{"id":287043,"date":"2025-11-28T00:51:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T00:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/287043\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T00:51:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T00:51:34","slug":"gianfranco-zola-names-chelsea-star-as-his-favourite-player-he-loves-his-unpredictability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/287043\/","title":{"rendered":"Gianfranco Zola names Chelsea star as his favourite player, he loves his ‘unpredictability’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For all of the criticism that Chelsea\u2019s sporting directors receive, they have managed to put together a really strong attack.<\/p>\n

Since being handed positions at Stamford Bridge<\/a>, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley have brought in the likes of Cole Palmer<\/a>, Estevao Willian and Pedro Neto.<\/p>\n

Palmer has missed most of the season so far because of injury, but Estevao and Neto have shone during this campaign.<\/p>\n

Finish this sentence: Enzo Maresca should start ______ on the right wing vs Arsenal \"\"Photo by Harry Langer\/DeFodi Images\/DeFodi via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Estevao scored a spectacular goal against Barcelona<\/a> in the Champions League<\/a> on Tuesday, but he is not Gianfranco Zola\u2019s<\/a> favourite player just yet.<\/p>\n

\"ColePhoto by Christopher Furlong\/Getty ImagesGianfranco Zola names Cole Palmer as his favourite player<\/p>\n

Despite his lack of action this term, Palmer is still the footballer Zola admires most at this moment in time.<\/p>\n

When asked to name his favourite player right now, Zola told Sky Sports<\/a>: \u201cHere in England? Cole Palmer is one of my favourites. I really like him as a player, also I came across with him a couple of times and I enjoyed the person as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like very much that part of him, this unpredictability, if I can I say that, that he\u2019s got on the pitch. He\u2019s a free spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who will have the better career at Chelsea? <\/p>\n

The attacking midfielder was absent for Chelsea\u2019s victory over Barcelona, but some good news has emerged ahead of Sunday\u2019s London derby against Arsenal.<\/p>\n

According to journalist Simon Phillips, Palmer is expected to make the bench<\/a> in a huge boost to Enzo Maresca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even if the 23-year-old is not fit enough to play, though, Zola is one person who is likely to back his old side to still get a result.<\/p>\n

\"ChelseaPhoto by Fabrizio Carabelli\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty ImagesGianfranco Zola thinks Chelsea can still be competitive without Cole Palmer<\/p>\n

Before Chelsea\u2019s win against Barcelona, Zola was already confident that Maresca\u2019s side could compete at the very top without Palmer.<\/p>\n

As Zola discussed Palmer\u2019s absence<\/a>, he said: \u201cHe is a huge miss. We know that Cole is such an influential player for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the squad Chelsea have got, they are very competitive. They have young players coming through \u2014 Estevao is one of those \u2014 so they have the resources to be competitive without Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to Estevao and Pedro, Chelsea have been able to survive without their talisman, while Joao Pedro and Alejandro Garnacho have also done their part.<\/p>\n

For example, in Chelsea\u2019s 3-0 triumph over Wolverhampton Wanderers before the international break, Pedro scored one goal and Garnacho registered two assists.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, you still want Palmer in your team. His return will be truly celebrated, as the England star is an exceptional footballer who makes this Chelsea side even better.<\/p>\n

Taking on Arsenal, who may just be the most in-form team in Europe, the Conference League<\/a> holders are going to need him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For all of the criticism that Chelsea\u2019s sporting directors receive, they have managed to put together a really…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[176,218,87439,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-287043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-cole-palmer","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-gianfranco-zola","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}