Did Cole Palmer deserve England Men’s Player of the Year award? | OneFootball

Cole Palmer has been named as England Men’s Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season.

It’s been a fantastic 12 months for Palmer for club and country. The Chelsea midfielder made his senior England debut in November 2023 and has gone on to play nine times for the Three Lions, including at Euro 2024.

The England Men’s Player of the Year award is voted for by fans, with all players who had played 50% or more of senior fixtures between September 2023 and July 2024. Although he has only played 318 minutes, Palmer did just scrape into contention, playing in 52.9% of England’s games in the aforementioned time period.

Palmer finished ahead of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, who sat second and third respectively. Given Palmer’s lack of minutes, particularly at Euro 2024, this was a bit of a surprise win. And there have been discussions as to whether Bellingham and Saka were more deserving of the award.

Across the inclusion period for the award, Palmer was directly involved in three goals in his 318 minutes at an average of 0.85 per 90 minutes. Bellingham was directly involved in 0.63 goals per 90 and Saka 0.30. Of course, Euro 2024 will have been key in the minds of fans voting.

Bellingham started the tournament well, scoring the only goal in England’s opening win against Serbia — which was the only game they won in the group stage. The Real Madrid man also scored the dramatic equaliser against Slovakia in the last-16 to take the game to extra time.

Saka scored one goal at Euro 2024, a late equaliser against Switzerland in the quarter-finals, with England eventually winning on penalties. Palmer’s goal came in the final, equalising against Spain having come off the bench. Although this time there would be no England win.

Of course, per 90 minutes, Palmer has the better record. It’s the same for assists. Palmer set up Ollie Watkins for England’s winner against the Netherlands in the semi-finals. Bellingham set up Palmer in the final, both finishing the tournament on one assist.

Game state and opposition will certainly play its part in tournaments, especially when looking at stats per 90 minutes. Both Bellingham and Saka were starters, sometimes against defensive-minded teams. Palmer, meanwhile, was the man coming off the bench to make an impact against tired less.

Saka and Bellingham were two of the top four chance creators in the England squad at Euro 2024, creating eight and six respectively. Only Kieran Tripper (nine) created more than Saka, while Phil Foden joined Bellingham on six. Palmer created two chances, but it came at a more frequent rate per 90 minutes. Saka was pretty close, though, at 1.2 chances created per 90 to Palmer’s 1.3.

Palmer also won more fouls per 90 (2.5) than both Bellingham (2.2) and Saka (1.9), though the pair were the most-fouled players in the England squad. There were also metrics in which Palmer didn’t come out on top.

Bellingham completed more take-ons per 90 (2.23) than Saka (2), with Palmer not even close at 0.7. The Real Madrid man also finished top out of the trio for ball recoveries at 3.7 per 90, with Saka and Palmer level on 3.2. Saka was also level with Bellingham for touches in the opposition box per 90 at 4.6, while Palmer trailing on 3.8.

But fans often care more about the eye test, and with more time on the pitch, there was more time for Saka and Bellingham to come under scrutiny. Palmer was often seen as the saviour from the bench. There’s also the chance that the 2023-24 league season swayed fans’ votes, even though it shouldn’t have been taken into consideration at all.

While Bellingham started the 2023-24 La Liga campaign like a house on fire, he did tail off slightly towards the end of the season. Despite this, he still averaged 0.8 goals per 90 in La Liga, matching Palmer’s return in the Premier League. Of course, Palmer did score a lot of penalties. Saka fell slightly behind on 0.5 goals per 90.

Palmer did come out on top for assists per 90 at 0.4, just about beating Bellingham and Saka’s 0.3. But Saka was the most creative, creating 2.8 chances per 90 in the Premier League. He also made the most ball recoveries (4.8) and had the most touches in the opposition box (8.9). For both of those metrics, Bellingham came second and Palmer third.

Bellingham came out on top for take-ons completed (2) per 90 and fouls won (2.8), with Palmer finishing second in the former (1.8). Palmer’s fouls won average was significant lower at 0.9 per 90 to Bellingham’s 2.8 and Saka’s 2.2. But he is starting to get the Saka treatment this season.

Overall, you could argue giving the award to any of the three players — or even Phil Foden. But realistically, England fans should be happy to have such quality players in attack at one time. They now just need to work out how to fit them all into the team.