Jeff Stelling has said Cole Palmer would be his England player of the tournament, despite the fact he didn’t start a single game in Germany.
England lost 2-1 to Spain in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin, and have now lost back to back European Championship finals.
Not many of England’s players stood out, but Palmer along with the likes of Marc Guehi and Kobbie Mainoo impressed.
Stelling feels Palmer was England’s best player at Euro 2024
Coming off the back of a brilliant season for Chelsea which saw him named Premier League Young Player of the Year, and starting both of England’s warm up games, there was a lot of chat about whether Palmer should be starting for England.
Despite his impressive season Palmer started on the bench and was completely overlooked for the first two group games, but got his opportunity in the final group game against Slovenia and he impressed with his cameo.
From that point on Southgate used him in every knockout game and Palmer really delivered in England’s run to the final as he scored in the penalty shootout victory against Switzerland, set up Ollie Watkins for his last minute winner against the Netherlands, and scored the equaliser in the final.
The general consensus is that Palmer should have seen more game time in Germany given the impact he had on the team when he was on the pitch.
Stelling feels that Palmer was England’s player of the tournament and did better than the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka.
“I looked at who did themselves any good in terms of their reputation,” he told talkSPORT.
“Marc Guehi did, Kobbie Mainoo did, Jordan Pickford, I thought, particularly in the final was very good, but for me a player who would be our player of the tournament, he barely played, and that would be Cole Palmer.”
Palmer will now have a well earned break before switching his focus back to Chelsea and getting ready for the new season under Enzo Maresca, with many waiting to see if he can repeat or get close to his exploits of last season.
I don’t understand Southgate, premier leagues 2nd highest scorer. Voted best young player of the season. COLE PALMER Yet Southgate didn’t select him to start a single match. We were treated to the same OLD same OLD. Kane was as mobile as a street lamp. Foden was a waste of time. Bellingham looked tired and played through a shoulder injury. I could go on, but the truth was Southgate relying on duds and not playing new talent