Scouting Marco Palestra: Potentially a 1 of 1 profile?

Marco Palestra is a very unique profile with loads of untapped potential. Despite predominantly being an RWB last season, it’s not reflective of the role he was assigned. The role was “Runner”. His job was to make sure he was always looking to threaten the last line whenever possible and I mean whenever. While effective at this role, I believe there’s much much more to this player and in this article we will be looking at his strengths, weaknesses, profile and why he’s someone who could potentially be a never before seen profile. Will try and get to the point and not make this a full scouting report as Seun’s thread does that.

Physique

His physique is one of his greatest weapons. He’s 6’1 ft tall and weighs 174 lbs, but seems even bigger on the pitch due to his wide frame/wingspan. He’s got great stamina/engine to consistently go up the field and make good actions after a long sprint (most players cant do that). Long limbs consistently help him when going in for duels, 1v1s, carrying (slow to accelerate, but quick when he gets going) and his dribbles to steal when it looks like he’s lost the ball.

~ Not having elite acceleration (does this matter when he’s 2-footed?) and not being very strong are the only qualms you could have about him from a physical POV and that is impressive.

~ His strength isn’t usually an issue in stationary situations, but more so when he’s running and making actions. You can see in this clip how he’s easily unbalanced when making this cross with a shoulder barge. Alittle because he wasn’t prepared for it and also because he can be unbalanced when shooting/crossing while running. wasn’t

I believe his strength and speed (lower/upper body) will go up another lvl as he’s exposed to the Premier League culture and matures in age. Watching him it felt like he’s yet to fully push his body to its peak ~ essentially “potential”.

Ambi-pedal

He’s naturally right-footed, but he’s managed to train his left it looks just as natural as his strong foot. He does everything equally as good with both feet from ball manipulation, shooting, touches, passing, crosses, etc. Almost feels like its a gift he’s always had and just discovered it late (the way he toe-pokes and just uses all aspects of it is outstanding). This is a strength that eliminates one of his greatest weaknesses ~ a lack of elite burst. He’s essentially pro Cherki out wide due to his frame and 2 footedness.

~ This means even in wide 1v1s Palestra manages get the best of his opponent because he can threaten both ways, which often forces the opposition to react to him and he uses that really well in his dribbling/ general separation + he uses his body well once he’s ahead. This is why you should not worry about his dribbling.

~ Continuing with his dribbling, he’s also got the limbs to make heavy touches and force you to stretch which often means your legs are open, which he often looks for when making cutbacks. Good thing he’s also aware as to other options if the opposition does not bite. Generally he has a wide field of view when playing.

~ Straight body orientiation when dribbling makes it easy to add in small feints which makes him unpredictable + his obvious 2-footness. He understands how to unbalance a defender (rarely goes into a dribble with a singular intention unless the space is open where he can use his speed).

Possession Genius?

I think Palestra is a progression/possession monster in from FB. He’s not only a player that keeps the ball, but he also wins fouls, progresses the ball through carries, makes inside diagonals, uses the byline, greatly understands give/go’s and just as importantly is an off-ball playmaker. He didnt make lots of central combinations at Cagliari, but just from watching the player you can see this is an area of the game he’s good at. He’s naturally highly associative.

~ Being ambipedal is especially useful in escaping wide areas as opps cant pin him down to a single angle. He’s a FB actually capable of holding the hands of an incompetent partner (say a CB who struggles to build up for example).

~ Extremely smart lad. Risk management on the ball is TOP. Someone you can trust not to lose the ball and make right decisions consistently. When to make a simple pass, take on a player, cross, run with the ball, take risks, etc. He deeply cares for the ball when he has it while being able to balance that out with making things happen. You can play good football with Palestra in your team. Simple as is.

The Runner

This is the role that allowed him to win Serie A defensive player award and there’s a reason for that. Leveraging his high engine/stamina, speed and IQ he was consistently asked to threaten the last line whenever possible, while still tracking back to defend. This role eventually tired him out at the end of the season and his recovery and 1v1 defending were not as clean.

~ Extremely extremely willing runner. Does not need to see a perfect situation to start running. Loves to stretch his legs.

~ Timing of runs is incredible throughout the field. Really strong understanding of blindspots (ghosting), arriving into spaces and timing runs when passer is ready to play, while keeping an eye on the line. Rarely gets offside. This coupled with his speed makes him an incredible runner or (+1). If Cagliari had better passers, he would have had more G/A. If Cagliari played with a system that actually gave him support on the transition, he would have had more G/A. Gustos superpower is his engine because he’s always everywhere and Palestra is similar, though not as gifted in this department like Gusto.

~ Palestra is a very attack minded player. He’s always looking to see how he can threaten beyond and this can often leave his position vulnerable, but I think it’s important to also understand he’s been instructed to consistently look to run beyond the moment his team gets the ball because they understand his gifts. It’s easy to think he doesn’t want to defend when you see these moments, but I dont think so. While he may not be someone who “loves” to defend, he’s very much willing to do it.

Goal Threat / Chance Creation

Palestra only scored 1 goal throughout the season and for a player who played higher up the field that is low. The good thing is that this low count does not come from a lack of will to score but rather a mix of sometimes lashing at shots, teammates simply not finding him enough, losing balance when going for a shot and the role he was asked to play (very touchline heavy role who’s main purpose was to give assists). He actually showed some really good signs in regards to developing this aspect of his game.

~ As we talked about his timing of movements throughout the pitch was good to get himself in good positions. Often just wasn’t found or did not have enough support.

~ Did not find himself in the box alot to score goals, but from the little I saw he showed potential which makes sense given how good he is at generating space for himself off the ball to receive or leave behind his marker in open space.

In the play below you can see how he changes his starting position as the initial passing option/area is blocked off, only to dart back into the opposition’s initial position for the cutback. The timing of that movement is good and his teammate just fails to read it.

Palestra is definitely going to be scoring more goals in the future. He’s got the ability to hit it with both feet directly without stopping the ball, can create separation for shots around/in the box, tall (despite not attacking headers with intensity its still something) and he’s very smart off the ball (he knows how to earn his chances).

Chance Creation

Palestra loves cutbacks and low driven crosses (sometimes to his detriment), and it’s one of my favorite qualities about him. Due to his wide field of view he’s often able to pick out players even when dribbling with his head down (though rarely he can pass based on feeling). He’s not yet elite at them, but he’s very good at them.

Crosses are a little bit different. Does not seem to cross to the backpost alot, often near/middle of box and has different crossing techniques in his bag (curls, chipped balls, power crosses), but yet to master any of them imo. Will need to up his consistency with his crossing game.

🏹💔🐯🏄‍♂️@TK221996

Two clips of Marco Palestra vs Genoa (H)

3:48 PM · Jun 28, 2026 · 11.3K Views

6 Replies · 4 Reposts · 126 Likes

Defensive fundamentals

1v1 Palestra is a mixed bag. The higher up the pitch he is( or when his team is in a lowblock), the more aggressive he is in the duel because he knows he’s got cover behind him. When he’s 1v1 at the edge of the box and he’s not got support, he’s more passive and looks to prevent the opp from getting behind him and relies more on his long limbs to block shots/crosses/passes.

When he is aggressive in the duel, his win/lose ratio seems about 50/50. I put alot of this down to the fact that he’s often going in for the duel with his left foot and he’s somewhat flatfooted, which often works if the player is cutting inside but fails if they are going outside (alittle funny because he’s often showing them outside + this is a naturally right footed dude). The way he approaches these 1v1s is too simplistic, and opponents will take advantage of it in the Premier League. His technique will need to drastically improve which it can ~ needs to lower his center of gravity (often too neutral ), stay on his toes (sometimes too flat-footed), get more contact with his hands and be willing to duel with his right more often. This will allow him read the flow of the duel better, rather than always looking for that 1 moment to jump. + he’s got Reece James as a teammate.

I would be telling you to start Palestra at LB/RB right now if not for this single weakness in his game. Most PL teams play with wide players who will absolutely take advantage of this side of his game. Luckily I think this is very very fixable and he’s got the ability to become a good 1v1 defender.

Backpost defending is great. He’s consistently checking his shoulders, making contact, staying ahead of his opponent and making sure he’s aware of what’s around him when defending his box. He’s generally like this on the field when tracking runs and making sure he’s aware of his man. Only little negative I can say about this side of his game is that he has these rare moments where he’s too fixated on the man rather than the space and then the man.

Potential And Profile

Due to being vulnerable in the 1v1 it might not be the best thing to use him as a FB yet, because those moments really do get punished in the Premier League, but he’s not a player with enough goals in him to justify playing him as a wingback throughout the season. Though I think his end product creatively will improve a lot in our team, so maybe that trade is worth it?

Palestra is another signing that furthers my belief that Chelsea should become a team that uses a back3/4 specifically for each games. I expect Chelsea to use a back4 for majority of the season and given Alonso’s defensive scheme of often adding a midfielder into the last line, Palestra should be protected enough while he improves on this aspect of his game.

I genuinely believe Palestra will eventually become a good 1v1 defender and once he reaches that stage the sky is the limit. He’s going to become a FB capable of playing both sides to a high lvl, play LWB/RWB to a high lvl and be comfortable at combining with players in central spaces and possess the potential to become a highly creative player who also scores goals. He’s going to literally be complete, and this is the type of player who’s value you will always appreciate because he will cover for others when they are poor on form, injured and give you the ultimate flexibility tactically/structurally and these fine margins can often be the decider of games. He’s going to be the first of his kind as far as I am aware. Never seen this profile at FB. Palestra is a great signing and Chelsea fans will need to be patient with his hiccups as he adjust to the league, but he’s still going to give us decent baseline performances.