After England’s goalless draw with Slovenia, Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou lauded Cole Palmer’s attacking ambition and asked Gareth Southgate not to “protect” the Chelsea striker at Euro 2024.
England finished top of Group C with five points after putting on another fragmented performance in their stalemate against Slovenia on Tuesday night. They will now face either the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, or Belgium in their last-16 match at 5 p.m. on Sunday in Gelsenkirchen.
Palmer, on the other hand, made his tournament debut when he replaced Bukayo Saka off the bench in the 71st minute. The star player for Chelsea immediately established himself as England’s best chance of winning against a well-prepared Slovenian team.
Following the game, Postecoglou, the manager of Tottenham, lauded Palmer for his performance and asserted that England and Chelsea have a “rare” player on their hands.
Following England’s draw, Postecoglou told ITV that he enjoys Palmer most because “every time he gets the ball, he’s looking to eliminate opposition, whether that’s individual players or lines of the opposition.”
“Every time he makes an incursion, someone is eliminated from the game.”
“With a player like that, it doesn’t matter how the other team sets up defensively—he can always find the opening and the space.”
“How can I eliminate one of the opposition or a line of opposition?” is his initial idea. Players such as those are uncommon.
“I stated prior to the game that although I am aware that they have talked about protecting young players, I believe that they should just be allowed to play.”
WHO ENGLAND COULD PLAY IN THE LAST-16?
Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine or Belgium
England’s last-16 tie will take place in Gelsenkirchen at 5pm on Sunday.
Postecoglou urged Southgate to have the same trust in Adam Wharton, a midfielder for Crystal Palace who hasn’t played yet at Euro 2024, and Kobbie Mainoo, who also showed promise against Slovenia.
“I don’t know if it’s swallowing your pride because Gareth said he actually felt it did sort of work in the function he wanted-he wanted a more aggressive press and it was a logical decision to put Conor in there,” Postecoglou said in response to a question about whether Southgate had swallowed his pride by substituting Mainoo for Conor Gallagher at halftime against Slovenia.
However, he then stated that he needed greater momentum with the ball, which makes Kobbie a far more appealing choice.
“I don’t think it’s about that; I think it’s about really knowing what you’re aiming to achieve with your life.”
“It’s always difficult with young players because your nature as a coach is to try and ease them into things,” I believe that Southgate expressed in an intriguing way.
Nevertheless, occasionally a young player may emerge who is just knocking down doors, and you will have to let them pass since not all young players will be able to make that move.
“Mainoo, Wharton, and Cole Palmer may end up being the key players for this Euros; I’m sure a year ago they weren’t in Gareth Southgate’s top 40 players.”