Cole Palmer is poised to play in his first major international tournament with England in Euro 2024. The Chelsea star was one of the most prolific English players in the 2023/24 Premier League. He scored 22 goals and provided 11 assists for the Blue, ousting almost every single one of his fellow English players in Europe’s top-5 leagues.
Palmer’s impressive form means that he’s a genuine contender to heavily feature in the Three Lions’ matches in Euro 2024. He probably faces direct competition from Bukayo Saka for that natural right-wing role and will basically need to outperform the Arsenal star in the Euros to get more game-time than him.
There is a lot of expectation from Palmer from Chelsea fans after he left them mesmerized with his heroics last season. The 22-year-old also coined his own trademark ‘cold’ celebration, where he put his hands on his shoulders to ‘warm himself up’ against the cold. While Palmer might look super cool doing the celebration in matches, he might not have the same swagger in real life.
That has been proven in the latest batch of pictures released of the Chelsea star in the official England photo shoots. Now, such photo shoots are mandatory before major tournaments as the social media team of every national side needs stock photos of their players posing in different ways – probably for lineup graphics or making graphics to put out when the said-player scores a goal or does something important.
But it appears that the England PR team completely messed up Palmer’s photo shoot up to make him look extremely ridiculous and awkward. In one of the pictures, Cole is just made to stand straight without any real expression on his face, which makes him look like a child waiting for their candy. He also does his ‘Cold’ celebration stance, but again the lack of emotion in the face makes the picture come off as extremely dull.
The England PR team tried to get some emotions out of the Chelsea star by having him hands in fists and ‘cheer’ for a picture, but even that comes off as something quite uninspired. Palmer might look extremely cool whenever doing his trademark celebrations and moves on the pitch, but a lot of fans believe he’s come off someone with the lack of any aura in these pictures. There is also a genuine belief that the photographer responsible for these photo shoots messed up in making him look so unemotional.
The fans of Chelsea’s rivals are having a real field day with these pictures, mocking Palmer for lacking the personality of a top-level footballer. He’s even being compared with some amateur YouTuber’s dressing up for a Soccer Aid match with these pictures. Some fans are even mocking him to look extremely similar to a character in the British TV show ‘The Inbetweeners’ – which revolves a couple of awkward and silly young men.
However, a lot of Chelsea fans are furious over how their player is being attacked just on the basis of his appearance. Some have accused him of being body-shamed on the basis of these pictures and a footballer shouldn’t really be judged on the basis of how attractive they are. With that being said, Palmer isn’t bothered by what fans think of his looks.
He’s totally focused on making his football do the talking for him in Euro 2024. The 22-year-old needs to tap into his clutch nature and recreate his club-level form for England to give the Three Lions that added push needed for them to finally bring the European Championship home this summer.