Palmer attacks Mata’s debut season at Chelsea

Cole Palmer made a surprise move from Manchester City to Chelsea before the season. The English midfielder is dragging the London club this season and only thanks to him the fans can experience at least some joy. Among other things, Palmer is also attacking Juan Mata’s incredible debut season.

Palmer wanted to play more

Chelsea bought Cole Palmer for 47 million euros. Some fans didn’t understand the transfer, so Pep Guardiola decided to chop the subject: ‘After 2 or 3 seasons he wanted more time on the pitch, I understand. If I gave him time like Foden, Cole would still be with us. Unfortunately, I didn’t give it to him. Why? Because I prioritised Bernard, Mahrez and Foden.”

Great season

Before leaving for Chelsea, Palmer caught a Community Shield game. In the 64th minute, in a pale blue jersey, he replaced cannonballer Erling Haaland and opened the scoring with a shot from outside the box. Unfortunately for him and the whole of Manchester City, Arsenal managed to equalise at the end and lifted the trophy after a penalty. Palmer also scored in the European Super Cup win.

After his arrival at Chelsea, the Englishman was first used as a substitute joker. However, after a few games, he worked his way into the starting lineup despite his teammates’ poor form. He graced his 2nd game in the starting lineup with a goal and an assist against struggling Burnley. In the next game he scored against Arsenal to open his scoring account in London.

Palmer assisted Jackson for the only goal of the match in the 3rd round of the Carabao Cup. In the semi-finals of this competition, the Englishman scored 2 goals in the return match against Middlesbrough, helping to turn around the unflattering score from the first match. However, Chelsea fell to Liverpool in the final.

In the next cup, the FA Cup, Chelsea reached the semi-finals at the weekend. Who got the most credit? If you’re guessing Palmer, your guess is correct. The Englishman scored again in the 4:2 win and had an assist, which came in the 2nd set-up minute for the goal that meant a 3:2 lead.

If we are talking about a failed season from Chelsea’s point of view, the same cannot be said about Palmer. Thanks to him, the London club is at least 11th in the Premier League, without him the position in the table would be much worse. The record of 11+8 (goals + assists) only in the league competition speaks for itself.

In total, Palmer is on the numbers of 14 goals and 12 assists in 35 games for Chelsea. The last time Juan Mata had a double-digit season at Chelsea was in the 2011/12 season. If Palmer continues the trend he has set, he will surpass Mata’s season.

Mata’s season

Juan Mata transferred from Valencia of Spain to Chelsea for €26.7 million at the age of 23. He finished the previous season with a 9+18 record, so the London club’s management thought he would be a great signing and they weren’t that far off the mark.

Immediately in his debut season in England, Mata became a star for the London Blue. Among other things, his corner in the Champions League final found the head of Didier Drogba, who equalised the duel and Chelsea subsequently won after a penalty shootout. Chelsea otherwise finished only 6th in the Premier League, so there can be no question of a completely excellent season from the club’s point of view.

Anyway, Mata had a great season, with 12 goals and an incredible 20 assists in the 54 games the Spaniard played. A Champions League triumph and an FA Cup win. Mata crowned a successful season at EURO 2012, during which he played only 3 minutes in the final, but managed to score during them. For Chelsea, the Spaniard played a total of 135 games during which he scored 33 goals and 54 assists.

Source: Chelsea, Premier League