Spain worldwide Marc Cucurella has revealed the similarities between Chelsea teammate Cole Palmer and compatriot Lamine Yamal forward of Sunday’s Euro 2024 ultimate in opposition to England.
After having fun with an exquisite debut season for the Blues, Palmer was included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the event in Germany however has been restricted to 126 minutes of recreation time, all coming as an alternative.
Nevertheless, he made a significant contribution within the semi-final victory over the Netherlands, offering the help for Ollie Watkins’ dramatic winner.
Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal is one among Spain’s greatest threats, having loved an exquisite run of kind through the competitors to date.
Requested by The Athletic if there was one England participant he struggles to defend in opposition to, Cucurella backed membership teammate Palmer and named some similarities between him and Yamal.
He mentioned: “He has not performed lots at Euro 2024, however it needs to be Cole Palmer. His soccer mind works so rapidly, he’s all the time a step forward of the remainder. His decision-making is sort of all the time wonderful, and that form of intelligence is essentially the most troublesome factor to defend in opposition to, you simply cannot predict what he’ll do subsequent. I’ve suffered lots in coaching.
“He jogs my memory plenty of Lamine Yamal. Similar type of participant. He’s a man who doesn’t care an excessive amount of about something. They do not take life or themselves too severely. In the event you bumped into Palmer within the streets, you’ll by no means inform he’s a footballer. However then he performs and…oof.
“He arrived at a troublesome time for Chelsea, when the crew was struggling, and he made an affect from the beginning. That helped him lots to continue to grow and getting extra assured. In the event you handle to get these sorts of gamers in a state of affairs of confidence, they make the distinction. I am so completely satisfied and hope he carries on like this…however after this weekend!
“He’s a particular character. He’s so critical. When individuals see him, it is not like he’s immediately likeable. It is troublesome to elucidate, however when any teammate sees me they immediately know I’m up for a joke and that we will interact in that method. However he’s all the time so critical.
“Nonetheless, we bought alongside properly, actually rapidly, because the first coaching periods. We had been doing mini-matches in coaching, five-a-side, and the coaches put us collectively in some. From there, we clicked. Every time we had been on the identical crew, we’d by no means lose. We had this joke of being the successful crew and that is how our good bond began.”
Cucurella has loved a renaissance with Spain at Euro 2024 after beforehand being lambasted for errant shows at Stamford Bridge and can begin at left-back in Berlin.
READ THE LATEST EURO 2024 NEWS, PREVIEWS & PLAYER RATINGS
