Former Premier League manager Alan Pardew has told England boss Thomas Tuchel where he must play Chelsea superstar Cole Palmer at next year’s World Cup.
Right now, Palmer is currently injured, but when the 23-year-old is fit, he plays behind the striker or on the right.
However, Pardew has called for Tuchel to deploy Palmer in another position at the World Cup.
Of course, with the Chelsea attacker only having one international break left to prove himself, there is no guarantee that Tuchel will even take him to the tournament. Because of his groin issue, he has missed not only this month’s round of international fixtures, but also October’s and September’s.
Alan Pardew urges Thomas Tuchel to start Chelsea’s Cole Palmer on the left
England are spoilt for choice in the attacking positions. In fact, they are so spoilt for choice that Tuchel will find it impossible to fit all of them in.
He is likely to have that problem with Palmer, but one solution could be to start the former Manchester City man on the left, which is something that Pardew wants to see.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the ex-Newcastle United boss said: “My midfield three for the World Cup, at the moment, would be [Declan] Rice, [Jude] Bellingham, [Morgan] Rogers… and then Palmer playing the left side when he hopefully comes back and he’s fresh and he’s really looking good to come and play the left side of the pitch and come in as a No.10 as well.”
At Chelsea, the Stamford Bridge faithful will not care where he plays. They will just want to see their talisman fit and in the team again.
With that being said, Chelsea are coping in Palmer’s absence, finding themselves just six points behind leaders Arsenal in the Premier League table.
When Enzo Maresca used Cole Palmer on the left against Newcastle United
Under Enzo Maresca, Palmer has actually played on the left, helping Chelsea to beat Pardew’s former club Newcastle from there in one game last season.
That day, the England international scored as the Blues went on to defeat the Magpies by two goals to one.
After the match, Maresca discussed Palmer’s role, saying: “We tried to do something — we moved Reece [James] to the left side and we also moved for the first game of the season, Cole to the left pocket and the reason was to try and attack on that side.”
It will now be interesting to see what Tuchel does with Palmer if he does take him to the World Cup.
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