Micah Richards thinks Cole Palmer has already helped cause Thomas Tuchel a big England problem

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After England’s Nations League campaign came to an end at the weekend, their next fixtures will be under the tenure of a former Chelsea manager.

Thomas Tuchel will have a number of his former Blues players to choose from when he picks his squad for the 18 months minimum he is in charge,

Tuchel has stated before he thinks Reece James can operate at centre-back just as well as full-back, and this could well be something that suits both his fitness and the manager’s system.

One player he never got to coach at club level who is the star of the show at Stamford Bridge right now is Cole Palmer.

Cole Palmer has caused Thomas Tuchel England selection headache

The former Manchester City man didn’t travel to represent England due to an injury concern. Palmer limped away from the draw with Arsenal.

It will be really interesting to see how Tuchel works around the nice problem to have that is the exceptional attacking talent England have.

Micah Richards believes it is essential that Palmer is playing, although there are plenty of options for the German to choose from.

He told The Rest is Football: “He has some real big issues to sort in terms of personnel. If you look at what Cole Palmer is doing week in, week out for Chelsea, he has got to play. Jude Bellingham has to play. Harry Kane we would all say he probably needs to play.

“But then you have Watkins itching, Saka. It’s difficult. What we didn’t give Southgate enough credit for at the time was having all these wonderful players and trying to fit them in because whoever he played someone is going to moan, why are they not playing?

“It’s about getting that balance right and he has to go with the best balance for the team rather than just trying to get individual brilliance in.”

Cole Palmer’s stats for England

Chelsea fans will be delighted that Palmer withdrew from international duty, despite the fact he has recently been named England’s player of the year.

The attacking midfielder has already been seen back in first team training ahead of the return to Premier League action at the weekend.

The Blues will be taking on Leicester City, seeing Enzo Maresca return to his former side for the first time since making the move.