Chelsea have reportedly decided to stick by under-fire boss Enzo Maresca despite mounting fan frustration, underwhelming results, and the very real prospect of missing out on Champions League football next season. According to The Sun, the club’s hierarchy remains convinced the Italian is the right man to lead the team forward, even as their top-four hopes hang in the balance.

That show of faith comes at a time when both Maresca and Cole Palmer — Chelsea’s standout performer earlier this season — are facing growing scrutiny. Palmer, whose early-season fireworks had fans dreaming of a new attacking talisman, has seen his form nosedive since January. And now, the 22-year-old has posted a curious Instagram story that’s stirred conversation among supporters. The clip features one of his goals in a Chelsea shirt with the word “Enjoyment” and a smiling emoji — simple enough on the surface, but the goal in question wasn’t scored under Maresca.

The video comes from Palmer’s dazzling four-goal display in a 6-0 rout of Everton back in April last year, during the final weeks of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign. He curled one in beautifully to open the scoring, then added a header, a clever lob after pouncing on Jordan Pickford’s mistake, and a penalty to complete the haul. It was a performance that had fans crowning him Chelsea’s next great hope. It also wasn’t lost on anyone that Palmer chose to highlight a memory made under a different manager — and one in stark contrast to his recent struggles.

Since Maresca’s appointment in the summer, Palmer has scored 14 of his 36 Premier League goals. But after hitting his 14th in mid-January, he has now gone ten games without finding the net again. His influence, which once carried the team through difficult patches, has waned, and Chelsea’s form has slumped with it. Once considered the club’s engine, Palmer now looks increasingly isolated in a rigid tactical setup that doesn’t seem to maximise his strengths.

That’s what makes Chelsea’s reported backing of Maresca so bold — or reckless, depending on who you ask. While club sources suggest the manager’s “dedication” and “unflinching commitment” are enough to keep him in the dugout, the results paint a different picture. Chelsea currently sit sixth in the table, exactly where they finished last season under Pochettino. The difference is that, under Pochettino, the Blues ended on a high. This season, they’re staggering towards the finish line.

Palmer isn’t the only one whose spark has faded. Nicolas Jackson, another bright performer earlier this campaign, has also seen his form dip. Chelsea’s resurgence earlier in the season owed much to moments of individual brilliance, particularly from Palmer — including a devastating four-goal blitz against Brighton in September. But as those individual moments dried up, so too did Chelsea’s aura of progress.

Still, with fifth place now enough for Champions League qualification, Chelsea aren’t entirely out of the race. They’ll look to reset against Fulham in their next league match after finishing their Conference League quarter-final tie with Legia Warsaw. That competition may yet provide Maresca with a shot at silverware — and a way to silence his growing number of critics.

Whether Palmer’s social media post was a pointed message or innocent nostalgia is up for debate, but one thing’s clear: Chelsea’s fortunes remain tightly bound to his form. If Maresca is to reward the club’s faith, he must find a way to reignite the spark in the player who looked like a star in the making — and fast.