Tuchel has left Palmer out twice. Nobody has asked why.
Cole Palmer, who scored 25 goals and registered 15 assists for Chelsea last season, has been omitted from Thomas Tuchel's England squad for Nations League fixtures against Croatia and Spain — the second consecutive snub under the German manager. Jobe Bellingham's call-up generated the headlines. Palmer's absence generated the questions. The coverage named the decision but not the reasoning, and Tuchel has not offered any.
Cole Palmer left out of England squad for Nations League; Jobe Bellingham called up
2 sources · hover a dot to see coverage
What happened
England manager Thomas Tuchel named his squad for UEFA Nations League fixtures against Croatia and Spain. Cole Palmer, Chelsea's standout forward and one of the Premier League's most productive attacking players over the past two seasons, was left out. Jobe Bellingham — younger brother of Jude Bellingham — received his call-up, giving the Bellingham family two England internationals. Palmer was also omitted from Tuchel's previous squad selection. Tuchel has not given a detailed public explanation for Palmer's continued exclusion. The Spain squad named for the same fixtures includes two Real Madrid players and five from Barcelona. Two outlets covered the England side of the story; the framing split almost entirely between the Bellingham angle and the Palmer snub angle, with the underlying question — why Palmer, specifically — left unanswered in both.
Two headlines, same facts, opposite emphasis
Yahoo Sports ran two separate pieces on the same squad announcement. The first led with Palmer's omission as a 'snub' and used the word 'again,' signaling a pattern. The second was a straight news report: 'Cole Palmer left out of England squad for Nations League, Jobe Bellingham called up.' Same event, same facts. One treats Tuchel's decision as requiring explanation; the other treats it as routine selection news. Neither piece contains a quote from Tuchel explaining the omission, and neither reports that one was sought.
What one side told you that the other didn't
Tuchel has not explained the Palmer exclusion. No outlet pressed him.
Both pieces name the omission. Neither contains a Tuchel quote explaining it, nor a note that his reasoning was unavailable or declined. For a decision that has now happened twice — and that concerns one of England's most statistically productive forwards — the absence of an explanation is the story. Readers know Palmer is out. They do not know why, and the coverage has not flagged that gap as a gap.
The Bellingham call-up got the headline. Palmer's record didn't.
The 'snub' framing in the Yahoo Sports tab-headline treats the Palmer omission as drama without grounding it in his numbers. Palmer's output for Chelsea last season — among the highest in the Premier League — appears in neither piece as context for why the exclusion is notable. Jobe Bellingham's family connection to Jude generated more column space than the question of what Palmer would need to do to earn a recall.
What to watch
Tuchel will face the media ahead of the Croatia fixture. If he is asked directly about Palmer and declines to answer or gives a non-answer, watch whether UK sports outlets treat that non-answer as a story in itself or absorb it into match preview coverage. A third consecutive omission after the Nations League window would make the exclusion a defined policy, not a selection call.
See how outlets across the political spectrum framed this differently — and what each side left out.