Cole Palmer warming up in Naples. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)

Commentator not happy with Cole Palmer’s England involvement last night

Originally posted on Chelsea News | By Simon Phillips | Last updated Apr 1, 2026 1:30 AM ET

Commentator Lee Dixon was unhappy with Cole Palmer’s involvement for England against Japan last night.

There was one particular moment that happened to lead to the only goal of the game, a goal that saw Japan beat England for the first time in their existence and also saw England get beaten by an Asian team for the first time ever, that Dixon was annoyed about.

The former Arsenal full back was on commentary duty for the game, and he is known to not pull any punches when he is speaking on games.

Palmer lost the ball further forward, but there was enough bodies behind him to deal with the danger. But it was the fact that Palmer did not chase back that got on Dixon’s nerves.

Dixon on Palmer

Speaking during the game in quotes picked up on X, Dixon said:

“Cole Palmer is going to lose the ball because he takes chances… not enough tonight.

“But when he loses it in midfield, he’s got another job and that’s the chase back. He gets level with Mitoma, more or less, and then just puts the brakes on and lets Mitoma run away from him into the space.”

Chelsea have already made two new signings who are arriving in the summer, one winger and one striker. Although it’s being debated that they aren’t quite the ‘Estevao level’ of signings this week.

It’s also being claimed that Chelsea will now look to sign more ‘ready-made’ stars and are even looking to tweak their transfer model a bit in the wake of the criticism received from their own player, Marc Cucurella, earlier this week.

This article first appeared on Chelsea News and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: