Thomas Tuchel says he has “enough” No 10s in his England squad without selecting Cole Palmer, who has paid the price for pulling out of the September camp last time out and missing “too many opportunities to impress”.
The Chelsea star was a notable omission from Tuchel’s 25-man squad ahead of the Nations League games against Croatia and Spain and he was available for selection. Tuchel criticised Palmer for missing “too many camps with injuries” following his withdrawal from last month’s group and the manager has opted to stick with many of the same players who impressed him last time.
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Tuchel has named several No 10s in his group, Morgan Rogers, Morgan Gibbs-White, Eberechi Eze, Jude Bellingham, as well as first-time call-ups Josh King and Jobe Bellingham, who both offer versatility in his midfield.
Palmer has not played for England since March and was missed the World Cup after struggling with injuries last season. He has played in all nine of Chelsea’s Premier League matches this season, but was also sent off in the defeat to Tottenham.
Speaking at a press conference at Wembley, Tuchel explained: “It counts when you are in camp and I just said it last time, he misses too many opportunities to impress. It was a long camp. It was two-and-a-half weeks and the players and the boys who were in camp built something extraordinary throughout these weeks.
“That’s why the credit goes to them. The trust is for them. If you are in camp, this is your chance to impress. So it’s not personal. We will never assume that Cole is not in the mindset to come and desperate to play for his country, but the competition is on and the players who were in camp did an amazing job and kept their place.”
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Tuchel added: “There are enough of No 10s, and we stick to the guys who were in camp because camp was excellent and we were happy with the last two-and-half weeks that we had together.
“The impact of all the players was immense throughout the whole camp and that’s why we stick mainly with the group. We stick with all the offensive players and we have Josh King as a new player in there, but he can play four positions.”
Cole Palmer is not currently dealing with an injury (Reuters)
Palmer was among five players to withdraw from Tuchel’s first England squad since the World Cup, along with Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento. Only vice-captain Rice, who featured heavily at the World Cup, has since been recalled.
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Tuchel is not expecting as many withdrawals this time and said he will continue to reward the players who turn up for England and take their opportunities to shine, while adding that he believes his message is getting through to his players.
“It’s always about the ones who are in camp,” he said. “It’s always the ones who don’t withdraw and who walk the talk and come to camp and show that it matters and put the quality in. This is always what we will reward.
“That was always the message very, very early since we took charge, that it matters if you are in camp and it matters what you do in camp. And the last camp was an excellent one.”
