I believe we could solve two issues in one move here, simply by putting Cole Palmer back on the right.
Admittedly, I have been against doing this for a while, simply because I believe Palmer playing centrally is very effective when he is on form.
But as we have spoken about so often, putting him back on the right can solve two issues.
The first issue is getting Joao Felix into the same starting Xl as him, because I believe he now needs to be starting games more often than not, and not just league games.
He has done more than enough to show what he brings, and although it was against a poor opponent again, Felix was superb against Morecambe on Saturday and once again proved that he deserves to be starting more. I don’t think Enzo Maresca can keep ignoring him and needs to give him a shot in league games now too.
Again, you have to take into account the opposition here, but Felix’s two finishes were absolutely world class, and he made them look so effortless.
Sporting an overall rating of 9.5 on Sofascore – joint-best with Tosin Adarabioyo – the Portuguese international had a dominant 68 touches.
Felix enjoyed 11 touches inside Morecambe’s six-yard box and completed one key pass in the game. He also completed 100% (2/2) of his dribble attempts and was pinpoint in his crossing 66% of the time (2/3).
What we saw from the attacker was a lot more tenacity, running, effort, and constant pressing and hassling to get the ball back. It was the defending on the front foot that I was super impressed with yesterday, which is something that Maresca wants and needs from his attacking players.
He has sent a real message to the Italian with his performance yesterday, knocking hard on the door for more starts in the Premier League, putting pressure on Maresca to put Palmer back out on the right so Felix can start centrally.
What this would also do, and I know many of you on here have also called for this move to happen now too, is it would allow Palmer to float wide, perhaps taking away threats of being man-marked when he is playing centrally. Teams usually use central players to man-mark, so I don’t think they would be doing it as much if Palmer was playing wide.
The only issue is at right back. Palmer will float inside a lot when playing wide, so he needs an over-lapping right back. Does Reece James have the legs to do this? I don’t think he does. But Malo Gusto does…
Even still, Felix needs a shot in league games now and he’s earned it in my opinion. And we need both him and Palmer on the pitch for maximum attacking threat, so this is really the only way to do it.