Carragher says Palmer snub is haunting Tuchel after England's flat 0-0 with Ghana

England failed to secure top spot in Group L after being held to a 0-0 draw by Ghana at Boston Stadium on Tuesday, a result that has reignited fierce debate over Thomas Tuchel’s decision to omit Chelsea’s Cole Palmer from his World Cup squad.

With England searching for a breakthrough in the closing stages, Tuchel turned to Eberechi Eze in the 72nd minute. The Arsenal forward, who scored 10 Premier League goals in his debut season at the club and helped the Gunners win the title, struggled to make an impact and was dispossessed with ease at one point — though Ghana failed to capitalise on the resulting counter-attack. Tuchel also introduced Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Nico O’Reilly and Morgan Rogers between the 65th and 83rd minute, but none could unlock a disciplined Black Stars side.

Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher used his column in The Telegraph to argue that Palmer — left at home despite his status as one of the Premier League’s most creative players — would have been a more effective option from the bench. “Tuchel sending on Eberechi Eze for the final 20 minutes will have provoked many in the country to think, ‘Surely Palmer would have been a better option from the bench?’” Carragher wrote.

Palmer endured a below-par campaign by his own standards at Chelsea, hampered by injury, but his exclusion frustrated supporters who felt his ability to change a game in an instant was precisely what England lacked against a side set up to absorb pressure.

Carragher pressed the point further, writing: “Here was a scenario we have seen so often at international level: England drawing a blank against a side defending deep, challenging us to find the wizardry to open them up. For that, you need a magician and from the moment Tuchel selected his squad, the worry was that he left out the No. 10 with all the best tricks.”

The former centre-back also questioned the nature of Tuchel’s substitutions, suggesting the manager was simply cycling through like-for-like replacements rather than introducing genuine unpredictability. “When the inevitable substitutions arrived in the second half, Tuchel looked for fresher versions of the same players,” Carragher wrote. “As the tournament progresses, Tuchel’s intent to stick to his formula will either be his triumph or downfall. We witnessed the positives in game one and the flaws against Ghana.”

England had entered the match in a strong position following a 4-2 victory over Croatia, with a win enough to seal progression as Group L leaders. Instead, they remain level on points with other sides in the group, and the Palmer debate — one Tuchel can no longer resolve — looks set to follow the team deeper into the tournament.