‘4/10’… National media rips into ‘sloppy’ 23-year-old Chelsea player after display for his country

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Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher earned his 11th senior cap for England last night in their 2-0 win over Malta.

Already-qualified England beat Malta at Wembley Stadium on Friday evening, but it was a pretty forgettable Euro 2024 qualifying match. Enrico Pepe’s own goal, plus a routine Harry Kane goal, means that the Three Lions are on verge of being seeded at next year’s major international tournament.

Conor Gallagher, 23, got a rare start for his country this week versus Malta.

Chelsea’s box-to-box midfielder has been in excellent form at club level so far this season, but he was hauled off at half-time after a quiet opening 45 minutes yesterday.

Tough reaction from the media

National media certainly wasn’t too kind when assessing Gallagher’s first-half performance at home to Malta.

In fairness, it’s worth adding that there were very few standouts in an England shirt last night. Chelsea fans did at least get to watch a senior debut for their youngster Cole Palmer off the bench.

The Sun wrote: “Conor Gallagher – 4/10. Gave the ball away in the first minute to allow Malta a dangerous chance form the off and never really recovered. Kept putting his teammates in trouble with sloppy passes. Yanked off at the break for Kyle Walker.”

90min wrote: “Conor Gallagher – 4/10 – A little fortunate Malta didn’t punish his first-minute mistake. Didn’t offer enough in way or control or energy and was hauled off at half-time.”

Conor Gallagher wastes opportunity

Unfortunately, Gallagher is going to reflect on last night as a real wasted opportunity.

It was an off-night for the 23-year-old star in midfield. The same could be said about most of his England teammates, too.

We’re now concerned that he’s missed a big chance to stake a claim to be in England’s best line-up.

Speaking via The Times earlier this week, England boss Gareth Southgate hailed Gallagher as “outstanding” and one of the Premier League’s best in the pressing department.

The Chelsea fan favourite needs to quickly draw a line on the Malta performance and be ready to impress when the next opportunity comes around.