Cole Palmer Gives Xabi Alonso the Best and Worst Moments of Chelsea Debut

LONDON — There was a bubbling sense of optimism ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League opener—more than many teams with faint title aspirations may be expected to boast after finishing 10th.

That’s what hiring a manager as charismatic as Xabi Alonso and breaking the British transfer record will do. Yet, the true fount of positivity at Stamford Bridge lay in the mercurial figure of Cole Palmer.

Some could be forgiven for forgetting the impact a fully fit and firing Palmer can have. It had been a while. Prior to his stellar showing on Monday night against Fulham, Chelsea’s injury-riddled talisman had not registered a non-penalty goal and an assist in the same game since the 2025 Club World Cup final, 13 months ago.

Palmer had a hand in all three of Chelsea’s open play goals at Craven Cottage, looking every bit as sharp as Alonso could have dreamed after a summer freed from the demands of World Cup action. It was the 24-year-old’s first off-season with some actual time off in three years, and he was left desperately bored. Palmer’s wondrous display on Monday was enough to lift any mind above the dull stir of Earth.

The chronic flaws of Palmer’s teammates stress-tested the quality of his bewitching display, which was enough to snag a narrow 3–2 win. Yet, for all the concerns inspired by Chelsea’s backline, the worst moment of Alonso’s debut came when Palmer limped off holding his knee.

Palmer Brings Hint of Diego Maradona to the Cottage

Cole Palmer (center) celebrating. — Cole Palmer (center) was on fire. | Adrian DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

There was a swagger about Palmer before the game had even kicked off. The left-footed No. 10 nonchalantly juggled the ball in the center circle awaiting the referee’s opening whistle, calling to mind the image of Diego Maradona killing time before Argentina’s opening game of the 1990 World Cup against Cameroon in San Siro.

The confidence was justified. This always should have been a gentle opening fixture for Alonso. The short trip across west London on a pleasant summer’s night is hardly the most daunting away day the Premier League has to offer. The traveling Blues fans had little issue getting into the away end, next to Craven Cottage’s neutral stand. There was more resistance from the legion of sweaty joggers trawling along the River Thames than the home fans swapping stories of summering in the south of France.

Those conversations were curtly concluded after just 31 seconds, when Palmer slipped João Pedro into the box for the joint-fastest first goal of any managerial reign in Premier League history.

Chelsea’s dominance would ebb and flow, but Palmer’s brilliance was constant. Flitting around with an airiness that his nagging groin injury never allowed last term, the ephemeral playmaker had Chelsea (and Fulham) dancing to his tune. There was little Palmer did wrong. He misplaced just four passes while creating three chances, adding a wonderfully taken goal of his own to give the Blues a 3–1 lead in the 49th minute.

“Bloody hell,” one Fulham fan begrudgingly gawked after Palmer weaved between four white shirts before bending the ball narrowly wide, “That chap can play.”

Alonso’s Movie Takes Shape

Very cold. pic.twitter.com/NdR8xzJXlm
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) August 24, 2026

As much as Palmer shone individually, there was an ochestral hum behind his solo showing.

Alonso opted for his familiar, flexible 3-4-2-1. Palmer wandered around from his perch on the right hand side of that pairing with Morgan Rogers and behind Pedro, taking advantage of “the freedom” his manager gushed about. But every gap he left was inventively filled just as Alonso had trained at Cobham.

“We need to be unpredictable, we want to be flexible, and we want to have a threat,” the new coach warned earlier this month. “The system is just a picture; you need to move, rotate and create dynamics [in the team] and that is when the picture becomes a movie.”

Chelsea’s stunning second goal was the best example of this filmic ideal. By drifting deeper, Palmer opened up a slot in the front line which a blue shirt needed to fill. Under Alonso’s mandate, that can be any blue shirt, although the No. 5 of center back Maxence Lacroix probably wouldn’t have been his first choice. The bumbling defender somehow transformed into a silky winger, twisting past Jorge Cuenca before cutting the ball back for Rogers to fire into an unguarded net.

There were further rotations of less immediate consequence; Reece James happily dropped from midfield into the back three, letting Josh Acheampong drift wide while Malo Gusto moved centrally. Various Chelsea players popped up in different positions, but there was one common thread: everyone looked inept in their own half.

Familiar Weaknesses Exacerbated by New Demands

Robert Sánchez had yet another night to forget. | Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Chelsea didn’t settle after their early opener. Levi Colwill did well to avoid a red card after five minutes as a sloppy touch let Oscar Bobb steal in, escaping with a yellow.

Lacroix seemed as scared of his own shadow as the ball, and even Rogers went to sleep in his own half, criminally allowing Josh King to run off his shoulder for Fulham’s first-half equalizer. Yet, no crime in blue could match the rap sheet of goalkeeper Robert Sánchez.

The ruthlessly scrutinized No. 1 will inspire plenty of backlash for his feeble attempts to rebuff both of Fulham’s goals. A papery set of wrists got nothing on King’s effort while Sánchez only served to parry a rare save onto Gonzalo García’s head.

But it was the little things which Sánchez also bungled. Simple catches and tame passes all created an environment of uncertainty which even the tepid Fulham crowd latched upon. The biggest of these small errors was also the funniest: Sánchez waited so long to make contact with a back pass the ball rolled out of play for a corner, but not before Chelsea’s keeper kicked the ground in an attempt to make his ultimately futile clearance.

Palmer’s Injury Scare

Cole Palmer on the turf. — Cole Palmer ended the game after an awkward move. | Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

Sánchez’s fallibility cannot have been news to Alonso—that was a hurdle he would always have to stumble over. Yet, the sight of Palmer jarring his right knee at the end of his last mazy run was an unexpected sour note on which to end a winning debut.

While the hosts jeered, the away end collectively held its breath as Palmer signaled for an immediate substitution in the 83rd minute. However, the fear of that instant had washed away by the time the snubbed England international had returned to the pitch to jink and joke his way through the post-match celebrations without any obvious discomfort.

Alonso accepted that there are improvements to be made in all phases of play. Fulham boss Álvaro Arbeloa agreed that, after watching the full first round of Premier League matches, “no one is ready” for the new season. Palmer proved to be the notable exception to that rule. When he was asked by Sky Sports whether he was indeed ready, he shot back: “Did you not watch the game?"

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