Cole Palmer warned to "watch himself" despite Chelsea heroics in Luton win
Cole Palmer has been told to "watch himself" after his second-half performance in Chelsea's win over Luton.
Palmer scored twice to help the Blues to three points at Kenilworth Road, though Mauricio Pochettino's side were forced to cling on as the Hatters fought back. The hosts scored twice in the final 10 minutes to put the pressure on the visitors.
That comeback came after Palmer had scored two brilliant goals to put Chelsea in control. First he fired in from just inside the area before showing brilliant footwork to slot the ball past Luton keeper Thomas Kaminski for his second of the afternoon.
Despite his two goals though, former Tottenham star Garth Crooks was not fully satisfied with the Englishman's display. Instead Crooks believes that Palmer needs to do more for his side.
"Chelsea recovered from a poor performance against Wolves with a win over Crystal Palace and then went to Kenilworth Road a few days later to beat a stubborn Luton Town side. That said, Chelsea made very hard work of this victory," Crooks told BBC Sport.
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"The disapproving shaking of the head by Thiago Silva at the end of the match said it all. The only bright spark for the visitors was Palmer, whose two goals were taken quite brilliantly. But the English midfielder needs to watch himself.
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Cole Palmer scored twice as Chelsea beat Luton, but he has been warned his performance was not good enough (AP)"Ducking out of headers on defensive set plays doesn't endear yourself to your team-mates, neither does suddenly losing touch with the game having scored two goals when really he should have been searching for his hat-trick."
Palmer himself admitted his second-half performance was not to the level he expects of himself. He did insist though that there were reasons behind his struggles in the second-half.
"They’re a good side at home and it is a really tough place to go, so we’re delighted to get the three points at a difficult stadium. They’re something new to the league, not many teams are used to it," he said.
"We knew what they were about with long balls and set-pieces with the crowd on top of you, so we had to manage the game well and I think we did that. Personally, in the first half I thought I did well and then in the second half I noticed they put a man on me.
"I had to try to make the space for others. It was very physical. They started pushing towards the end and scored two goals, which made it difficult, but we hung on and hopefully in 2024 we can keep pushing and building.
"Hopefully this is just the start. I’m still adapting to a new life, new team-mates, new city. The manager gives me trust and freedom so I’m very grateful to him and hopefully I can adapt as quickly as possible and keep repaying him."
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