Chelsea steamrolled through to the Quarter-Finals of the Club World Cup, as thunder, lighting and poor officiating didn’t stop the Blues from smashing Benfica 4-1. 

There are many talking points coming out of this game, but Cole Palmer’s new role under Enzo Maresca particularly caught the eye. 

Palmer is undoubtedly one of not only Chelsea’s best players, but one of the best players in England. He showed that in his phenomenal first season with the blues.

While he’s shown signs of that debut season this year, Enzo Maresca has seemingly struggled to find a place for him in his setup which allows Cole to show his best traits.

We’ve seen him in the central number 10 position, he’s had some good performances in that role but a lot of the time it feels he’s been handcuffed in how much he can impact a game.

The same can be said when he’s played on the right hand side of the attack. 

But against Benfica, Maresca surprisingly used him primarily on the left hand side of the attack in this new setup, and it has made a world of difference. 

The main criticism of the Chelsea manager’s use of Palmer was clearly addressed in this game with 89 touches, 46 accurate passes, nine attempted crosses and three shots on target.

That’s not to mention his assist for Kieran Dewsbury-Hall’s goal as well. This role for Cole, where he and Enzo Fernandez sit just behind Liam Delap and Pedro Neto in attack, was able to let him shine on a regular basis against the Portuguese side. 

But the stats don’t show everything, and just by watching Cole in this game, you can see he was playing with bundles of confidence again.

He was robbed of at least two more assists, as he played beautiful crosses across the box which either, nobody could get on the end of, or Benfica were able to brilliantly deal with. 

His connection with Marc Cucurella in particular was something to keep an eye on as well, as Cole’s off the ball movement was a major highlight in Charlotte.

The timing of his runs to the inside meant that Cucurella had plenty of space and time to work with when he was attacking as well.

That relationship between the two on the left hand side of the pitch was constantly causing Benfica real problems, and it almost resulted in a goal. 

The new system that Maresca has implemented since the Flamengo game has actually got the best out of a lot of players in general.

It unlocked a new level to Fernandez, which allows him to showcase his top tier playmaking. Pedro Neto’s ruthless pressing and work rate was also on full display again.

But there is nobody more important to get the best out of than Cole Palmer. One of the best players in the world, and if he continues to be played in this role, then we could start to see him consistently thrive in a Chelsea shirt once again.