Cole Palmer ‘a failure’ as Thomas Tuchel gets brutal about axed England star | Football | Sport

Cole Palmer has been labelled a “failure” after missing out on a place in England‘s World Cup squad. Thomas Tuchel ruthlessly dropped Palmer and Phil Foden, declaring he would not select players purely on the basis of their name and reputation. Yet Tuchel maintained there is sufficient creativity within the 26-man squad, despite having axed so many talented players and leaving England looking desperately short of imagination, flair and quality.

England boast a prolific striker in Harry Kane, but supporters will be left fretting over who will create the opportunities for him. Three Lions boss Tuchel was particularly cutting in his explanation of why Palmer and Foden failed to make the cut, despite both being standout performers at the last Euros.

Tuchel said: “I think he (Palmer) suffers from, first of all, a lack of individual form within the club, he was not as decisive or as influential as he was in the last seasons, throughout the whole season. Second of all, he was not very influential with us.

“His record with us was just not outstanding, not good enough to make him ‘no matter what, he is coming.’ That is just the reality of it.

“He pulled out several times, had to pull out several times, injured, and when he was in camp he did not have the impact that we all wanted.

“I think his personality helps him, even in big moments, to not show nerves, and to be decisive, but to have these moments you need also to be in shape, you need to be influential within this group and he has just failed to prove it on a consistent level.

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“It was one of the most difficult phone calls of course and obviously one of the most prominent names that we leave out.

“But I refuse to bring players for the name and I refuse to then play them out of position just to give them something, I prefer to have the tough decision beforehand, digest it and then push everyone else.”

Tuchel also addressed Foden’s omission directly: “With Phil it’s a little bit different because Phil was excellent in camp for us. He was not only excellent in training, but also off training. He was open, he was in good spirits.

“And it hurt me a lot, actually, to call him and to tell him this decision. I could see in his reaction how much it affects him, how much it would have meant for him to come.

“But I think, like with Cole and especially with Phil, he lost momentum in a crucial moment of the season and basically the last half of the season, we could see glimpses here and there but not a lot of evidence.

“I was not even sure in the end what position his best position is. Is it a 10? Is it a false nine? Is it maybe more a Bernardo Silva role in the future as a number eight? It does not make sense for me to just bring players and then play them out of position to have them in camp.”

Despite acknowledging a lack of creative options within his squad, Tuchel remains confident that midfielders Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson are more than capable of conjuring moments of brilliance.

Tuchel added: “I think Elliot and Declan are capable of doing very special things. I think Reece James is capable of producing very special moments from a right-back position.”

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