Steven Gerrard urges Cole Palmer and Thomas Tuchel to resolve England dispute

Steven Gerrard has called for Cole Palmer and Thomas Tuchel to sort their differences and believes the Chelsea midfielder should ‘definitely’ be in the England squad.

Palmer was a notable omission fromThomas Tuchel’s squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League games against Croatia and Spain.

The 24-year-old was not selected for the 2026World Cup in the summer, and pulled out of September’s squad with fitness concerns.

Tuchel has criticised Palmer for a lack of availability with England, and said this month that he has not had enough opportunities to impress with the national side.

Gerrard was asked about Palmer’s latest absence onThe Overlap Daily, and said the pair need to solve their issues. He said Palmer’s talent deserves a place in the squad and that the dup can both ‘help each other’.

“The Cole Palmer one confuses me. I understand both sides of this because he wasn’t selected for the World Cup. Then he goes back to Cole afterwards,” Gerrard said.

“I think a little bit of ego’s kicked in on Cole’s side, where he’s gone: ‘I’m carrying a little bit of a niggle. I never got picked for the World Cup. I’m probably not going to play ahead of [Morgan] Rogers and [Jude] Bellingham in these games. I’m just going to rest it.’

“It came out that he was managing his load and stuff. I don’t think that was the right thing to do. I think he should have joined up with England and really tried to give that a go to prove the England staff wrong for not picking him for the World Cup.

“So, he doesn’t go to that one in September, there’s no international break in October, and now we’re in November and he doesn’t get selected again. Thomas has remembered him dropping out. There’s a bit of an underlying issue here.

“I think they need to have a one-to-one and have a coffee, because I think they can both help each other. I think Cole Palmer should definitely be in the England squad and he should be pushing for minutes in the team. That’s what I see in a Chelsea shirt.”