Chelsea assistant Willy Caballero reacts to Cole Palmer boos, long-throw frustration after Bournemouth draw

Chelsea assistant coach Willy Caballero has suggested that Cole Palmer still needs to be protected after he was withdrawn during the second half against Bournemouth.

Three days prior to Tuesday's 2-2 draw with the Cherries, Palmer had reacted angrily to being withdrawn when Chelsea had given up a lead against Aston Villa.

However, Palmer started versus Bournemouth and scored from the penalty spot as the two teams went into half time having shared four goals.

Either side of David Brooks and Justin Kluivert netting for Bournemouth, Enzo Fernandez had initially completed a Blues comeback.

Nevertheless, shortly after the hour mark, Palmer was substituted by Enzo Maresca, much to the frustration of the Stamford Bridge crowd.

Caballero reacts to Palmer boos, long-throw issues

Standing in for an ill Maresca at the post-match press conference, Caballero claimed that there was still caution over how Palmer was being used after groin and toe injuries.

The Argentine said: "Of course, any supporter wants to have their best players on the pitch and so do we.

"But Cole is coming from a long injury so in this case we need to find a way to find the right subs for the game and also to take care of our players because we didn't have him for a long period."

Caballero also addressed Chelsea's issues with defending long-throws with both of Bournemouth's goals coming from that method, admitting that the team has an "issue".

He added: "It's such an issue because now every single game, every team has not just one, sometimes two or three players that can deliver a very long throw.

"It means teams invest a lot in long throws and create chances. We need to improve. We are unlucky to have four goals [against them from long throws], today we had two in the same way. It hurts and we need to correct that."

Are Chelsea right to protect Palmer?

When Palmer was making his return from an absence of more than two months, there was concern over his lingering groin issue, as well as a fracture to the little toe on his left foot.

However, the England international has featured on six occasions during December and accumulated 359 minutes.

Most notably, Palmer has featured three times in 10 days, yet his game time has lowered from 79 minutes to 72 minutes and down further to 63 minutes.

That is likely to be the source of the frustration. In all three instances, Chelsea were on level terms, and he was prevented from trying to be the difference-maker.

Next up for Chelsea is a trip to Palmer's former club Manchester City on January 4.