Former England and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has expressed his surprise at the exclusion of Cole Palmer from England’s World Cup squad but added that he feels Thomas Tuchel has made the “right decisions” with his picks.
Palmer, along with Manchester City‘s Phil Foden, were the most high-profile players to be left out of Tuchel’s 26-player squad for the World Cup.
The forward endured a difficult season that saw Chelsea finish trophyless and 10th in the Premier League. Palmer was ridden by injury through the season and scored 11 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions.
Despite that, his culling came as a surprise as it was thought he’d be an effective option as a substitute. He was immensely impactful off the bench at Euro 2024, scoring a penalty in the round-of-16-shootout against Switzerland and the equaliser against Spain in the final.
“Ultimately we have to respect what the manager’s vision is for the squad,” Sturridge told ESPN.
“I think he’s done some, I’m not going to say interesting decisions. I think they’re decisions that are right decisions, but he’s been brave enough to make them. That’s what I would say.
“I think that leaving out Cole, potentially, I’m surprised by that one. I’m not saying that Cole had an incredible season, but I feel we know what he can do on the international stage because he’s done it already for England in the Euros and had big moments. So I think that that’s probably the biggest surprise for me.”
Sturridge also spoke of Arsenal‘s Myles Lewis-Skelly being unlucky to miss out on a place in the squad following his strong finish to the season. But, he believes that England have enough pedigree in their squad to make a deep run in the tournament and cited how players taking their talents outside the Premier League and playing in other countries gives them an edge in the tournament.
The biggest example of that is Harry Kane, who has scored 143 goals in 146 appearances for Bayern Munich since his move to Germany in 2023. He is coming off a season in which he scored 61 goals in all competitions to lead Bayern to the Bundesliga title and German Cup.
“The expectation for him to deliver is going to be there more than ever now in this particular competition, considering how well he’s done, he was won trophies now, he has got that off his back now playing for Bayern and his lifting trophies. So that was the question mark everybody had before whereas now that’s gone,” Sturridge said.
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“So we’re seeing a man who has tasted success, who understands what it feels like to get his hands on a trophy, delivering goals consistently. He’s seen that. That’s what he’s known for. That’s what he’s been all his life, let’s be real. But now we’re seeing him. Can you take it to the next level? Can you just go to that?
“I think football is about moments ultimately too. And not just for H but for his teammates. Everyone’s got to deliver. Everyone’s got to step up. That’s going to take a great team unit, chemistry, selflessness. In order for us to go that one step further. And we’ve been very close so many times. Maybe it’s this year.”
