{"id":6828,"date":"2026-05-10T18:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T18:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=6828"},"modified":"2026-05-10T18:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T18:13:11","slug":"calum-mcfarlane-loved-what-cole-palmer-and-malo-gusto-kept-doing-against-liverpool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=6828","title":{"rendered":"Calum McFarlane loved what Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto kept doing against Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-367334\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\">  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> <span>Add as preferred source on Google<\/span>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>It is fair to say that Chelsea\u2019s interim boss Calum McFarlane was quite pleased with Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto following their performances against Liverpool on Saturday.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Both players started the game as Chelsea went on to draw 1-1 at Anfield and secure their first point in the Premier League since the start of March.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"\/>\n<p>They could have won the match had Palmer\u2019s goal in the second half not been disallowed. But after everything that has happened over these past few months, the team will take the point.<\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar-poll\" data-story-id=\"778db1d5-05a5-4b2e-9f9b-b95ab7dbecc5\" data-story-name=\"Chelsea vs Liverpool\" data-comment-id=\"5fa6ce74-df19-4d20-bf4c-a326ddcacd92\" data-story-slug=\"chelsea-vs-liverpool\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<p><h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">Who was your Man of the Match vs Liverpool?<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"715\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-1024x715.jpg\" alt=\"Liverpool v Chelsea - Premier League\" class=\"wp-image-367235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-1024x715.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-1536x1073.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-1140x796.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-750x524.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MAY 09: Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Wesley Fofana during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on May 09, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley\/Getty Images)\">Photo by Gareth Copley\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-calum-mcfarlane-on-cole-palmer-and-malo-gusto-rotating-during-chelsea-s-draw-with-liverpool\">Calum McFarlane on Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto rotating during Chelsea\u2019s draw with Liverpool<\/h2>\n<p>With Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian both out injured, Palmer started on the right side of Chelsea\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n<p>Gusto played at right-back, and McFarlane was impressed with how the two players rotated when the team were going forward.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in his post-match press conference after the game, which has been shared by football.london, McFarlane said: \u201cI think we were effective down both sides, in my honest opinion. I thought Cole and Malo caused them real problems with their rotation on the right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Next up for Chelsea is the FA Cup final against Manchester City, and there is no doubt that Palmer will start that match.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-getty-images-media\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"677\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275304096-1024x677.jpg\" alt=\"Milos Kerkez of Liverpool is challenged by Cole Palmer of Chelsea\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275304096-1024x677.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275304096-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275304096-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275304096-1536x1016.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275304096-1140x754.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275304096-750x496.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MAY 09: Milos Kerkez of Liverpool is challenged by Cole Palmer of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on May 09, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chelsea Football Club\/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)\">Photo by Chelsea Football Club\/Chelsea FC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He is Chelsea\u2019s best player, while the Blues have injury issues in attack right now, though Neto and Alejandro Garnacho could both be back before the trip to Wembley.<\/p>\n<p>As for Gusto, he could be benched. Reece James is fully fit again and made an appearance at Anfield after replacing Andrey Santos just after the hour mark.<\/p>\n<p>Towards the end of the match, James was heard shouting at Filip Jorgensen, trying to get the Chelsea goalkeeper to go long.<\/p>\n<p>The Chelsea captain did not want any costly errors so late in the game with his side on the verge of ending their atrocious run, and thankfully none occurred. <\/p>\n<p>All attention will now turn to next weekend\u2019s FA Cup final, and if Chelsea can put in a similar performance to their one at Anfield, they will have a shot at the trophy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more-wrapper lazy see-more-open see-more-blank extra-content\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/match-coverage\/calum-mcfarlane-loved-what-cole-palmer-and-malo-gusto-kept-doing-against-liverpool\/none\" data-type=\"subscribe\">\n<div class=\"see-more subscribe\">\n<figure class=\"newsletter\">\n<div><svg class=\"loading\" width=\"118\" height=\"36\" viewbox=\"0 0 118 36\"><use href=\"#dots-svg\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"signup\"><span class=\"hf\">Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script>grvLoadAnalytics = () => {(function(d,s,i){var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0),j=d.createElement(s);j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=\"+i;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(document,'script','G-E7VRWQHDP6');(function(d,s,i){if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){var e=d.createElement(s);var n=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0);e.type=\"text\/javascript\";e.async=true;e.src=\"https:\/\/static.chartbeat.com\/js\/chartbeat.js\";n.parentNode.insertBefore(e,n);}})(document,\"script\",\"G-E7VRWQHDP6\");(function(){let s=document.createElement(\"script\");s.async=true;s.dataset.domain=\"thechelseachronicle.com\/MFj4XQ\";s.src=\"https:\/\/api.publytics.net\/js\/script.manual.ping.min.js\";document.getElementsByTagName(\"head\")(0).appendChild(s);})();if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){setTimeout(function(){!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','663509325503632');fbq('track','PageView');fbq('track','ViewContent',{content_name:'Calum McFarlane loved what Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto kept doing against Liverpool',content_category:'Match Coverage',content_ids:(367334,\"calum-mcfarlane\",\"cole-palmer\",\"malo-gusto\",\"premier-league\"),content_type:'post',});},3000);}}<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Add as preferred source on Google It is fair to say that Chelsea\u2019s interim boss&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}