Chelsea boss says whether he thinks his Reece James and Cole Palmer experiment worked

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Enzo Maresca did something very different in Chelsea’s 2-1 win against Newcastle United today.

Reece James started at left-back, while Cole Palmer took up positions in the left pocket. Wherever the latter plays, he is a danger to the opposition.

Palmer was once again able to score, netting Chelsea‘s winner just after the restart.

The attacking midfielder was also involved in his side’s first goal, playing a ridiculous pass to Pedro Neto before he squared the ball to Nicolas Jackson for a tap in. Palmer’s pass stunned Alan Smith, who was watching the game.

• READ MORE: TCC saw ‘complete’ Chelsea player deliver the perfect message to Enzo Maresca vs Newcastle

Enzo Maresca on Reece James and Cole Palmer

Left-back is an unfamiliar role to James, while Palmer has been thriving as a No.10 this season, which was technically his starting position earlier.

However, Maresca thinks utilising both players on the left against Newcastle worked.

Speaking to football.london and other publications about the game, Maresca said: “I think it worked top. We tried to do something — we moved Reece to the left side and we also moved for the first game of the season, Cole to the left pocket and the reason was to try and attack on that side. Malo [Gusto] in the right pocket, I think it worked very well.”

Maresca has been critical of James’ leadership this season, but he would have at least been pleased with his football today as the 24-year-old helped Chelsea to battle their way to the three points.

Reece James has won back Chelsea spot

James and Gusto both started against Newcastle, but you would expect Marc Cucurella to return to his left-back spot next week.

It means James and Gusto have to battle it out at right-back and after his latest display, the former has probably won the duel ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Manchester United next Sunday.

According to Sofascore, James won two ground duels and three aerial duels. He also made two blocks and three interceptions, helping him to earn a match rating of 7.8.

As for Palmer, there is no doubt that he will be starting when Erik ten Hag’s men welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford. The 22-year-old scored a hat-trick against them last season, and it would not be a surprise to see him hurt United again, given the form that he is in.