England manager Gareth Southgate believes that Cole Palmer missed out on scoring at least two goals in Monday’s 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina because he didn’t take his shots quickly enough.
Palmer, who was second only to Erling Haaland in last season’s Premier League scoring charts, scored his first international goal from the penalty spot in England’s penultimate game before Euro 2024.
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As Southgate assessed his provisional 33-man squad, he entrusted Palmer with the coveted No. 10 role at St James’ Park.
While the first half was lackluster for the Chelsea player and the rest of England’s attacking lineup, things improved in the second period.
A foul on Ezri Konsa led to England being awarded a penalty. With Harry Kane still waiting to come on, Palmer stepped up and confidently converted the spot-kick past Nikola Vasilj.
However, Southgate didn’t hold back in his assessment of the 22-year-old’s performance. He suggested that Palmer could have had an even better evening if he had been more decisive in front of goal.
On the performance of Palmer and Eberechi Eze, the manager told Channel 4: “I thought they both played with the freedom.
“Ebere has got lovely movement to go past players, he’s got power. A couple of times, Cole was being too precise and if he got his shots away earlier maybe he could’ve got a couple.”
England picked up pace as the game went on, with Bosnia seeing barely any of the ball and failing to get a shot on target. Trent Alexander-Arnold joined Palmer on the scoresheet with a volley in the 85th minute.
Harry Kane bundled in England’s third as full-time approached, with Southgate’s team eventually taking a handsome win into their final Euro 2024 warm-up match, against Iceland on Friday.
After finding the net on his first Three Lions start, Palmer told Channel 4: “It’s a great feeling, my first goal for my country. When it went in, it was buzzing. Of course [Kane] would’ve taken it, it was just before he came on. Thankfully, I took it.”
And on whether he has done enough to make Southgate’s final 26-man squad for the Euros, Palmer said: “I hope so. Tonight wasn’t my best game, finding my feet on my first start but hopefully I’ve done enough.”
