Tuchel criticises England star: 'A missed opportunity for him, yet another missed opportunity'

Thomas Tuchel has criticised Cole Palmer's continued absence from the England squad. The head coach has seen the Chelsea midfielder pull out again with physical complaints and called it a missed opportunity.

Palmer was initially called up for England's next four Nations League matches, but withdrew. Chelsea's 24-year-old star man was joined on the list by Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento.

"It is certainly a missed opportunity for Palmer. Another missed opportunity," says Tuchel. "He is missing far too many moments. I do not blame him for that. It is simply a fact that he is missing far too many training camps because of injuries."

Since Tuchel took charge of England at the start of 2025, Palmer has made only three appearances for the national team. The Chelsea player also missed last summer's World Cup squad and has been dealing with physical problems for some time.

Tuchel says he mainly wants to judge players on what he sees for himself during international periods. "If you are not at the training camp, you simply cannot reach a next level of making an impression. That is only possible when you are actually on the pitch with me and with us."

According to the German, Palmer's withdrawal has nothing to do with deliberately managing his workload. "My understanding is that he is playing with discomfort and pain and that he cannot perform at the highest level with discomfort and pain. That is why he withdrew and we were informed of that by him and Chelsea."

At the same time, Tuchel made it clear he does not want players to treat international periods as a time to rest. "We do not manage the workload. This is not an 'international break'. It is a competitive environment, but also an environment where players want to be as soon as they come in."

For that reason, the head coach remains committed to his principles around the England squad. "We will never make concessions on that feeling and we do not want the idea to arise that players do not want to come. We are focusing on the boys who absolutely want to play for England."

England begin their new Nations League campaign on Saturday with a home game against reigning European and world champions Spain.