Chelsea: Enzo Maresca insists Cole Palmer struggles will make him 'better player' after starring final display
Enzo Maresca says Cole Palmer's lean streak has made him a better player, after the playmaker's sensational performance inspired Chelsea's Conference League comeback.
The Blues claimed their first silverware in three years by beating Real Betis 4-1 in Wroclaw in what was a far more competitive contest than that scoreline suggests.
Betis led 1-0 with only 25 minutes to play thanks to Abde Ezzalzouli's early goal and it took a pair of wonderful assists from Palmer to turn the game around, with Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson scoring in the space of five minutes.
After a superb breakthrough season last term and a strong start to this campaign, Palmer's form tailed off badly after Christmas. His late penalty in the 3-1 win against Liverpool earlier this month ended a 17-game goal drought but remains his only strike since mid-January.
'The bad moments or the bad run he had this season will make him a better player, no doubt,' Maresca said. 'We all know he's a top player, we need to help him to be in right position in right moment and then he's a quality player.
'In the last third he can decide games. the two assist were both very nice.'
Palmer was named player of the match by Uefa and admitted he had grown frustrated at Chelsea's lack of invention in the first hour of the game.
'I was just sick of getting the ball and going backwards and sideways,' he explained. 'I thought when I next get the ball I'm going to go and it worked.
'There was a bit of space chopping and changing and I saw Enzo running, so I just put it over the top.'
Palmer was not even included in Chelsea's squad for the group stage of the Conference League, with the club seeking to manage his workload on the back of what was effectively his first full campaign in senior football.
Adding him to the squad in January as one of three additions was something of a no-brainer ahead of the knockout stage, but has now proven a decisive move.
'If you saw what he did today, it was crazy to be honest,' added centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo. 'Two very special individual moments where he was able to hold onto the ball and provide bundles of quality to put the ball onto Enzo and Nico to score two great goals.
'He completely changed the game and that's what he does, man.'
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