England suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Greece for the first time in their history last night.
Manager Lee Carsley had a real Chelsea theme about his side, although some of the positions they picked up felt completely wrong.
Cole Palmer was operating essentially as a defensive midfielder, something which feels mind-blowing to anyone who has watched him play over the last 12 months.
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He did miss a glorious chance in the first half that he will be disappointed with, but ultimately he was unable to impact the game from his position like he has done for Chelsea this season.
A magical Levi Colwill goal line clearance and bright cameo off the bench from Noni Madueke were not enough to even rescue England a point, with their embarrassment completed in added time.
English media not impressed by Cole Palmer
The English media did not hold back on their criticism of Palmer for the role he played in defeat.
TalkSPORT said: “He missed a sitter, deeper than a submarine, just no, faded badly. 3/10.”
The Guardian added: “Wasted in a deep role. Why make him defend? Greece walked through England. Palmer was also sleeping before Greece’s third disallowed goal. 4.”
Finally, The Independent said: “6. Blazed over from ten yards when you’d expect him to score. A couple of times linked nicely or put in some good defensive work rate, but certianly not the type of impactful showing hoped for after a week of hype.”
Palmer hung out to dry
After reports that the interim England manager had the idea of building around Palmer going forwards, the 22-year-old will be wondering if that was actually the case right now.
Instead, he was rather hung out to dry in a role he has never played for his club, where he couldn’t influence play like he does every week at Stamford Bridge.
It remains to be seen if we see Palmer play in his more traditional position when The Three Lions play their final game of the break against Finland.
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