What Thomas Tuchel did to Cole Palmer speaks volumes as Chelsea star enters defining period

Cole Palmer faces a defining few days in terms of his World Cup chances with the Chelsea star hoping to impress England boss Thomas Tuchel against Uruguay and Japan

Sixty-five minutes - that is all in terms of Cole Palmer's involvement under Thomas Tuchel for England up until now. The 23-year-old has struggled with injury problems for the last 14 months, since Tuchel's appointment as Three Lions boss, and now faces a fight to get into this summer's World Cup squad.

Palmer has hardly been in the best form of his career for Chelsea this season - scoring 10 goals and providing three assists in 25 matches across all competitions. A complicated groin problem has seen Palmer battling through pain at times on the pitch for the Blues; he is, though, starting to play more regular minutes under Liam Rosenior.

In the four matches before the international break, all of which Chelsea lost, Palmer completed two full matches, plus 83 and 59-minute stints against Paris Saint-Germain. And that was all in the space of 10 days.

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While we're undoubtedly seeing more of Palmer in recent times, he has looked a shadow of his best version. The England international has scored just one goal in his last seven matches in all competitions but Tuchel will be hoping, somehow, to get the best of him during the current break in club football.

The England manager has barely had the chance to work with Palmer during his time in charge and this current international break will prove significant in getting to know the Chelsea man more personally, but also working out his role within the squad. There's a clip doing the rounds online of Tuchel creeping up on Palmer during a training session at St. George's Park and picking him up off the ground, almost like an excited kid being grateful that he finally gets to work with the Chelsea star once again.

Palmer faces stern competition for his space in the England team, with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Rogers and Phil Foden all hoping for a space in the World Cup squad. And they all play in a similar position to Palmer.

To do a little comparison, in terms of their roles for their respective clubs this season; Palmer has the joint-most goals (10), alongside Rogers and Foden, while Eze has nine and Bellingham has six. Palmer has only had 52, the same amount as Bellingham, which is fewer than Rogers (90), Foden (76) and Eze (76) over the course of the campaign.

Palmer has a 19.2% shot conversion rate, a higher rate than his England colleagues. In terms of assists, though, Palmer's three is the fewest out of the lot. His 26 chances created (including assists) is also less than Foden (65), Rogers (61), Bellingham (44) and Eze (34).

Tuchel has done things a bit differently this time in terms of his usage of players during the international break. The England boss is sending a group of players home after Friday night's friendly against Uruguay at Wembley. Despite Palmer's injury problems this season, he will stay for the duration as Tuchel looks to find out more about the Chelsea attacker given their lack of time together thus far.

In training this week, Tuchel has used Palmer, as well as Bellingham, in one of the free roles behind the striker. In recent times for Chelsea, Palmer has been used on the right-hand side, although he has been allowed to drift inwards to get involved while his team have possession. It will be interesting to see how Tuchel uses Palmer in Friday evening's friendly in terms of the minutes he plays, but more intriguingly the position the Chelsea man adopts.

Given Palmer's heavy involvement with the national side this week and the start of next, surely the former Manchester City man will be rested for Chelsea's FA Cup quarter-final tie at home against Port Vale next Saturday. The Blues might take the opportunity to rest a number of key men, especially those who represented their countries, when the League One side come to Stamford Bridge.

For Palmer, his focus needs to be on making the most of these next few days - in what is undoubtedly a defining period for the Chelsea star's World Cup hopes this summer. From the Blues' point of view, Rosenior will be hoping Palmer gains some confidence and momentum while with England ahead of the run-in after the break.