"Palmer's Revival is Crucial for Rosenior's Success, Plus a Surprise Appearance from Two Chelsea Stars in the Baller League!"

THERE is one sure fire way to ensure Liam Rosenior has a strong start to life at Chelsea – reviving Cole Palmer.

Rosenior’s two predecessors, and , bristled at being branded ‘ FC’.

Liam Rosenior needs to get the best out of Cole Palmer again if he wants to succeed at ChelseaCredit: Getty The new Blues boss could adopt a more dynamic approach than predecessor Enzo MarescaCredit: PA

But the two agreed on one thing: the England man was by far best player.

That was not the case for the whole of 2025, with Palmer’s form slumping for the second half of last season and injuries hitting hard this term.

The former Manchester City man has just four goals this season and is yet to provide an assist – managing just 10 starts thanks to a prolonged groin injury.

At his peak of form and fitness Palmer has the quality and confidence to impact any game on any stage, but it has been too long since the Blues have seen that level on a consistent basis.

Palmer was at his most potent under Pochettino in his first season at the club, averaging a goal or assist in every game.

All of the 23-year-old’s attacking numbers, from goals and assists to shots, chances created and touches declined under Maresca and it is a slide which must be addressed.

Some of those statistics, such as chances created, have seen only a narrow decline – but others are more alarming with goals and assists per90 dropping from one under Pochettino to 0.64 under Maresca.

The argument goes that Maresca inhibited Palmer at times due to a more rigid structure and style, with Chelsea’s main man previously praising Pochettino for the freedom he allowed him.

Speaking in March 2024, having just been named young player of the year at the London Football Awards, Palmer told the BBC: “He [Pochettino] has given me the freedom to play my stuff and I like it when he frees you because I feel I can express my stuff more.”

The hope from the stands at Stamford Bridge will be that Rosenior adopts a more dynamic approach than Maresca’s often drab football, opening up the game and providing Palmer with the space to dazzle once more.

Every Blues fan would also love to see the new boss effectively harness the talents of Palmer and summer signing Willian Estevao in the same starting 11.

An X account – whose credibility is unclear, but which some supporters reckon could have sources in the Chelsea hierarchy – put out a strange post in recent days.

It claimed the club intended to build a team around the young Brazilian, rather than Palmer, while the latter remained “highly valued”.

More paranoid supporters fear this idea is being put out there to soften them up for Palmer being sold for a big fat fee, to keep BlueCo’s transfer trading profits up.

And in many ways it is common sense – Estevao is nearly five years younger than Palmer, has the potential to be a superstar, yet will need time to get there.

But the bare facts remain: Estevao is in his first season in Europe, he is 18 and has five goals and two assists in 25 appearances, 12 of them starts.

The teenager is not ready to be the focal point of the team yet, and Chelsea and Rosenior need to win games now.

If the Blues fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League, they may find it hard to resist big bids for some of their star names.

To avoid that fate, they need the Cole Palmer of his first 18 months at Stamford Bridge, not the 2025 version.

Chelsea could look to build around Estevao from now onCredit: Getty

BALLER LEAGUE

RAHEEM STERLING made a surprise appearance at the Copperbox Arena for the Baller League UK final.

And he wasn’t the only Chelsea winger in attendance.

Sterling, who has been exiled from the Blues’ squad and been training alone in the ‘bomb squad’ at Cobham, watched on from the VIP area with his children.

He shared nice moments with the likes of Chunkz and other friends around him, but kept a relatively low profile otherwise.

The other Blues winger present was Brazilian sensation Estevao.

Bought out in a WWE style walk-on, the 18-year-old was involved to judge the talent of some of the Baller League players.

Four players were selected to try and take on Blues legend Claude Makelele, who was a part of the legends vs creators match at the Copperbox.

While most of them struggled to get the better of the French midfielder, it was Adam Dawson who got the job done, with an incredible skill to beat Makelele, who was left stunned.

Raheem Sterling was spotted at Baller League this week, as was EstevaoCredit: Getty

FULHAM’S TOSIN DIG

FULHAM’S social media team fired a cheeky dig at Tosin Adarabioyo in the aftermath of their game against the Blues at Craven Cottage.

When Chelsea beat Fulham in August last year, Tosin took to X to post a series of photos of him in the game, captioned “Levelled Up.”

When Fulham beat Chelsea last week, they returned the favour, posting a picture of a celebrating Harry Wilson with the same caption.

Fulham aimed a cheeky dig at former player Tosin Adarabioyo after beating ChelseaCredit: X @FulhamFC Tosin sent a similar message when Chelsea beat the Cottagers last seasonCredit: X @TosinAdarabioyo

WELCOME TO FRANCE

LIAM ROSENIOR angered some Strasbourg fans with his response to their protests against owners BlueCo.

So Rosenior’s successor at the French club, Gary O’Neil, was always destined to be an improvement in the eyes of many.

No-one will be getting too carried away with O’Neil’s debut, a 6-0 win at fourth-tier Avranches in the French Cup.

But BlueCo will hope the former Wolves and Bournemouth boss can keep a lid on discontent at Strasbourg after a positive start.

A fan of the Ligue 1 club told the Chelsea Files: “O’Neil has been helped by the win and the awful communication by Rosenior when he was here.

“Everybody recognises that O’Neil is not the problem.

“If he wins games and doesn’t spit on us, he will be OK and may actually enjoy his time here.”

Gary O’Neil led Strasbourg to a 6-0 win in his first game after replacing RoseniorCredit: AFP

PADEL’S UP FOR SHEVA

ICONS don’t stop. They evolve.

That was the claim from a Chiswick sports centre after a visit from former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko.

The Ukraine legend is known for his love of golf and has a home on the private Wentworth Estate.

But Sheva has also caught the padel bug which is sweeping Britain.

Although Wentworth has its own floodlit courts, the 49 year old was recently put through his paces at Rocks Lane Padel by coach Alex Grilo.

Shevchenko failed to live up to expectations after then Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich personally led the successful bid to recruit him from AC Milan in 2006.

But their relationship has been very different for the last four years.

Sheva is Ukraine’s all-time record goalscorer and regarded as his country’s greatest player.

He had a spell as national team boss, which ended in 2021 just months before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Abramovich, as someone closely associated with Russian president Vladimir Putin, was placed under sanctions by the UK Government and was forced to sell Chelsea in May 2022.

At the time Shevchenko said: “We had a long relationship and I don’t think it will ever be the same.”

Chelsea icon Andriy Shevchenko was spotted playing padel in ChiswickCredit: instagram @rockslanepadel