Cole Palmer is agreement with Chelsea over action taken to tackle his persistent groin injury and is ‘completely convinced’ he needs time out of the team to recover, according to Enzo Maresca.
Palmer has been dealing with a groin injury since the start of the season, starting just two of his side’s five Premier League games to date.
His most recent start against Manchester United last weekend lasted just 20 minutes with the injury flaring up again and forcing his manager into an early change.
Chelsea have been closely monitoring Palmer and assessing his groin problem ‘day by day’ since the opening weekend of season.
Metro’s injury expert Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs, explained the Blues faced three options – continue with their current approach, pull him out of the team for up to four weeks or, the most unlikely scenario, push forward with surgery.
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Maresca confirmed on Friday Chelsea have gone with option no2 with Palmer not expected to play again until after October’s international break.
While the former Manchester City star has been desperate to play, Maresca explained his player shares their confidence this latest move is the answer.
‘I don’t think he needs surgery,’ Maresca said. ‘It’s just a matter of managing his pain and his groin.
‘The number of games is something that can happen. So this is the reason why we try to be conservative with him to give him rest and hopefully he can be 100 per cent fit after the international break.
Are Chelsea making the right decision with Cole Palmer?
They will certainly be looking at different options. One will be if they decide to try and keep managing this proactively the way they have been and to keep pushing from a rehabilitation perspective to get him back out there as quickly as possible. Or do they take a little more time, take him out of the side for a number of weeks, two, three, even four weeks to give him some time to rest and in that really decent recovery and rehabilitation time under his belt to create some real strength and resistance where the injury is.
‘Orr, should they cut their losses and do something a little more drastic but with the potential to have a higher probability of solving the problem once and for all. All of three of those options will be in the conversations going on at Chelsea and I think it will totally depend on his symptoms and how bad they are. He will be wholly involved in that process too. Nobody will be better placed to talk about how he is feeling and what it is like day to day than Cole himself.
These groin injuries can be less acute and are not necessarily something you can rehab easily like with a hamstring injury or a calf injury. They can be much more chronic, causing a lot of inflammation and a lot of pain when athletes are running and things can be slower from a rehabilitation perspective.
I would suggest the surgery route is probably unlikely because at this stage, it would be like going from 0 to 100. If the current approach has not worked, the next step is to take him out of for a couple of games to give him a little bit more time. Swinging the pendulum the other side and going down the surgery route is probably unlikely at this stage.
Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics
‘The main thing from Cole is that he is always trying to play. He did against West Ham, and against Manchester United, and it was painful. He was a bit better but it’s a problem where one day you are better, one day you are worse.
‘The medical staff decided the best thing for him was to try to give him weeks off for recovery. Cole was completely convinced that he needs that.’
Thomas Tuchel will name his squad for October’s World Cup qualifiers against Wales and Latvia next week with Maresca hopeful Palmer will not be called upon.
‘It is not my job to say that,’ Maresca said.
‘If he is already out and is not going to play three games for us [then he is unlikely to go], but it is not my decision. It’s a decision for the international team.’
from: elfutbolero.us