Cole Palmer was a star for England at Euro 2024 but the Chelsea star now faces a fight to seal a spot in Thomas Tuchel's plans for the Three Lions ahead of this summer's World Cup
Cole Palmer
Cole Palmer's England place is up in the air(Image: Getty Images)
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Cole Palmer has been warned the “pressure is on him” to prove he is ready for the World Cup.
Chelsea star Palmer has endured a stop-start season because of injury and he has not played for England since last June which was also his only cap under Thomas Tuchel. It looks like a straight fight out between Palmer and Phil Foden who are in the squad for both friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
But England boss Tuchel had a very clear message for Palmer who was such a standout star during Euro 2024. Tuchel said: “Honestly, he has to show because we have more evidence without him than with him so the pressure is on him. He had a difficult season but he has also had a difficult spell with the national team.
“He was only once available for us and when he was available, we decided to stick with the same squad so there is big competition for his best position, number 10. He really tries.
“When I hug him, that means he is smiling otherwise he would not get a hug. He is in good spirits, he is open and he is communicating and is showing his quality.
“He is very engaged in the group and these are very important steps to show the performance to be involved in the group and have connections within the group so he will get his chances during the next matches.
“We saw good data lately, I saw him live against Arsenal and for the first time in a long time, I had the feeling his stride was back to the original lengths. Before I felt he was not free and the stride was not long enough, the acceleration was not there and the movement was not free.
"I got the feedback from him and the feedback from Chelsea was that he felt during this game he was much, much better and he had a very strong game against Aston Villa with a huge physical output that we could see and from there, that was the first step.
“Before, we saw the physical output is matching also like the impression we have that was lacking something but he is back to full confidence and we see it in training. He is not pulling out or holding back. At the same time that is what we wanted.
Thomas Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel has sent Cole Palmer a strong message ahead of the World Cup(Image: Getty Images)
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“We have had four training sessions and he needs to show up. He cannot hold back. He needs to understand he fights for his place and we will not hand anything to anyone on a silver platter and he did this in a very nice way in exactly the right way.”
Meanwhile, Tuchel has confirmed that the Football Association have looked into Harry Maguire’s case and insisted there are “no issues” about him flying to the United States even though he was given a 15-month suspended sentence by a Greek court.
Maguire is planning to appeal but the US is notoriously difficult to enter for anyone with a conviction. Tuchel said: “I think there will be no issues. This is my last understanding of the matter. I trust the people (who told me that). We will take care of that when it comes to it.”
Tuchel also laughed at the idea that England will have a huddle before games - and insisted they will not include the referee in the middle. Ex-Chelsea boss Tuchel was at Stamford Bridge when referee Paul Tierney ended up being in the middle.
Tuchel added: “I’m not involved in the huddle and I don’t even know what we do at the moment. Do we do one? But a huddle with a referee in the middle is, for sure, awkward! We will not go for that!”
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