PAUL MERSON OFFERS THEORY WHY GARETH SOUTHGATE LEFT JACK GREALISH OUT OF ENGLAND SQUAD
Paul Merson believes he knows why Jack Grealish was left out of the England squad for Euro 2024 - and has suggested it had nothing to do with his form for Manchester City.
Grealish was one of the high-profile names who was surprisingly left out of the 26-man group, with Gareth Southgate making several bold calls. The Man City winger had been a mainstay for England but made just 20 league appearances this term, costing Grealish his place in the Three Lions squad.
Instead, Southgate opted to take more in-form forwards to Germany, bringing on Eberechi Eze and Jarrod Bowen in England’s dismal display against Denmark. However, both Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon and Chelsea ’s Cole Palmer are still yet to feature and Merson is convinced that Grealish would react differently to Southgate’s decisions.
“That’s why [Gordon and Palmer are] there and Jack Grealish is not there,” Merson told his Football’s Greatest podcast. “Because Jack would be, I imagine Jack would be going mad now.
“I can’t imagine Gordon and Palmer saying anything. I just imagine them sitting there, thinking to themselves, ‘Well, maybe I should be getting on.’ I don't see them saying anything to him. I can see a Jack Grealish going to Gareth and going, ‘Why am I not playing?’”
Merson has questioned Southgate’s tactics after replacing England’s front three with Eze, Bowen, and Ollie Watkins against Denmark. The Sky Sports pundit was left baffled by how the Three Lions struggled to get their new frontline on the ball and suggested that Bowen is not a match-winner, though his 16 league goals for West Ham would seemingly disagree.
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However, Merson felt that Watkins showed promising signs off the bench. The ex-England international has called for Southgate to shift to a strike partnership against Slovenia on Tuesday in an attempt to kick-start their Euros campaign and regain momentum.
“He brings on Eze who is one of our most gifted players to do a job,” Merson continued. “He’s running back. He puts Bowen on the other side. Bowen’s alright if you want to keep a lead, if we’re winning like we were last week. We’re 1-0 up, he’ll do what it says on the tin. He’ll get up and down, he’ll block crosses, get crosses in but you don’t put him on to go and win a game, in my opinion.
“There’s horses for courses. You’ve got to put Palmer on. He scored 20 goals this season. You know, he can play with that bit of flair. Eze gets on, he doesn’t touch the ball, hardly.”
“There’s no plan,” he added. “I would play Watkins but I’d have to keep Kane in the team, I’d have to find a way. You’ve got to keep world-class players on the football pitch.”
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2024-06-24T08:37:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd