Steve Nicol criticised two ‘invisible’ Chelsea players after the Club World Cup winners were held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace.
Chelsea’s involvement in the Club World Cup pushed their pre-season schedule back and the Blues looked perhaps understandably off the pace against FA Cup holders Palace.
Their best chances in the Premier League opener at Stamford Bridge fell to substitute debutants Estevao Willian, Liam Delap and Andrey Santos, who all came close after the break.
Crystal Palace did have the ball in the back of the net but Eberechi Eze’s powerful free-kick was disallowed following a VAR check.
Liverpool legend Nicol said Chelsea had ‘no answers’ against ‘well-organised’ Palace and said Stamford Bridge star Cole Palmer was ‘invisible’.
Your ultimate guide to the football season
Metro’s new weekly football newsletter: In The Mixer. Exclusive analysis, FPL tips and transfer talk sent straight to your inbox every Friday – sign up, it’s an open goal.
Nicol was also underwhelmed by Joao Pedro’s first Premier League appearance for Chelsea following his £60m summer move from Brighton.
‘It was a fair result,’ Nicol said on ESPN. ‘I don’t think either side did enough to win this game.
‘I feel for Chelsea a little bit because this was one of the worst opening games they could’ve had. They’ve only been back from the Club World Cup for two weeks and they were never going to be 100% or sharp enough.
‘Crystal Palace are so well organised so you need legs to break them down. I feel for them a bit.
‘But they didn’t create much, Cole Palmer was invisible, as was most of the Chelsea players. It was unfortunate for them to come up against a Palace side who were match fit and ready to go.
‘Palace did exactly what Palace always do, they’re so organised under Oliver Glasner, and Chelsea had no answers to it.
‘As much as we were praising Joao Pedro at the Club World Cup, he just wasn’t in the game today, he wasn’t at the races.’
Chelsea have been described as dark horses in the Premier League this season by a number of pundits, including ex-England striker Michael Owen.
Asked what he believes Chelsea should be aiming for this season, four-time title winner Nicol added: ‘Realistically they should be looking to be in the top-four, that has to be the bottom line and the minimum for them.
‘Given how much they’ve spent in the transfer market they have to be in the Champions League.’
Enzo Maresca insisted his Chelsea team could have played better at Stamford Bridge but was reluctant to be too critical of his side.
‘Tough game, we expected a tough game,’ he told BBC’s Match of the Day. ‘Apart from the first half free-kick, we didn’t concede any chances but they are a very good team.
‘We could have counter attacked better, we could have defended better but it is only the first game of the season.
‘They [Palace] played about eight games, we played just two so we tried our best. We didn’t lose a clean sheet.’
Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards, meanwhile, was proud of the Eagles’ performance in west London and said it was a ‘good way to start the season’.
‘We worked well together,’ Richards told Palace’s official website. ‘We’ve seen Chelsea throughout the last season and in pre-season, also at the Club World Cup, they have a very dangerous attack.
‘So we knew that if we could alleviate them scoring goals, we would have a good chance. You know a draw is still a good point regardless.
‘It’s a good way to start the season and I think we can move forward with this performance in the second half.
‘One thing we talked about before the game was embracing the toughness that Chelsea are going to bring. It wasn’t going to perfect, but as long as we could keep a clean sheet, that’s number one for us.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.