‘Lost’… John Obi Mikel explains why Enzo Maresca needs to play Chelsea star in a different position

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John Obi Mikel thinks Enzo Maresca played one Chelsea player in the wrong position during his first competitive match in charge.

Enzo Maresca, who was appointed Blues head coach in the summer, officially kickstarted his reign on Sunday with a 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City in the Premier League.

Fans will see in the coming weeks who emerges as favourite players under the Italian manager. He’s certainly got plenty of talented individuals to select from, so we expect to see a number of different systems and combinations on trial.

The Athletic has suggested that Joao Felix may be deployed as an advanced No.8 on the left, which is just one example of a Chelsea star with lots of versatility. The same could be said about teammates such as Christopher Nkunku and Pedro Neto, too.

• READ MORE: All the Chelsea players now training away from the first team after Enzo Maresca comments

John Obi Mikel wants Cole Palmer in a different position

Speaking on ‘The Obi One Podcast’ this week, former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel delivered a pretty firm assessment on Cole Palmer and his best position on the pitch.

Maresca lined up against Man City last weekend with Palmer starting as the right-winger, albeit there were definitely times that he drifted infield. However, many people believe that the 22-year-old Englishman is far better in a central number 10 position.

Mikel explained on his podcast why Maresca must use Palmer centrally behind a striker: “Cole Palmer should not be on the wide right. He should not be frozen out on the wing. That’s not where he’s best at. His best position is number 10. He should be in the middle of the pitch.

“Sometimes in part of the game [against Man City], I looked at him; he was kind of lost. He needs to be where the action is. He needs to be in the middle, where he touches the ball a lot. Players like that need to feel the ball. They need to constantly touch the ball because if they don’t, they get fizzled out of the game. He needs to come back and play in his favourite position, number 10.”

Chelsea should build the team around Cole Palmer

Despite the plethora of attacking talent in Chelsea’s squad, Palmer is still the glaring standout option.

Palmer certainly carried the Blues last season, scoring 25 goals and making 15 assists across all competitions for them. While it’d be great if he can enjoy similar success, let’s hope teammates around him step up as well with their attacking outputs.

Speaking via talkSPORT recently, Ally McCoist backs Palmer to shine again this season.

Whether he’s operating from central or wide positions, he’s an intelligent enough footballer to get into space and goalscoring positions in the final third.