David James has questioned whether Cole Palmer’s return has ‘slightly upset’ the Chelsea squad after they dropped more points in the Premier League.
The momentum that was built during an impressive run of form and last weekend’s encouraging draw with leaders Arsenal has all but disappeared after two poor results.
Enzo Maresca’s side suffered a shock 3-1 defeat to relegation-battlers Leeds United in midweek before a goalless draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.
Palmer was introduced from the bench for the final half an hour at Elland Road before lasting 58 minutes at Bournemouth.
The 23-year-old has been one of the best players in the Premier League over the past two seasons but James has suggested his return may have ‘upset’ the rhythm of a Chelsea team who were getting used to playing without the England star.
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Discussing Chelsea’s title credentials, James told Stadium Astro: ‘Chelsea proved the other night against Leeds that they are being hamstrung by the amount of bookings and red cards they’re getting.
‘They don’t need that. I don’t know whether, just going off on a mad tangent here, the reintroduction of Cole Palmer into the squad has slightly upset things.
‘But they should have beat Arsenal and may have done if it wasn’t for those disciplinary issues.’
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez did not appear overly disappointed after the goalless draw at Bournemouth.
‘Coming from a loss in the last game, we wanted to redeem ourselves,’ he told Premier League Productions. ‘I think we played well.
‘We kept a clean sheet and didn’t lose the game. We take the point and go into the next game needing three points.
‘Bournemouth are a great team. They have a lot of intensity and we had to deal with that and see how the game went after. We were able to manage the game.
‘We know what our goal is and our quality. We have to keep going.’
Stamford Bridge boss Maresca, meanwhile, told BBC Sport: ‘I think we lacked a bit of quality in the last third, the last pass and the last shoot.
‘When you are not able to win it is important that you don’t lose so we will take the point.
‘I think we controlled the game and then in the last bit we missed the shoot, the pass and the cross. That can just happen.
‘For us it was another clean sheet and we didn’t lose so that is important. We tried to win the game. We had some chances. I said many times it’s important not to lose when you don’t win.
‘We missed a bit of quality in the last third but we need to go again on Tuesday.’
On Palmer’s performance on the south coast, Maresca said: ‘He was good. After a long time, he played for some minutes and now he needs to build his physical condition.’
Chelsea, now fourth in the Premier League, face Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday before returning to domestic action next weekend against Everton.
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