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On the Ball
Stamford Bridge no longer an unhappy home for Chelsea fans
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Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer has scored nine goals this season, including a 76th minute goal in their 5-1 win over Southampton on Dec 4.
PHOTO: AFP
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In this season of surprise developments, Chelsea are bucking expected trends. Wasn’t the club supposed to be an irretrievable mess, a billion-pound Frankenstein squad constructed at the whims of stateside naifs copy and pasting American sports business practices onto English Premier League football?
Such accusations hold less water when Chelsea enter the weekend second in the table. While their squad appears precocious and callow, the careful but sharp management of Enzo Maresca has won many admirers. Last season, Chelsea were the Cole Palmer team but are no longer so reliant on a player whose contribution continues. This week, after Kevin de Bruyne returned to form for Manchester City in their 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, the Belgian revealed he has been playing with a hernia issue.
