Cole Palmer was recently named as England’s Player of the Year for 2024, joining an esteemed list of stars to have scooped the award including Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and Frank Lampard.
Voted for by the public, the Chelsea star was picked ahead of Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham and Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka, who finished second and third respectively.
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Palmer, 22, only made his England debut back in November, coming off the bench as the Three Lions beat Malta 2-0 at Wembley. Since then, he’s made nine more England appearances, five of which came at the summer’s European Championship, where he came off the bench in the semi-final to assist the winner against the Netherlands and again in the final to score against Spain.
While his contributions have been important to England over the past year, they have been, by no fault of his own, sporadic at best.
Palmer has made just three career starts for England, with none of those coming at Euro 2024, as manager Gareth Southgate opted to use the Chelsea star as an impact substitute.
His latest appearance against Greece was also his first under interim boss Lee Carsley, missing England’s Nations League wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland with injury.
That brings us to our main point: how can a player who, despite his undoubted brilliance, has played just 408 minutes of international football to date and been named as England’s Player of the Year? Here are some players who we think deserved the award more.
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1
Jude Bellingham
Since making his England debut back in 2020, Bellingham has been a stalwart for the Three Lions, making 37 appearances and scoring 6 goals.
More importantly, across the 2023/24 campaign, he started 12 matches for England, including all seven games at Euro 2024. In fact, he only missed four minutes of the entire tournament.
As well as being an omnipresent force for Southgate’s side on their way to the final, his contributions were also mightily important.
He scored the only goal in England’s 1-0 win over Serbia in their opening group game before hitting another important goal in the last 16 against Slovakia, steering home a sensational, last-minute overhead kick to level the scores and send the game to extra-time, saving England from an early exit. The goal placed second in UEFA’s Goal of the Tournament.
It wasn’t just his goals that were key for England in the summer, either. Bellingham was also instrumental in breaking down the opposition’s attacks and helping England launch their own.
At the tournament, he won 55 duels in the middle of the park, which was more than any of England’s other midfielders, while he also completed the most take-ons (17) of any England midfielder. This would surely only have added to his Player of the Year credentials.
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2
Bukayo Saka
Bukayo Saka has been named as England’s Player of the Year for each of the last two years, and arguably, he could have made it three on the trot.
The Arsenal star was one of England’s most consistent attacking providers throughout Euro 2024. He also scored a crucial late equaliser against Switzerland in the quarter-finals and provided the assist for Bellingham’s winner in the opening game. Had it not been for a misfiring Harry Kane, he could have had more assists, too.
Defensively, Saka also played his part for the Three Lions at Euro 2024. He won an impressive 35 duels and made 10 clearances, which was by far and away the most of any other England attacker – and even more than some of England’s defenders, including Kieran Trippier.
It is difficult to imagine England having the success they had without Saka’s brilliance, as he showed how crucial he is to the side over the last year once again.
3
Marc Guehi
Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi didn’t score any last-minute goals at Euro 2024 like Bellingham and Saka did. However, he was arguably England’s best player at the tournament.
Starting six of England’s seven games, including the final, the 24-year-old was an imperious and consistent presence on the left side of England’s central defence. He won the most duels (24), including the most aerial duels (12), and also made the most blocks (11) out of any of England’s defenders. He also recorded an assist, providing the vital flick-on for Bellingham’s overhead kick against Slovakia.
So impressive was Guehi at Euro 2024, he was the only England player to be named in Opta’s Team of the Tournament. Winning England’s Player of the Year would have been the icing on the cake after a stellar period in the Three Lions backline.
4
Ollie Watkins
If Cole Palmer can win the award through his on-pitch contributions for England over the past few months, then Ollie Watkins would surely have had a greater case to take the Player of the Year trophy himself.
While international starts were few and far between for the Aston Villa striker, that will have been expected having been selected as deputy to Harry Kane.
Despite limited opportunities to impress, Watkins performed admirably, particularly at the European Championship. His season in England colours started with a late winner in a 1-0 friendly win over Australia last October, but failed to stamp much authority in the tournament warm-ups in the spring – drawing blanks against Brazil, Belgium and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Yet within half an hour of football at the Euros, Watkins’ worth to the England side was very much made clear. He provided some much-needed zest to a futile attack as the Three Lions went stale in a dismal group clash against Denmark, albeit without reward, before making the ultimate impact in just 10 second-half minutes in the semi-final as he turned home Palmer’s pass to send England to a second successive European final.
You could easily argue that his winner alone was the moment of the year for many England supporters, and although that might not truly be enough to claim his place as England’s best player, that would make just as much sense as handing the award to Palmer (if not more).
Palmer may have been aided by his dazzling start to the Premier League campaign (only Erling Haaland has scored more than him at the time of writing) as well as the flaws of online voting. He will surely play a more prominent role in the years to come for this England side, but reaching this particular milestone was probably premature.
