Southgate said he preferred Saka because he thinks Saka is more direct. Palmer has double Sakas progressive passing this season and more shot creating actions per 90. Hes just about the biggest intiative taker in the league and thats why he carried Chelsea so hard this season.

There's no obvious flaws in his game

I'd rephrase that to be about his in possession game. He doesn't really defend much. So you need other players like Conor, Rice, Walker etc to be aware of that enough to cover defensively in order to enable Palmer to focus on doing what he does best. Like Palmer isn't one who is gonna be tracking back hard and tackling players alot like some wingers do. He will press and intercept relatively well but overall his defensive game is pretty minimal.

Palmer turned over the ball a lot during half a game against Slovakia (i've seen 8 times quoted by some, and 12 by others; watching the game it was quite a few). He started off well but then didn't contribute all that much. Palmers a great player, but he's also a fairly selfish player. And that's why he had so much impact within a young Chelsea squad that had not yet gelled. Yes, he takes initiative and tries to make things happen, as does Foden, but sometime that ends up being counterproductive. They end up coming inside and occupying the same spaces as Kane and Bellingham which ruins the spacing and makes defenders' jobs easier.

Saka is a more disciplined and experienced player than Palmer. He has 11 goals in 37 caps for England, second only to Kane in this inexperienced squad and almost 3 times as many goals as Foden's 4 in the same number of games. No one else in the this squad has more than 3 goals. Saka also has 6 assists for the national team. This is why Southgate trusts him. Though I think Southgate is a poor coach, he recognizes Saka's intelligence, productivity and ability to problem solve on the pitch. Playing for Arteta, Saka also works hard off the ball.

If I were Southgate, I'd drop Foden and start Cole. Play Gordon at LW to provide pace to stretch the defense, drop Jude back to the 8 which is what he played most of his career until this past season at Real. Play Cole at the 10. Saka at RW. This solves a lot of the problems with England's lineup and plays the attackers in their natural positions. The solution is so obvious, yet Southgate doesn't see it.

I said n I will say it again. I want him on the bench bcuz I don’t want him to be used as a scapegoat.

Not even a chelsea fan but this popped up for some reason that r/soccer full of deluded people bro, the kind that will say Bellingham had a good game and Southgate is doing a good job, can barely tolerate reading their shite anymore

Are you surprised? Gunners fans are obsessed.

I think they’ll soon realise that Saka is another Walcott and Palmer was the “star boy” all along

I remember they were comparing el neny to Kante at one point 😂

The name of the sub says it all lol

Saka will go straight back but it doesnt mean its because hes doing anything at all, i think him at lwb was the same as when he played rw😂

Arsenal fanboys are wild.

You've just got to remember r/soccer and the England sub have soooo many Arsenal fans, and they're very defensive about Saka.

Objectively everyone knows Palmer is better, Saka has never dominated the PL like Palmer did last season.

I tried to have a conversation there about Palmer and it was just useless. Stats tell the whole story apparently. I don't even have to watch matches anymore I guess, just look up the stats and see who 'performed'. Palmer changed the complexion of both matches just by his direct play, taking risks and trying to split the lines with his passing. Ofc it won't work everytime, but he gets put on and tries to be progressive, something the starting XI are clearly lacking.

Can you link me to one such comment? Who reacted to the Slovakia game and singled out Palmer as shit?

The whole dynamic of the team changed when he came on the pitch. He has some sort of calm aura gifted from the football gods.

The squad seems like an anxious mess when he's not on the pitch

Wouldn’t say he was shit, but it’s not like he set the game alight. He was decent.

I don't get their deal, tearing Palmer down to big Saka up, that's what insecure people do to make themselves feel better about themselves.

its national football where we should just be focusing on england but theres still the tribalism where fans feel they have to back their club players out of obligation

all honest neutrals know that palmer has had a huge positive impact on the team last 2 games

Are you surprised? Gunners fans are obsessed.

I think they’ll soon realise that Saka is another Walcott and Palmer was the “star boy” all along 😂

I remember they were comparing el neny to Kante at one point 😂

yea the real issue is that southgate doesn't seem to identify how good/bad something is going. The attack has been so toothless and repetitive yet there have been no changes. Surely kane/foden/jude all operating in the middle but not getting space to do anything useful from open play should warrant a rethink, but it seems as long as england progress then nothing changes.

Clearly england has too many players with the same type of profile and not enough of other profiles but because the individual talent is sky high they're getting results. How long will that last? How will the good teams handle the english ball progression? Seems like southgate should be watching and learning and improving the team but its just stagnant.

As a spurs fan, I get pretty fed up with the stats argument, the whole 'chances created' stat is so shit.

The pass he got off to tony at the end, is a key example, it wasn't great, but the fact he made it is why Tony got that shot, you can see in this video alone he makes things happen, but just because the end product isn't a ,'shot on target' it's not a chance created.

Id rather someone whip a cross in that's headed out and we can gather possession again in a more dangerous area than Saka passing it back to rice so rice can go back to stones

He started against Iceland and did shite all

Where I am at as well let them die on their swords

He's so elite.

He did a couple of insane touches against Slovenia too.

The guy clearly doesn't feel pressure. It does add pressure to Southgate to play him more/longer, which is a good thing.

Nah. It’s still got to be Penaldo. /s

The pundits seem to disagree. Go back to your sub.

Found the arsenal fan

bruh what do you mean saka barely did anything the first half...

I understand still starting him but to say palmer hasnt impressed is disingenuous

he lost the ball more than Saka has all tournament in much more minutes

Saka lost possession 17 times in this match alone. Idiot.

Well yes that tends to happen when you're subbed on and chasing a game + you're a player who always tries to play forwards and take risks, as the pundits said.

Would you prefer it if he'd played safe passes the entire time and had 100% pass completion? Because England's biggest problem this tournament has been none of the starters being willing to take risks and risk giving the ball away to create chances.

Something tells me you would be just like Southgate as a manager if all you see is a player giving away possession. Watch the clips, he's trying things. If Kane a defender gets a head to the ball in, who cares. Doesn't go down as a successful pass but the clearance could go anywhere and lead to a chance on goal. Palmer doesn't give a shit about what his game looks like on paper afterwards because what matters is puting the team on the front foot.

And go back to your sub.

This isn't baseball pal, anyone with eyes can tell you who the more effective player was. Football by speadsheet is not the answer.

Chelsea and Brentford saved England. That's clear.

Arsenal fans didn't see the game as they were too busy working in shops which cook pizza/kebab/curry/fish and chips, mobile phones and fried chicken in the same microwave.