Chelsea assistant coach Willy Caballero defended the decision to take off Cole Palmer during the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth after supporters at Stamford Bridge reacted furiously to Enzo Maresca’s substitution.
Taunts of “you don’t know what you’re doing” rained down on the home dugout when Palmer, who had been one of his team’s best players, was brought off in the 63rd minute as the hosts chased a winning goal to put an end to their poor Premier League form.
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It is now one league win in seven for Chelsea, though afterwards Caballero insisted that head coach Enzo Maresca, who was absent from his postmatch media duties with illness, remains an “example” to everyone at the club.
Nevertheless, the pressure is growing on the Italian after another result was allowed to slip away, with Chelsea now having dropped 13 points at home from winning positions.
The atmosphere grew particularly ugly when Palmer, who has recently returned to action after a lengthy injury, was withdrawn in the second half.
“Any supporter wants to have the best players on the pitch,” said Caballero. “We want to have that as well. But Cole is coming from a long injury. In this case we need to find a way to find the right substitutions to go for the game and also to look after the health of our players. We want to have them for the rest of the season.”
Of Maresca’s absence, Caballero said: “He didn’t feel well the last two days. He was with a bit of temperature two days ago. He did the last two sessions, he wanted to prepare the team. But after the game he went to the changing room and asked me to replace him because he didn’t feel well.
Cole Palmer eaves the field after being substituted during Chelsea’s game against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge. Getty Images
“He’s dealing well, he’s very professional. He does a lot of hours every single day, even when the last two days feeling bad he was there. He loves to train and to coach. He’s an example for me and all of the staff.”
Bournemouth went ahead after six minutes when David Brooks finished at the second attempt following a Robert Sánchez save, before Chelsea levelled through Palmer’s penalty.
Enzo Fernández then fired the hosts in front but again the Blues could not hold their lead, Justin Kluivert levelling before halftime after Chelsea failed to deal with a long throw-in from Antoine Semenyo.
Speculation has been intense that this would be Semenyo’s last game for Bournemouth ahead of an impending move to Manchester City, and before leaving the pitch he appeared to say goodbye to travelling fans.
However, head coach Andoni Iraola was confident he will play against Arsenal on Saturday.
“It’s not his last game here with us,” he said. “I cannot say a hundred per cent but I think he will play.
“He has to recover, we’ve played two difficult games in three days. We have Arsenal at home, we get ready for another one, a demanding game against the leaders. Definitely he’s going to be an important player for us.”
