Chelsea’s Cole Palmer was given another start by England manager Gareth Southgate in yesterday’s warm-up game against Iceland at Wembley Stadium.
England finished preparations for this summer’s Euro 2024 tournament with a shock 1-0 defeat at home to Iceland.
The Three Lions will fly out to Germany next week as one of the favourites to win the international competition, but they’ll need to play a lot better than Friday night to be successful. England managed just one shot on target during a very frustrating evening at Wembley.
For Cole Palmer, he earned his fourth England cap by starting on the right wing versus Iceland. Like Chelsea fans regularly see, he did tend to drift infield and go searching to get on the ball.
The team selected by Gareth Southgate looked very close to England’s strongest XI, so will the Chelsea attacker start his nation’s opening game of the tournament on 16 June against Serbia?
English media reacts to Cole Palmer’s display vs Iceland
Palmer received fairly modest scores in the national media after his England performance against Iceland.
The 22-year old-attacker was denied a beautiful assist when captain Harry Kane couldn’t convert his cross into the box.
Palmer will be equally frustrated that he failed to score himself in the second half. He tried to dribble around the goalkeeper when 1v1, but the angle proved too tight.
The Sun wrote: “Cole Palmer – 6/10. The 22 year old showed why he scored and created so many goals for Chelsea but was let down by team-mates and by his own delivery and finishing. Kane should have converted his lovely cross and he should have made more of two good chances early in the second half.”
The Telegraph wrote: “Cole Palmer – 6/10. Was a good threat for England, with one effort in the first half cleared off the line by Gretarsson. He was also creative, putting in a cross for Kane that should have been tucked away. Made the wrong decision when in front of goal and decided to go around the keeper – but was positive that he was in these goal-scoring positions.”
Match statistics
Here below is the FotMob data from Palmer’s England display in yesterday’s defeat against Iceland:
- Match rating – 6.1
- Minutes played – 77
- Total shots – 2
- Shots on target – 0/ 1
- Chances created – 2
- Accurate passes – 32/37 (86%)
- Touches in opposition box – 4
- Dispossessed – 3
- Accurate crosses – 1/7 (14%)
- Fouls committed – 0
- Successful dribbles – 0
It certainly wasn’t a vintage performance from Palmer on Friday night, but there were still flashes of brilliance to suggest he could play a big role for England at the Euros.