Alonso on Cole Palmer’s omission from England squad

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has reacted after Cole Palmer was omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad.

The squad for November’s international break included first-time call-ups for youngsters Jobe Bellingham and Fulham’s Josh King, but there was no place for Palmer, with Tuchel admitting he has missed “too many opportunities to impress”.

The England manager did not include Palmer in his World Cup squad over the summer after he struggled with form and fitness last season, but did select him for the first international break of this season last month.

The Chelsea midfielder pulled out of the squad however before any matches were played, but has been backed by Alonso to play a part for his country in future.

“I think he is enjoying his game, he is connecting very well with the other attackers, he is helping the team and helping the team with developing and improving what we want and what we want to achieve knowing that everything takes time but I am very happy with his quality, his attitude and the impact he is having on the rest of the team,” the Blues manager said on Friday.

He also denied questions that he would ever tell a player to withdraw from international duty, saying: “No, no, no. I never tell. Whenever a player is fully fit, is selectable.

“If they are not fit, we try and give the national teams the reasonable information to decide together sometimes, because sometimes it is not for the player.”

Chelsea had informed England that Palmer was fit and available for selection, but Tuchel ultimately decided there was no place for him this time around.

The No10 has been in good form so far this season, picking up five goals and three assists in 11 games across all competitions.

Though Alonso said he has not spoken with Palmer about the squad announcement, adding: “We are focused on our things, on Chelsea things and how to do better and how to help him and how he can become more and more influential on the game. Those are our topics to talk.

“He needs to focus on his thing – and his thing is to play good football and enjoy his game with us, with Chelsea.

“We spoke about the red card after the Spurs game, but most of the things apart from that are about our game, our football and what we can do better.”