80 | Cole Palmer - 2022/23 Performances

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If ever a player needed regular game time to kick on it is Cole. I think he could be City level but he needs more belief and that will only come through playing.

I would be looking at placing him on loan at a Championship contender next season as he will benefit more playing for a team that is on the front foot and scoring lots in the Championship than playing for a lower/mid Premier League team where he would be doing more defending and be on the losing side more often than not.

Leeds and Leicester are probably going to lose players like Harrison, Barnes, Maddison etc. so will have opportunities. If Cole could go on loan to say Leeds and help drive them to promotion he would learn a lot and gain the confidence and self belief he needs to kick on. He has the talent to do that.
 
I normally don’t go into bat for individual players, but given there has been so much scrutiny of Cole I think it’s time we put some of this, in my opinion, over the top criticism in context.

A lot of us tend to forget his tender age. He only turned 21 this month (a belated happy birthday Cole!). He is currently an under 21 youth international, so he’s been recognised as a potential star at that level.

I think Pep kept him this season and earmarked him as a natural successor to Mahrez because they both play right wing. However, for those of you with longer memories than last week, it’s pertinent that Mahrez was very poor for the first part of the season. Cole was a victim of the poor form of Mahrez because Pep felt obligated to keep playing Mahrez until he worked into some form.

Then Cole got injured and this set him back for quite a long time, so he’s had quite a disrupted season. He finally got a chance in the two games prior to Brentford and showed what he was capable of, even though he still had to play a new position (left wing), when he has always played on the right.

Pep then decided to play him centrally against Brentford, with Phil on the left and Mahrez on the right. To be honest I was disappointed that Pep made this decision, when he could have played Phil centrally and Cole on the left.

My main gripe is with a section of our fans that have come out swinging since the Brentford game. In my opinion, it is incredibly unfair to attack his performance when he was forced to play centrally against a tough Brentford defence, even though he almost scored early on in the game, and then had the triple blocks by last ditch Brentford defending at the end of the game.

We have a very talented England youth international, a local lad who has not had the chance to play in his natural position.

How about we stand up and defend him, rather than spend countless hours criticising his hair cut, or his manner of speaking, or his languid nature.

Come on City fans, you’re better than this. We don’t want to become all the things we hate about the dippers and the scum. Let’s support and protect our own, not tear them down at the slightest error.
 
Sending him out on loan now would be a huge mistake, he has shown he can create chances and was unlucky not to score yesterday. He might not be a regular next season, but I think he is a reliable back up on the left wing, and can also play elsewhere. If Grealish isn’t fit, We need back up, Foden can cover other positions, especially if Silva, Gundogan or Mahrez leave or are unfit for any reason.
 
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