Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has warned Cole Palmer that he can expect to be man-marked in more matches to come and he should take it as a compliment.
The England international has been in superb form ever since joining the Blues from Manchester City last year, scoring 22 league goals last campaign and already netting seven in nine this season.
This has seen teams taking special measures to try and stop the 22-year-old, with Liverpool deploying Curtis Jones to man mark him in a recent game, a ploy which worked well.
Maresca recognised this and moved Palmer towards the left wing against Newcastle, which seemed to help avoid the tactic as Chelsea won 2-1 and Palmer produced a fabulous pass which led to Nicolas Jackson opening the scoring.
The Italian boss has warned Palmer that he will have to deal with the situation again, possibly at Old Trafford on Sunday when Chelsea face Manchester United.
‘I am ready for that but Cole, I don’t know if he’s ready!’ Maresca said. ‘The next step for Cole is not to get frustrated when teams mark him man to man because all of the best players in the world are man-marked.
‘After last season, for him it was the first season in terms of arriving at Chelsea, probably it was the opposite – they weren’t too worried about Cole. This year they are all worried because of what he did, so he has to get used to it. The next step is going to be more difficult but he can do it.
‘The only thing we can do is what we did against Newcastle. We’ll move Cole a little bit from his position to give him more time and space.
‘The reason he played on the other side that day was because Joelinton would have man-marked him which will happen in so many games.’
Maresca will be going up against Ruud van Nistelrooy on Sunday as the Dutchman remains the intermin manager of the Red Devils before Ruben Amorim takes over.
The Chelsea boss had plenty of praise for the man who will take control of Manchester United on 11 November.
However, he did warn Amorim, and Manchester United fans, that there will be a settling in process as he gets used to the Premier League after his move from Portgual.
‘The only thing I can say is I’ve watched many Sporting games and know the way they play,’ said Maresca.
‘It’s a fantastic style, how they defend, the way they attack so for sure, I don’t have any doubt that he’s going to do a great job at Manchester United.
‘Probably the only difficult thing he will find is that it’s a different country.
To arrive from Portugal to England, it’s just about adapting to that but overall, he’s a very good manager and he will be great.’
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