There was a rather awkward moment following the win over Newcastle (Picture: Stadium Astro)
Cole Palmer was forced to defend the quality of his Chelsea team-mates during an awkward post-match interview after pundit Tim Sherwood claimed they were not good enough to play alongside him.
The Blues overcame Newcastle United 3-2 at Stamford Bridge on Monday night, with Palmer assisting Nicolas Jackson’s opener before netting himself in the second half.
Although the 21-year-old has enjoyed a stunning individual campaign, scoring 11 times and laying on eight assists in the Premier League, the west London club are still marooned in 11th place in the table and could miss out on a place in Europe next season.
Sherwood was on punditry duty at Stamford Bridge on Monday night for Malaysia’s Astro SuperSport and during a pitch-side interview with Palmer he laid into Chelsea’s players despite their victory, with the youngster looking rather taken aback by the bluntness.
‘All you need is some players to play with,’ said Sherwood, before pausing and grinning as Palmer looked a little stunned. ‘I know you can’t say that, but I’m saying it.
‘I just think you need more quality around you. For me, he [Mauricio Pochettino] needs to build the team around you, the quality you have.
‘But that will come with a few transfer windows hopefully, once he gets the right players in.’
But Palmer sidestepped Sherwood’s harsh critique and defended his team-mates, replying: ‘There’s a lot of quality there, not just me, we’ve got loads of other players. So hopefully the team can gel a bit more and then everyone else will see [the quality].’
Palmer has been a rare bright spark for Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
After Palmer left, Sherwood continued his scathing attack on the quality of the players at Chelsea, saying: ‘There are some good players here, and Cole mentioned that, but he needs better players for his quality.
‘And if he gets that, they could build the team around him.’
When it was suggested that Palmer looked a little awkward when Sherwood brought it up, the former Aston Villa coach replied: ‘Of course he can’t [say anything] that’s why I’m saying it for him.
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‘But, not being disrespectful to all them Chelsea players because some of them impressed me tonight, but there’s far too many of them that are just not good enough to wear a Chelsea shirt in my opinion.’
Asked to name who, Sherwood continued: ‘There’s just far too many of them.
‘We’re talking about Chelsea, and I know Mauricio has tried to dampen expectation, but it’s really hard for the fans to accept it. They want to win trophies. They’re spending an awful lot of money so success should come quicker.
‘If you sign more Cole Palmers, then you’re going to get the success. At the moment, they’ve got too many players who are not good enough for this football club.’
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