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Chelsea sensation Cole Palmer could make his senior England debut <\/p>\n
It remains to be seen if Palmer will be afforded the chance to make his senior England debut, following an impressive start to the season that has seen the 21-year-old become a symbol of Chelsea\u2019s restored hope. The England team he joins is at a different stage to Chelsea, however. Until this week, England squads have not been picked with long-term ambitions in mind. Southgate is building towards the end of his reign and there has been a certain logic to him sticking with a core group of senior players before Euro 2024.<\/p>\n
If the England manager has been accused of showing too much loyalty to some, namely Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips, he is able to offer continuity and consistency as a counter-argument. Also, with Southgate\u2019s contract expiring at the end of the Euros, it is completely up to him if the focus is only on the next seven to eight months. It is perhaps why Southgate has seemingly decided not to bring Raheem Sterling or James Ward-Prowse into the fold, despite their club form. If football reasons are the factor, it could be Southgate has already made his mind up.<\/p>\n
It leaves Palmer as a curious case, called up at an interesting time. Southgate\u2019s decisions over the past year or so suggest it could already be too late for Palmer to make his England squad, given the established options ahead of him. But Bellingham and Maddison\u2019s absences offer an opportunity to a player who has admitted this week that he sees himself as a forward who can play across several positions, including as attacking midfielder and false nine. His tendency to float and then burst could dovetail well with Kane, just as Bellingham has done.<\/p>\n
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Cole Palmer\u2019s tendency to float and burst could work well with Harry Kane <\/p>\n
The problem for Palmer, however, is just how much can be learned from a fixture against Malta. The visitors have lost all seven of their qualifying matches so far this campaign and Southgate is likely to offer chances to his fringe players, just as he did in the 1-0 win over Australia last month. Palmer could impress, but in an entirely different team to the one that he would need to show he can perform in to influence Southgate\u2019s thinking. The same could be said for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarrod Bowen and Ollie Watkins.<\/p>\n
It could be that Southgate finds more value from Friday night\u2019s match by going strong, with only a couple of changes from what would be his first-choice team. It would be a more useful environment for assessing Palmer, who has shown in his first two months with Chelsea to possess excellent temperament and ability, or Alexander-Arnold, who has long demonstrated how his quality in attacking areas can be used when England have the majority of possession, or even Lewis, who is clearly ahead of Phillips in the eyes of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.<\/p>\n
But suddenly, a pair of largely meaningless qualifiers offer a possible glimpse of the future, and if Southgate has been hesitant to make too many sudden changes in recent months, Palmer now has the chance to accelerate one. Though it may not have been Southgate\u2019s plan, giving Palmer his opportunity in an established team and embracing the unknown would be one way of sending England\u2019s fans home from Wembley with something to remember about the night Malta came to town.<\/p>\n