How Chelsea and Cole Palmer are primed to heap more misery on Man City in their FA Cup semi-final showdown... and the dilemma that could make or break the Blues' season

As per tradition, Chelsea’s players and coaches passed Cole Palmer’s hat-trick ball after the 4-3 win over Manchester United around the changing room to sign. 

’S*** player,’ wrote one prankster on his mantelpiece memento. The same culprit struck after his four goals in the 6-0 victory over Everton on Monday, this time writing: ‘I told u you were a s*** player.’

Secrecy surrounds the identity of the artist we may as well brand the ‘Blues Banksy’. It is being kept secret by those inside Chelsea because, sometimes, the mystery is more fun than the truth. 

That will not stop amateur sleuths from comparing the handwriting to that of manager Mauricio Pochettino in the farewell message he wrote on a Tottenham whiteboard in 2019, mind.

Clearly, whoever it is, they are simply winding up the 21-year-old sensational whose calmness amid chaos has earned him the nickname ‘Cold Palmer’ this season. Who has changed the debate from whether he should be included in the England squad for Euro 2024 to whether he should be starting. Who will be looking to compound Manchester City’s misery after their Champions League exit to Real Madrid on Wednesday when he faces them in the FA Cup.

Pochettino faces a tactical dilemma for this semi-final at Wembley Stadium – one that could make or break Chelsea’s season and his chances of surviving an end-of-season review with their ambitious American owners.

His 4-2-3-1 formation is non-negotiable, but what is negotiable is how and where he uses Palmer against the club who sold him in the summer for what now seems a steal at £40million, rising to £42.5m.

It is expected to depend on the availability of Enzo Fernandez, the midfielder who missed the 6-0 win over Everton because of a minor adductor injury. 

Conor Gallagher filled in alongside Moises Caicedo in his absence, and that saw Palmer moved to the No 10 position which Gallagher has been occupying. That set-up worked well, though unlocking City is an entirely different challenge to dismantling an Everton team scrapping for survival.

Unlike that Monday night walkover, Pochettino knows Chelsea are unlikely to dominate possession this time around, that they will spend much of this match dropping into a defensive shape, and that being clinical on the counter is going to be key if they are to win at Wembley.

Mail Sport learned on Thursday that Fernandez returned to training as of Wednesday and that Pochettino is mulling over whether to partner him and Caicedo together in midfield. 

That could see Gallagher return to No 10 – whatever criticism there may be of his creativity, he is statistically the Premier League’s best presser – with Palmer reverting to the right wing. Palmer tormented his former employers from that flank in the 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in February, floating inside to link up with Nicolas Jackson as Malo Gusto repeatedly overlapped on his right.

Chelsea could – and arguably should – have beaten City with the chances they created as they committed players forward whenever possible. Raheem Sterling scored their only goal and, as revealed by Mail Sport, he has now returned to training after suffering from a bout of food poisoning which led to dehydration and weight loss. 

Whether Sterling or Mykhailo Mudryk starts on the left wing – or even Gallagher so that Palmer can still operate centrally as a No 10 – is another consideration that Pochettino must nail.

Like many managers, Pochettino tends to leave finalising his starting line-up until the last moment on Friday. In the meantime, he will have his players practise penalties, though Palmer is not overly fond of that. 

When he was with England for their victorious Under-21 European Championship in 2023, they were doing 50 a day, minimum. He has not practised them specifically since then, yet has scored from 12 yards whenever he has stepped up for Chelsea this season – all nine of them, six slotted into the bottom-right corner.

Palmer took on the responsibility of penalties from October when few others were sticking their hands up. It is not an easy way for him to make extra money – it is understood his £80,000-per-week contract does not contain a goal bonus – but simply a way for him to show his serenity under pressure. It may explain why Wayne Rooney, who knew how to handle the heat from a young age, is Palmer’s idol when they are hardly comparable in terms of their footballing styles.

Another part of Pochettino’s preparations could involve him laying on a session he has used previously by setting up a 10 versus 11 match in training. The team with the full complement are tasked with lining up in the shape of their opponents – in this case City and 4-1-4-1 – while the side with one man less have to show a willingness to be brave on the ball and press in packs when they do not have it. It is a warm-up session he has used before, including ahead of Tottenham’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea in 2017.

Pochettino will head into this showdown hopeful that Chelsea can capitalise on a City side still exhausted from their European exertions.

Last Saturday, Palmer was spotted watching Walton & Hersham versus Sholing in the Southern League Premier South, having paid the £10 price to get in. Seven days later, he will walk out at Wembley knowing that if Chelsea are to make City's miserable week even worse, it will largely depend on whether he can show why his former club were foolish to ever let him leave.