Thomas Tuchel didn’t leave us wondering about the logic behind Cole Palmer’s exclusion from the latest England squad. The Chelsea man had “missed too many chances to impress,” it was explained during Friday’s press conference, and others were now getting their opportunities in his place.

Palmer was called up to Tuchel’s last squad prior to the opening phase of the Nations League but withdrew to manage his minutes while he works through persistent injuries, including a groin issue. As understandable as that may be on paper, however, it always looked like a risk for a player who was excluded from the World Cup squad – and Tuchel was suitably unimpressed.

Now, just two years after he was voted as England’s Player of the Year in 2024, Palmer is on the outside looking in, a cast-off from an old regime stuck on the metaphorical bleachers alongside Phil Foden. But was Tuchel right to exclude Palmer – and is this the end of his England career?

Why Thomas Tuchel was right to leave Cole Palmer out of the England squad

"If you're in camp, if you're good and the team is flying, you have every right to stay with us. You contributed in the right manner, in an excellent way,” said Tuchel when asked by the press about his decision to omit Palmer. "We are speaking now about a player that was not in camp. It counts when you are in camp, and I just said last time that he misses too many opportunities to impress."

The message was pretty clear – as far as Tuchel was concerned, Palmer’s decision to pull out of the England squad in September extended to the next squad too. When he needed to impress, he went home instead.

There’s a lengthy philosophical debate to be had about club versus country, and about whether players who need to manage their workload should do so at the expense of their international side or the people who actually pay them every week, and it’s a debate that is now pertinent to Palmer’s situation. He was expected to try and prove a point after missing out over the summer, but instead proved that he was prepared to put Chelsea first.

Debating the rights and wrongs of Tuchel’s response to that, however, ignores another part of the equation which led to Palmer’s omission from the squad: He simply isn’t playing anything like his best football.

Chelsea have scored freely since the summer, and that has led to the perception that their so-called ‘JP Morgan’ attack has been firing on all cylinders. It’s not entirely true, however – Chelsea have been overperforming their expected goals by a mile (13.3xG against 19 actual goals) and have been flattered by some of their scorelines, while Palmer himself has looked out of sorts.

Three goals and three assists from nine Premier League appearances represents a thoroughly respectable return, but his performances have been poor over the last several weeks – he was anonymous against Manchester United until he squeaked a penalty past Senne Lammens last weekend, for instance, and that came just days after an abysmal outing against Spurs in which he was needlessly, stupidly sent off.

A fully fit and firing Palmer is undeniably one of the best attacking players in the English game, but this is not that version of him. Nor have England themselves seen that player very much – he hasn’t scored or created a goal since the final of Euro 2024 and has missed many more games than he’s played since then.

Not only has Tuchel excluded a player whose availability and perhaps attitude he doesn’t feel able to rely upon, but also a player who is on poor form. Why should Tuchel take such a player when he has an embarrassment of riches in Palmer’s position? It’s hard to come up with a good argument beyond his raw talent, but if he can’t bring that to bear then that argument falls apart.

Why this probably won’t be the end of the line for Palmer

Given the very pointed nature of Palmer’s exclusion and the fate that has befallen Foden since his form for club and country declined, there has naturally been some immediate speculation that Palmer could spend some time outside of the England set-up – and that this could even be the end of his career at international level, or at least for as long as Tuchel remains head coach.

That could be going too far, but there’s no doubt that he will have to fight back from a bad position. Not only will he need to regain his best form and prove his willingness to play for (and prioritise) England, but he will also need to hope that players like Morgan Gibbs-White and Josh King don’t seal long-term places having been promoted ahead of him.

That’s quite a lot of things which need to go right, and the odds of a rapid recall look relatively remote at this point in time – but Tuchel has proven that players can change his mind.

Trent Alexander-Arnold provides an obvious example. Tuchel had criticised both his defending and his attitude in training before leaving him out of ever squad for well over a year. Then, all of a sudden, he was recalled in September and has promptly rehabilitated himself.

Alexander-Arnold played well against Czechia at the start of the Nations League campaign and is now back in the squad to face Spain and Croatia. He proved that it’s possible for a player to work their way back into Tuchel’s good graces. That’s encouraging news for players like, but it clearly takes time to earn a place back in Tuchel’s affections after getting on the wrong side of him. Alexander-Arnold’s recall came after 15 months out in the cold.

Palmer could potentially be left outside to get chilly for a little while, then, but Tuchel’s decision to leave him looking like a child with his nose pressed against the shop window was justified by fitness and form, even if you can argue for hours about whether it’s justified by his decision to drop out of the last squad. Palmer has a path back towards the England team, at least – now we’ll find out if he wants to walk it.