While it was all positives for Chelsea as soon as the final whistle was blown at Craven Cottage, when the dust settled it soon emerged not all was perfect again.
The Blues had a brand new injury crisis to deal with after Enzo Maresca confirmed Malo Gusto had suffered an issue that he described as ‘not good’.
There was also the potential end of the road for one of their top scorers in all competitions, with Christopher Nkunku dropped for ‘techincal reasons’ by the manager.
The most frustrating thing as far as the Frenchman is concerned is recently the attacking positions have been up for grabs due to the poor output from those who have been starting.
Despite the win over Fulham, there were still no goals for either Cole Palmer or Nicolas Jackson. The latter was absolutely slammed in our player ratings from the game.
Cole Palmer impresses despite not scoring in Chelsea’s win over Fulham
There is perhaps more concern for Palmer, who is now without a goal in more than three months ahead of a crucial stage of the season.
Despite this, Sky Sports pundit Jay Bothroyd believes he is impacting the game in a new way, stating he is looking like one of the leaders on the pitch and leading by example with his defensive work.
“We talk about Cole Palmer’s attacking qualities. Today, he put a real shift in defensively. He was tracking all the way back, and getting forward, and credit to him because he’s a young player, but he was demanding of the other boys as well.
“You would say he’s the first name on the teamsheet, but today he played like a leader.”
Chelsea’s desperate search for leaders
Perhaps expected when you build the youngest side in the Premier League by some distance, leaders are not exactly cropping up everywhere at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca has previously called out Reece James and asked for more from him in his role as the club captain.
The England international has had to look to the likes of Tosin Adarabioyo and reserve goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli for assistance in rousing the troops ahead of a crucial stage of the season.
Leadership will almost certainly be high on the agenda of a number of their transfer targets this summer, however the fact players like Palmer are beginning to step up is certainly a positive as far as Chelsea are concerned.
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