a welcome sight for the club’s fans.
“How ready are you?”
“Did you not watch the game?” 😅Cole Palmer says he is ‘hungry’ and ready to get back to his best! pic.twitter.com/xpg5zJl9k0
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 24, 2026
It’s the playful side of his personality which does not always present itself under questioning in the glare of TV cameras. Perhaps it flows more readily to the surface when he is standing next to Morgan Rogers, his childhood friend and new £117million teammate at Chelsea. It certainly shines through when he plays like this.
That’s because Palmer’s cheekiness is not just a personality trait, it’s the core of his playstyle. His impudent willingness to try things, to trust his body to act upon the most audacious impulses in his mind, to just have fun out there, is what clicks his entire game into top gear.
Fulham bore witness to it from the opening minute at Craven Cottage. How many footballers would take a touch to control Maxence Lacroix’s header upfield? Palmer had no need to do so, not just because he had already scanned ahead to map the precise trajectory of Joao Pedro’s run in relation to Jorge Cuenca’s position, but because he knew he could sweep the ball first-time into the Brazilian’s path before Fulham closed the momentary gap in their defence.
The result was a sublimely subtle flick, weighted and angled flawlessly just beyond Cuenca, which got the calibre of touch and finish it deserved from Joao Pedro.
What a start to our season. ⚡️#CFC | #FULCHE pic.twitter.com/XvtDDuWkVU
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 24, 2026
Often with Palmer, the course of action he correctly deems the most sensible also happily happens to be the most stylish.
The same was true of his goal in the 49th minute. Running onto Joao Pedro’s perfectly delayed pass, he looked across to check if a teammate was arriving in the six-yard box for a tap-in. Recognising there was not, he seamlessly pivoted to passing the ball through the narrow gap between goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s legs and into the net.
Palmer gets off the mark! 🎯#CFC | #FULCHE pic.twitter.com/OrgkyP8fUH
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 25, 2026
Then there were all the little flourishes around those two key moments: the wonderfully nonchalant flick over his own head to loop the ball onto the boot of Rogers, the steady diet of jinks, feints, drag backs and step overs that kept Fulham defenders off balance as they tried and failed to eliminate his space, the masterful run and cross from the right that created another great Joao Pedro chance, and the dizzying dribble which twisted Antonee Robinson inside out.
This version of Palmer has barely been seen or heard from in more than a year, since the day in July 2025 when he outplayed Ballon d’Or-bound Ousmane Dembele and repeatedly carved open European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the New Jersey sunshine to make Chelsea inaugural winners of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup at MetLife Stadium.
At that moment, with two brilliant goals and one beautiful assist, it felt like Chelsea had a global superstar on their hands. The season that followed was a reminder that football can be capricious. Palmer’s body let him down, depriving his club of their talisman and the Premier League and ultimately the World Cup of one of its greatest spectacles.
Now he looks back and, more importantly, he feels back.
Palmer looked back to his very best against Fulham (Adrian Dennis / AFP via Getty Images)
“I’m ready, you know,” he told Sky Sports. “It was a difficult season with injuries and whatnot but through the summer and since I’ve been back I’ve worked extra hard. Obviously with the injuries I’ve had to try and prevent them and work extra hard day in, day out. I know the talent I’ve got so I can put in performances like that.
“Normally I’m not an emotional person, the people who know me know I’m not usually bothered about things in life, but over the summer I rested, I recharged and I’m ready and I’m hungry.”
That hunger was most evident in Palmer’s less glamorous contributions against Fulham. In addition to his numerous deflections and high ball recoveries, he sprinted back into his own half early in the game to pressure Robinson near the touchline as he attempted a pass infield, which swiftly ended up at the feet of Reece James.
A recovery run like that will never make the cut in a match highlights video, but the fact that Alonso has such a high level of buy-in from his best player is a very encouraging sign.
“I’m very happy for Cole because I have really enjoyed seeing him play with dynamism, this freedom, this responsibility, helping the team, feeling important, and we need that from him,” Alonso said of Palmer in his post-match press conference at Craven Cottage.
“If Cole feels this way, we will have a better team, a better Chelsea, so I’m happy for him that he’s enjoyed this game. You could see that.”
After the game Alonso gave off no more concern than Palmer himself about what appeared to be cramp in the calf of Chelsea’s No 10 shortly before he was substituted in the 83rd minute.
Alonso also insisted that he will build his team “with” rather than “around” his starry front three. He was a collectivist as a player and he is so as a manager. But he will also recognise the huge benefit to Chelsea in these formative early weeks of Joao Pedro being so sharp, Rogers looking so settled and, above all, Palmer seeing the game with such joyful clarity again.
Together they could blossom into the most formidable attack in the Premier League. For that to happen Palmer probably has to be the best player in the division, something that Chelsea have not had since Eden Hazard wore the No 10 shirt a decade ago.
But after a year from hell, Palmer looks ready and hungry to assume that mantle. Did you not watch the game?
