Chelsea legend Frank Lampard believes Cole Palmer was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for one particular reason.
Cole Palmer is one of the biggest sufferers from Chelsea‘s poor season, taking the hit on his World Cup spot, despite still scoring 10 goals. In comparison, Morgan Rogers enjoyed a much more influential season at Aston Villa, winning the Europa League, but Jude Bellingham equally struggled.
His omission mirrors the World Cup frustrations of another Chelsea icon, Frank Lampard. While Lampard was a legend, across three World Cup campaigns, he never managed to score a single official goal.
His international legacy remains forever aligned with his infamous 2010 “ghost goal” against Germany, where his shot clearly crossed the line but was somehow disallowed.
PREDICTION: Which Chelsea player do you think will have the BEST World Cup?👀
Mamadou Sarr is being slept on…
Frank Lampard backs Cole Palmer’s talent
Talking on The Rest Is Football, Frank Lampard sees Cole Palmer as a player who can open things up for England, but does state that he’s perhaps not as dynamic on the right as others.
“I don’t know where he sees him, because he’s played more as a number 10 for Chelsea, wherever he thinks on the right, he wants that dynamic thing where they go by players, and Cole Palmer can go by players, obviously, because he’s got that, but it’s a different style, isn’t it?
“So I’m a big fan of Cole Palmer. And I think where this game, I think where the conditions here are, the game is going to slow down a bit, and it could be a bit turgid at times, and teams with the heat, and he’s a player that can open things up.”
Anthony Gordon starred for England against Costa Rica but is no longer an option for Chelsea. Which left winger should we now sign? 🤔
Frank Lampard may not be entirely right
Thomas Tuchel’s vision for Cole Palmer suggests Frank Lampard’s wing-based claim misses the mark.
Rather than viewing Cole Palmer as a wide option, Tuchel stated that he saw the Chelsea playmaker as a natural number ten, utilising him centrally during the friendlies running up to the World Cup.
This positional preference means Palmer wasn’t competing with right-wingers like Bukayo Saka or Noni Madueke; he was battling Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers for their places.
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