England are based at Tottenham’s training complex in London this week, and on Friday the building was the scene of a flurry of media activity. There were questions about Saturday night’s opponents Spain, questions about English identity, questions about how players get over the heartache of losing to Argentina. But the most emotive was not really about football at all: where is Cole Palmer ?

The answer was in the Caribbean, with a personal rehab coach to work on his fitness. Palmer’s decision to pull out of this three-week, four-game England camp was put down to “load management” after a campaign disrupted by injury last season. It clearly irked England manager Thomas Tuchel .

“He misses too many opportunities,” said Tuchel. “I don’t blame him for it. It is just a fact. He misses way too many camps with injuries. I only want to rely on what I witness and see within my team, and for that you have to be in camp.”

While Tuchel was delivering some home truths downstairs in Tottenham’s glass-fronted centre, Morgan Rogers was upstairs defending his close friend and Chelsea teammate. “Unfortunately he couldn’t be here, but I think he’s got to focus on his body after what he went through last year,” Rogers told a huddle of journalists. “He needs to be in a good physical state and that obviously comes first as players. You want to be in the best fighting-fit shape if you can.”

Does Rogers miss his best mate in football, the player he roomed with for so many years playing together in England’s youth teams, and now his partner in crime at Stamford Bridge?

“Nah, I'm all right having the break from him, to be honest,” Rogers smiled. “Being around him 24/7 can be quite tough, so having the break’s quite nice. But of course, I love playing with Cole. I love being around him … I’m disappointed he’s not here, obviously, from a selfish point of view. But I know it’ll do him the greater good moving forward, that we can get the best version of him throughout the whole season and in an England shirt moving forward.

“I think as a nation you want Cole Palmer and players like that in an English shirt, but it’s not always possible with the games and what we’ve got coming up. You have to manage yourself, especially after what he went through last year, he doesn’t want to go through that again. So he’s made a decision for himself to look after his body.”

The scrutiny is a little unfair on Palmer, given Declan Rice pulled out on similar grounds while Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford also turned down call-ups citing minor fitness issues. At the same time, it is hard to imagine Palmer would have dropped out had Chelsea been playing a Premier League game this weekend.