England assistant manager Steve Holland was at Stamford Bridge to watch Cole Palmer’s four-goal destruction of Everton on Monday night, and one can only imagine his report back to his boss Gareth Southgate will have been a fairly straightforward one: “Where will we pick him?”
The question is no longer whether the forward who turns 22 next month should go to Euro 2024 this summer, but how to fit him into the starting line-up when England play their opening game against Serbia in Germany, two weeks today.
Palmer is joint-top of the Golden Boot standings with Erling Haaland, has either scored or assisted 48 per cent of Chelsea’s league goals this season, and has found the net in seven consecutive home Premier League games.
Before his spot kick made it four on Monday, Palmer scored not just score the perfect hat-trick, but a trio of goals that could hardly have been more different.
The first one was Paul Gascoigne-esque as Palmer nutmegged Jarrad Branthwaite, cut out Amadou Onana with a back-heeled pass and then calmly placed a shot into the far corner.
His second was a poacher’s effort, reading the game like Thomas Muller might to arrive in the box at the perfect moment to nod in a rebound from Nicolas Jackson’s shot.
The third was opportunistic, a product of an era where forward players are also a team’s first defence, Palmer intercepting a wayward pass from Jordan Pickford before hitting a 35-yard lob with his wrong foot into the empty net, a chip of such precision that newly crowned Masters champion Scottie Scheffler would have been proud.
“A bit of a swinger,” Palmer called it. Such are his high standards.
But his versatility will make it a little easier for England to find a space for him in what is swiftly becoming a very tricky front line to select.
Copy Manchester City
For all the criticism of Southgate’s tactical approach, he is not afraid of England playing attacking football. “Having a go” is what earned them plaudits despite the quarter-final defeat to France in Qatar 16 months ago and against both Brazil and Belgium during the most recent international break, England were end-to-end at times, meaning when they had to push for a late equaliser, it was less of a gear shift.
Adapting to a 4-1-4-1 system like Manchester City play would represent a gamble from minute one for Southgate, but would allow him to play a four-man line of Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Palmer and Bukayo Saka behind Harry Kane.
Declan Rice would have to shield the defence solo, with Jordan Henderson or Kobbie Mainoo missing out next to him. Bellingham “plays everywhere” as Southgate put it.
But if England want to play like that, they need to give those players time to gel and understand how the other moves, since none of them play together ordinarily. Friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland in June would have to be treated as a dry run, with the front five given as much game-time together as possible.
Drop Bukayo Saka
It would be another bold move to bench the best player for the side that could still win the Premier League title, but one way or another Southgate will have to be brave this summer.
Left-footed Palmer has moved into the middle for Chelsea in recent weeks, to great effect, but with the best No 10 in world football – Bellingham – likely to occupy that space, Southgate may not want to disrupt his area of influence.
Palmer is not a like-for-like replacement for Saka either. Both prefer to cut in off the flank, but Saka’s pace and willingness to dribble inside or out stretches the game in a way that Palmer’s technical excellence does not.
If England were to start with Foden on one wing and Palmer on the other, it would be imperative that the full-backs offer width and forward impetus. Trent Alexander-Arnold will need to show he is back fully fit, and so too Luke Shaw, or Ben Chilwell provided he doesn’t pick up any more knocks.
Palmer from the bench
The most conservative option would be to stick with what England know and use Palmer as an impact substitute. It is not something he has done much of in his career since becoming a first-teamer. (He was a regular off the bench at Manchester City but often late in games that were already won.)
Since joining Chelsea, he has only made five substitute appearances, after which in total the Blues have only scored once and conceded twice.
But you have to look at his quality and think that it doesn’t matter if you give him 90 minutes or nine minutes, he can have an impact on games for England.