Enzo Maresca is convinced that the enhanced attacking prowess of his team means no one can label Chelsea as merely Cole Palmer FC anymore. The moniker was coined by Mauricio Pochettino last season and quickly became viewed negatively. Maresca, who succeeded Pochettino, has been focused on reducing Chelsea's reliance on Palmer in the final third, especially as they are now the Premier League's top scorers.

"Yes – and we are very happy," the head coach stated. "In my first press conference, I mentioned that we cannot depend on Cole for every game because it is not right. He needs to enjoy his football. However, if we approach the season with the mindset that Cole is our only solution, we are mistaken. We work daily to ensure Cole is in positions where he can excel and perform well. You observe that we shift him from the right side to the left side, or from one side to the other, because we aim to place our players in scenarios where they can be at their best."

Palmer scored his ninth goal of the season in Chelsea's 5-1 victory over Southampton on Wednesday, with Axel Disasi, Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku, and Jadon Sancho also finding the net. Maresca, whose team sits second ahead of their visit to Tottenham on Sunday, has an array of formidable attacking options. He commended Nkunku, Sancho, Madueke, Mykhailo Mudryk, Enzo Fernández, Nicolas Jackson, Pedro Neto, and João Félix for easing the burden on Palmer.

"I am unsure if the players are superior to last season," the former Leicester manager commented. "The only thing I can affirm is that since we commenced, with Noni and Pedro on the right and Mischa [Mudryk] and Jadon on the left, along with Enzo, Cole, João, Nico, and Christo, our attacking players are performing admirably."

Maresca also lauded Moisés Caicedo's midfield performance, comparing him favorably to Arsenal's Declan Rice and Manchester City's Rodri. "He is undoubtedly at that level now," Maresca said. "There is no doubt. Unfortunately, Rodri is injured, but Declan is playing. I believe Moisés can sit at that table with those types of midfielders."

Despite the growing optimism, Maresca insisted that Chelsea are not contenders for the title. "We need to accomplish many other things well, not just scoring goals," he explained. "We must prevent conceding goals. Overall, I believe we are doing quite well defensively, but we are solely focused on Sunday's game. We are not contemplating May or June, as it is too early. In football, everything can change rapidly."

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