Cole Palmer's Substitution Criticized by Supporters, Became a Factor in Chelsea's Draw Against Bournemouth

Chelsea assistant coach Willy Caballero has defended the decision to pull Cole Palmer off in the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth, after fans at Stamford Bridge reacted strongly to the substitution made by Enzo Maresca.

"You don't know what you're doing" jeers echoed around the home bench as Palmer, one of the team's best players, was hauled off in the 63rd minute as the hosts chased a winning goal to end a poor run in the Premier League.

Now Chelsea have only won one league game in seven. After the game, Caballero insisted that Enzo Maresca, who missed the post-match press conference due to illness, remains an example for everyone at the club.

"He has been feeling unwell for the last two days. He had a slight fever two days ago. He took part in the last two training sessions, he wants to prepare the team."

"However, after the match he went to the locker room and asked me to replace him because he felt unwell."

"He handled it well, he was very professional. He worked for hours every day, even when the last two days felt unwell, he still attended. He was happy to practice and train. He is an example for me and the whole staff," Caballero said of Maresca.

However, the pressure is increasing on the Italian coach after returning to a positive result. Chelsea has now lost 13 points at home from a superior position.

The atmosphere became increasingly tense when Palmer, who had recently returned to action after a long injury, was pulled out in the second half.

"Every supporter wants to have the best player on the pitch. We want that too. However, Cole has just recovered from a long injury."

"In this case, we need to find a way to make the right substitutions for the game and maintain the health of the players. We want them to keep playing until the end of the season," said Caballero.

Bournemouth took the lead after six minutes of the match when David Brooks completed the second chance after Robert Sanchez's save, before Chelsea equalised through Palmer's penalty.

Enzo Fernandez then took the hosts ahead, but once again the Blues could not hold on to their lead. Justin Kluivert equalised before half-time after Chelsea failed to deal with a long throw from Antoine Semenyo.