Tuchel picked the wrong man and England felt it

Thomas Tuchel left Cole Palmer with reduced minutes to accommodate a player who has never once been the difference for England. That is not squad management. That is poor judgement.

Palmer finished the Chelsea season as one of the best attacking players in European football. Consistent. Direct. Always in the right space at the right time. If you are building an England attack around quality and form, he is the first name on the sheet. Not the fifth consideration.

The "nearly man" problem

England have a long history of picking players based on reputation over form. We have watched it happen across tournament after tournament. A manager arrives with fresh ideas, earns goodwill early, then quietly defaults to the same tired hierarchy when the pressure comes.

Tuchel is not immune to it.

There are players in this England setup who have never delivered at international level. Not once. A decent Premier League season here, a couple of good European nights there — but nothing that translates into pulling England through a tight game when the result genuinely matters.

That is your nearly man. Good enough to be in the conversation. Never good enough to close it out.

When you keep that player in the squad and squeeze Palmer's role to make the numbers work, you are choosing comfort over quality. Tuchel is too experienced a manager to not know that.

Palmer's numbers are not a debate

In the 2025-26 Premier League season, Cole Palmer posted numbers that put him in elite company across the entire continent. Goals, assists, key passes, progressive carries — he was in the top percentiles for attacking midfielders at every meaningful metric.

His Chelsea performances were not a hot streak. They were the continuation of a player who has figured out the top level. He understands pace and timing. He picks the moment to drive rather than recycle. He scores when it matters. That last part is not common.

For England, he has shown flashes of exactly that. The problem is that Tuchel has not consistently put him in a position to show it. When you are managing his minutes to protect a player who offers less, you are making the wrong trade.

Tuchel's system does not excuse it

Some England fans have defended the selection by pointing to Tuchel's preferred structure. The argument is that the system demands certain physical or positional attributes that Palmer does not prioritise.

We are not buying it.

Tuchel built his managerial reputation on adapting to players. His Champions League win at Chelsea came precisely because he found the right roles for the players he had. He did not force them into a shape. He made the shape work around them.

If Palmer does not fit the system, change the system. You do not leave your best attacking player watching from the bench because your tactical preference is more important than your results.

England's attacking output has been flat in the games where Palmer has been reduced to a cameo or left entirely underused. That is not coincidence. That is what happens when you remove the player most likely to create something from nothing.

The opportunity cost

The player kept ahead of Palmer brings exactly what you would expect from a nearly man. Safe passes. Reasonable positioning. Nothing that breaks a defence that has worked out what England are doing.

At international level, especially in knockout football, you need someone who can do something your opponent has not prepared for. Palmer is that player. The nearly man is not.

Every minute the wrong player is on that pitch is a minute England are operating below their ceiling. Multiply that across ninety minutes and two or three tournament games, and you understand why England keep falling short.

Our verdict

Tuchel knows what he is doing tactically. We are not questioning his overall ability. But this specific call — keeping a nearly man in the setup at Palmer's expense — is a mistake he needs to correct before it costs England something they cannot get back.

Pick your best players. Trust them. Everything else follows from that.

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Image via [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cole_Palmer) / Wikimedia Commons