Still no minutes for Cole Palmer as England held to draw by Denmark

No player made more direct goal contributions (i.e. goals+assists) in the Premier League this season than Cole Palmer, so you’d think that with a game on the line and England needing a goal, he would be at the top of the list of substitutes to come on and try to get that win.

But that’s evidently far too obvious for manager Gareth Southgate, who instead brought on Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowen, and Eberechi Eze tonight, using just four of his five allotted subs (Conor Gallagher was the fourth, on earlier after yet another useless turn from Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield). Talented players in their own right — and Watkins was also up there with Palmer at the top of the Premier League charts — but Southgate giving Palmer a grand total of zero minutes through the first two games of Euro 2024 is becoming more and more baffling.

Harry Kane got England on the board early, finding a loose ball in the area to slot home, before Morten Hjulmand’s precise strike from range for his first international goal, well out of range of Jordan Pickford’s Kepa-arms, got Denmark level before half.

England are not in danger of not reaching the knockout rounds — especially with the other game in the group, between Slovenia and Serbia also ending a 1-1 draw, but their performances through the first two games have been far from impressive.