Cole Palmer and Phil Foden were two of the biggest casualties when manager Thomas Tuchel announced England’s squad for the next World Cup on Friday morning.
Cole Palmer dropped from England squad (Image: Getty Images)
Cole Palmer was not selected for the England squad and was branded a ‘failure’.
Manager Thomas Tuchel said he refused to select players solely on name and reputation and brutally sacked Palmer and Phil Foden. But the German insisted there was enough creativity in his 26-man squad, having cut so many talented players that England appear to be woefully short of ideas, flair and skill.
England have acquired a versatile striker in Harry Kane, but fans will be wondering who will provide the chances. Tuchel was particularly harsh about why Palmer and Foden were not available despite being the standout stars of the last Euros.
“I think he (Palmer) has suffered, first of all, from a lack of personal form within the club. Throughout the whole season he hasn’t been as decisive or as influential as he was last season. Secondly, he hasn’t had as much influence against us,” Tuchel said.
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“His record with us has never been outstanding, it hasn’t been good enough to make you think, ‘No matter what, he’s coming.’ That’s just the reality.
“He had to withdraw a lot, he had to withdraw a lot, he had injuries, he didn’t make as much of an impact when we were in camp as we all wanted him to.
“I think his personality allows him to be calm and decisive in big moments. But you also need to be fit for those moments and you need to have an impact within this group and he hasn’t been able to prove that on a consistent level.
“Obviously it was one of the most difficult calls and obviously one of the most prominent names we left out.
“But I refuse to bring in players for the sake of name, and I refuse to make them play out of position just to give them something. I prefer to make the tough decisions up front and digest them before pushing everyone else.”
Palmer’s Chelsea days have been interrupted by injury (Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
“It’s a little different with Phil, because Phil was great for us during camp. He was great not only in training but also in off-training. He was open and energetic.
“And it actually hurt a lot to call him and tell him this decision. You could see by his reaction how much it affected him and how much this decision meant to him.
“But like Cole, especially Phil, he lost momentum in key moments of the season and basically in the second half of the season, and you saw signs of it here and there, but there wasn’t a lot of evidence.
“In the end, I didn’t even know what his best position was. Is it a No. 10? Is it a false No. 9? Maybe in the future he could be closer to Bernardo Silva’s role as a No. 8? It just doesn’t make sense to me to bring in players and have them play out of the position that they brought them into camp.”
However, Tuchel insists that midfielders Declan Rice and Elliott Anderson can create magic despite not having many creative players in his squad.
Tuchel added: “I think Elliott and Declan can do something very special. I think Reece James can create some very special moments from his right-back position.”
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