Cole Palmer's omission from England's Euro 2024 1-0 win over Serbia has gone down badly with Cesc Fabregas.
The Chelsea playmaker was an unused substitute in Gelsenkirchen as Gareth Southgate's side grinded out a tense tournament-opener in Group C. The Three Lions are top of the pool after their opening match but struggled to keep control after Jude Bellingham's early opener.
Fabregas, 37, was a guest during the BBC's coverage of the clash and passed judgement over Southgate's tactics. Namely, the Spaniard focused on the midfield and was surprised to see Palmer – who was named Premier League Young Player of the Season last term – fail to even make his way off the bench.
"If you send the message in putting in a defensive midfielder or an extra defender to cover the result, you will as a player feel it," said the guest pundit. "Mentally you start going back, dropping more. But instead if you put an offensive player, Palmer let’s say, up the pitch and controlling the ball in the final third, I think the players get so much more comfortable."
Southgate used only three of his five permitted substitutes on Sunday, with Conor Gallagher the first to join the fray as a replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 69th minute. Jarrod Bowen and Kobbie Mainoo then came on for Bukayo Saka and Bellingham, respectively.
Fabregas interpreted those changes as too defensively minded, and it showed in the game's momentum. England had five shots at goal in all against Serbia, but only one of those came in the final 20 minutes, while four of the opposition's six attempts materialised in that same span.
Fabregas also picked out Manchester City marvel Phil Foden for not doing enough on the night, adding: "It's about do you want it enough to make a difference and hold the ball for your team? Do you want to make things happen? Do you enjoy to get the ball under pressure?
"They allowed them to have the ball when they were deep once in the second half, straight away, when they started to get pressed a little bit more, we started to see Foden hitting the ball without looking 40 yards."
He then compared the Premier League Player of the Season with past Barcelona team-mates, calling on Foden to do more for his country. "You'll never see Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, the top, top players in the last 15, 20, years, do that," Fabregas continued. "You need to take this responsibility to grow.
"I think that the second half was a little bit underwhelming. I would say that is the right word. And I think players like Foden, they need to step up. This is the time for them to go into big tournaments with their country behind them."
Southgate & Co have three days to address any shortcomings before a crunch Group C clash against Denmark on Thursday. The Danes gave England some reprieve by drawing against lower-ranked Slovenia in their opening game, but defeat for the Three Lions could blow the group wide open.
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