Glen Johnson has urged Mauricio Pochettino to use Cole Palmer in a central position, not convinced he is ‘strong or quick enough’ to excel in a wide role.
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Palmer joined Chelsea from Manchester City on the final day of the summer transfer window and has shone at Stamford Bridge since breaking into the first-team at the start of October.
The England international has registered four goals and two assists in his last five Premier League outings, on target against Tottenham and City starting on the right side of attack in a front three alongside Nicolas Jackson and Raheem Sterling.
With Conor Gallagher in fine form in a central role in front of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, most of Palmer’s minutes have come from that role on the right.
Former Blues full-back Johnson describes the 21-year-old as ‘the real deal’ and believes he can further shine if he is played further inside.
‘Cole Palmer has been doing great,’ Johnson told Squawka.
‘He’s obviously got a great mentality stepping up for penalties and performing against his old team.
‘He looks calm on the ball, looks like he’s enjoying his football and it’s good to see, I think he’s the real deal.
‘I prefer to see him in the middle, behind the striker. At the moment, I don’t think he’s quick or strong enough to be isolated one on one with defenders and is best receiving it on the half turn and being clever with his passes into strikers.
‘He’s the sort of player strikers love to play with, but I don’t think that he’s the kind of player a full-back hates to play against one on one on.
‘He’s intelligent and can play through the lines in the middle, and that’s where he should be used by Chelsea.’
Chelsea sit in 10th place ahead of the return of the Premier League this weekend.
The Blues head to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United on Saturday.
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