Jamie Carragher has brought the question into play again about the decision to leave Cole Palmer out of the England squad for the World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel made headlines when he decided not to take Palmer to the international tournament after an underwhelming individual season at Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea man scored the only goal of the last tournament fixture before this summer in the Euro 2024 final against Spain, where he was seen as the impact man off the bench.
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Thomas Tuchel made a mistake not taking Cole Palmer to the World Cup
However, he hasn’t been given a chance to do that this summer, and England have just gone through their first underwhelming game of the summer in the form of a 0-0 draw against Ghana.
The biggest criticism that can be given to Tuchel from that game is the fact that the performance looked very much like one where Gareth Southgate was still in charge, and everyone could see it coming from early on.
Carragher told The Telegraph at half-time that England would have been in a better position to break a stubborn Ghana down if they had Palmer available on the bench.
He said: “When Bellingham and Rice play between the lines against a defence set-up like this, you either need a bit of magic from them outside the box, or the wingers to deliver far more than they are currently doing.
“That’s England’s problem here. The longer this goes on, the more we must look to the bench and ask who can come on and make a difference?
“Rice and Bellingham are all about power and energy; they aren’t magicians in the spaces between the lines.
“If this continues, the debate will start regarding Cole Palmer’s absence. We’ve seen so many games like this in major tournaments.
“Those who championed Palmer’s inclusion foresaw tactical conundrums like this – which is why some of us thought it better to have him as an option.”
The Chelsea Chronicle predicted that Tuchel would regret not taking Palmer after it became clear that Bukayo Saka was struggling for fitness.
He is yet to start for England at the tournament, with Noni Madueke starting both games, and disappointing against Ghana.
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England don’t have anyone with Palmer’s creativity in the squad
Tuchel has clearly prioritised certain tactical profiles in his World Cup squad, and none of them have the skillset that Palmer has.
Even though many believed he underperformed in 2025/26, he still hit double digits for goals in the Premier League, and has a capability to create something from nowhere.
Harry Maguire admitted he’d of rather seen Palmer go to the World Cup, and the Three Lions created just two big chances during the 90 minutes of the second group stage game.
One of those was created by Reece James, although even he didn’t enjoy his best performance in what was very much a reality check for England.
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