Cole Palmer is carrying over his brilliant form from 2023/24 into the 2024/25 campaign and after the first 15 games, he has played a big part in Chelsea climbing to second in the Premier League table. At the time of writing, the Blues are just four points behind Liverpool but two clear of Arsenal, four in front of a stuttering Manchester City and six points clear of fifth-placed Nottingham Forest!
Former Man City ace Palmer has notched 11 goals already in the league, plus six assists, ranking third on both lists. His 17 goal involvements from just 15 matches is a world-class return and the scary thing for the rest of the league is that Palmer is just 22 years old and is getting better and better.
He has an excellent temperament too and whilst critics may mock him, his laidback approach means that on the pitch he is invariably the coolest player around, seeming to have the most time even when pressed. Whatever his intelligence in the traditional sense of the word, his football IQ is sky-high and his calm demeanour allows him to execute perfectly, even under the utmost pressure.
Perfect Panenka
A perfect example of his untroubled approach to football was last Sunday against Spurs, one of Chelsea’s biggest rivals, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The west Londoners had been 2-0 down after just 11 minutes but they didn’t panic and, inspired by Palmer and Jadon Sancho, they got back to 2-2, that duo getting the goals.
By the 73rd minute, they were in front thanks to an Enzo Fernandez strike after an effort by Palmer was blocked. Palmer’s first was a penalty and then, with just six minutes left on the clock, he won his side a second penalty of the game. Taking a spot kick with just minutes on the clock, away at a big rival, to effectively secure the win, is always a high-pressure situation. Taking a second penalty adds to that, with the increased mind games of whether the taker should go the other way, or opt for the double bluff and shoot into the same corner.
Or there is the third way, the Palmer way: dink a perfect “Panenka” down the middle. Cole Palmer, or Cold Palmer to use his absolutely perfect nickname, must have ice running through his young veins because, under massive pressure, he didn’t flinch. He just stood up to be counted, as he has with several high-stakes penalties already in his nascent career, and executed it perfectly.
There was shock, awe, delight and amusement among Chelsea fans and neutrals at what they had witnessed. Several England players have been hyped up in recent years, including the likes of Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Jude Bellingham, but there is an increasing feeling that Palmer may be the best of the lot.
He recorded 22 league goals last term, second only to Erling Haaland, and a further six assists, with only two players managing more in 2023/24. If he continues on the upward trajectory he has been on since signing for the Stamford Bridge outfit, then Chelsea could be serious title contenders this year. And, maybe, just maybe, England can end their ridiculously lengthy wait for major-tournament glory.
What is a Panenka?
A Panenka is a method of taking a penalty that requires nerves of steel and solid technique. There are many different ways of taking a spot kick but the Panenka is undeniably the coolest of them all. An old-school defender may simply choose to blast the ball as hard as they can. A brilliant striker like Alan Shearer, meanwhile, tended to pick a side and then powerfully strike the ball that way. There is the stuttering run, with the idea that the keeper moves first and then the taker can place the ball the other way; or the similar option where the attacker keeps their eyes firmly on the goalkeeper in order to see which way they move, with Ivan Toney the master of that particular technique.
But the Panenka is still the penalty that is the most beguiling, its audacity, panache and chutzpah bringing delight to the fans. It is named after Antonín Panenka, an excellent attacking midfielder who was part of the Czechoslovakia side that won Euro 1976. He played for Bohemians Prague and Rapid Vienna but it is his exploits at the European Championship in the then Yugoslavia for which he is remembered.
His nation made it through to the final against West Germany, the defending champions and favourites. This was the era of the astoundingly good Bayern Munich team that won three European Cups in a row from 1974 onwards and their players formed the core of a West Germany side that was almost as strong.
But Panenka and his compatriots managed to take Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, “Uli” Hoeneß and co to extra time after the game ended 2-2. Neither side could break the deadlock and the match went to penalties. The first seven were dispatched but then Hoeneß missed, giving Panenka the chance to win it for the Czechs.
There is pressure and then there is pressure and a penalty to win your country’s first major tournament certainly falls into the latter category. Panenka was clearly from the Palmer School of Extreme Chill and didn’t panic. He simply floated the ball down the middle of the goal, dinking it over the legs of the diving Maier. Check out the miss and the brilliant winner below.
Happy birthday, Antonin Panenka! 🎂
The scorer of the original ‘Panenka penalty’, which was the winning goal at the 1976 European Championship final. The audacity. pic.twitter.com/AsPGsb45lE
— World Soccer (@WorldSoccerMag) December 2, 2021
Panenka was, of course, not the first player ever to take a spot kick in this fashion. But the magnitude of the game, plus the fact that football was gaining increasing TV and media coverage, meant that it attracted huge attention. Like the famous Cruyff turn, it is now a part of the football lexicon, though of course, it does not always go right.
Panenka Gone Wrong
Many have successfully executed a Panenka in the almost 50 years since the cheeky technique earned its name. And some of these have come in high-pressure situations in big games too, though there are of course many occasions when it has gone wrong too. Done well, in the truly exquisite fashion that the man himself executed the technique, it looks stylish and effortless, with the extra bluff of the fast, aggressive run-up.
But that is not to say that it is easy to pull off. A player can balloon it over the bar, watch on in horror as the keeper stays put and simply catches the ball, or fluff it in such a way that it barely reaches the goal. Peter Crouch is remembered for many things, but unfortunately, this woeful Panenka attempt may be the one that sticks with him longest!