England delivered another disjointed display in their stalemate against Slovenia on Tuesday evening but finished top of Group C with five points and will now play either the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine or Belgium in their last-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen at 5pm on Sunday.
Palmer, meanwhile, made was handed his first appearance of the tournament as he came off the bench to replace Bukayo Saka in the 71st minute, and Chelsea’s talisman quickly became England’s most likely source of breaking the deadlock against a well-organised Slovenia side.
Tottenham boss Postecoglou praised Palmer for his display after the game and claimed Chelsea and England have a ‘rare’ player on their hands.
When asked what he loves most about Palmer after England’s draw, Postecoglou told ITV: ‘Every time he’s got the ball he’s looking to eliminate opposition, whether that’s individual players or lines of the opposition.
‘Every one of his incursions takes somebody out of the game.
‘When you have a player like that, irrespective of how the opposition set up in defensive stance, he will always find that gap, he will always find those spaces.
‘His first thought is, ‘how can I eliminate one of the opposition or a line of the opposition’. Those kind of players are rare.
‘I said before the game, I know they spoke about protecting young players, I don’t think they need protection, I just think they need to be thrown out there to play.’
WHO ENGLAND COULD PLAY IN THE LAST-16?
Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine or Belgium
England’s last-16 tie will take place in Gelsenkirchen at 5pm on Sunday.
Asked if Southgate had swallowed his pride by replacing Conor Gallagher with Mainoo at half time against Slovenia, Postecoglou replied: ‘I don’t know if it’s swallowing your pride because Gareth said he actually felt it did sort of work in the function he wanted – he wanted a more aggressive press and it was a logical decision to put Conor in there.
‘But then he said he wanted more impetus with the ball so then Kobbie becomes a much more viable option.
‘I don’t think it’s about that, I think it’s about having a real clarity of thought as to what you’re trying to build towards.
‘I think the interesting thing he [Southgate] said there, and it’s always a tough one with young players because your nature as a coach is to try and ease them into things.
‘But every now and then there’s a young player that comes along and they’re just bashing the door down and you’ve just go to let them through and let them go, because not all young players are going to be able to take that step.
‘I’m sure 12 months ago that Mainoo, Wharton and Cole Palmer were not in Gareth Southgate’s top 40 players for this Euros – they could end up being the key players.’
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