{"id":266738,"date":"2026-10-10T09:10:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T09:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/10\/i-dont-know-the-guy-xabi-alonso-hits-back-at-piers-morgan-after-comments-about-chelsea-star-cole-palmer\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T09:10:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T09:10:03","slug":"i-dont-know-the-guy-xabi-alonso-hits-back-at-piers-morgan-after-comments-about-chelsea-star-cole-palmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/10\/i-dont-know-the-guy-xabi-alonso-hits-back-at-piers-morgan-after-comments-about-chelsea-star-cole-palmer\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I don\u2019t know the guy&#8221; &#8211; Xabi Alonso hits back at Piers Morgan after comments about Chelsea star Cole Palmer\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5226845\" data-slug-id=\"2846963\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso responded to British broadcaster Piers Morgan calling out attacker Cole Palmer for missing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/england\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">England<\/a> games after Palmer made himself unavailable for the Three Lions&#8217; four UEFA Nations League games during the extended September-October international break.<\/p>\n<p>After being overlooked for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, Palmer was called up by Thomas Tuchel for the Nations League games, only for the attacker to pull out citing injury.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Morgan accused Palmer of being a &#8216;bottlejob,&#8217; but Alonso paid no credence to that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI don\u2019t know the comment, and I don\u2019t know the guy,\u201d the Spaniard said when asked about Morgan&#8217;s comments on Palmer (as per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2026\/oct\/09\/chelsea-xabi-alonso-cole-palmer-england-thomas-tuchel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">The Guardian<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-single-related article-related-recommend\">\n<a class=\"article-single-related-url\" data-variant=\"3\" data-drop-off-point=\"\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"article-related-image article-related-recommend-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Alonso said that Palmer had an issue ahead of the Blues&#8217; Premier League defeat to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/brentford\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Brentford<\/a> and needs meticulous management:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe most important thing for Cole is to be fully fit, that he enjoys his game, that he is feeling OK. Whenever he is not, like in the Brentford game, we could see that he was struggling. He\u2019s committed but he needs to be fully fit to play. We need him \u2013 the club and the national team.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cNow he\u2019s fine. He\u2019s been feeling better this week. We use the first two weeks for him to recover. It\u2019s a little bit from the pubalgia he had.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Morgan had said about Palmer on Football Uncensored (via <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/4633429\/cole-palmer-piers-morgan-rory-jennings-ben-white-england\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">talkSPORT<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI think he\u2019s a bottle job, Palmer. I think he\u2019s a bottle job. Talk about drinking the Kool-Aid. That\u2019s a player, to me, who is massively squandering his obviously brilliant ability. The fact that he is so apparently lacking in dedication and commitment to his country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI think any player who doesn\u2019t give 100 per cent to his country, which is clearly what Tuchel is saying about Palmer, you\u2019ve got to just think, what\u2019s wrong with them?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Palmer has scored four times for Chelsea this season.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>What&#8217;s next for Cole Palmer&#8217;s Chelsea?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sk-app-thumbnail\" alt=\"Brentford vs Chelsea FC - Premier League 2026-27 - Source: Getty\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-img\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1308\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg?w=190 190w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg?w=720 720w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg 1920w\" alt=\"Brentford vs Chelsea FC - Premier League 2026-27 - Source: Getty\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/10\/76d2a-17916223316830-1920.jpg?w=640\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,&lt;svg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201920%201308%22&gt;&lt;\/svg&gt;\"\/><figcaption>Brentford vs Chelsea FC &#8211; Premier League 2026-27 &#8211; Source: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/chelsea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Chelsea<\/a> have had a strong start to the 2026-27 season under Xabi Alonso, who arrived at the Stamford Bridge helm after stints at Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Real Madrid.<\/p>\n<p>Cole Palmer scored and assisted as the Blues kickstarted the Alonso era with a 3-2 Premier League win at Fulham in August. The Englishman was also on the scoresheet in the next game as the Blues overcame Brighton &amp; Hove Albion 4-3 at home.<\/p>\n<p>Either side of drawing blanks in the league defeats at Arsenal and Brentford, Palmer registered an assist as Alonso&#8217;s side drew 2-2 at home to promoted Hull City. The Blues next take on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/afc-bournemouth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">AFC Bournemouth<\/a> at home in the Premier League tonight (October 10).<\/p>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Bhargav<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/football\/news-i-don-t-know-guy-xabi-alonso-hits-back-piers-morgan-comments-chelsea-star-cole-palmer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso responded to British broadcaster Piers Morgan calling out attacker Cole Palmer for missing England games after Palmer made himself unavailable for the Three Lions&#8217; four UEFA Nations League games during the extended September-October international break. After being overlooked for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, Palmer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":266739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-266738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}