Paul Merson has spoken out about the England side’s refusal to experiment after suggesting young, English players like Loftus-Cheek should be a feature in the squad against opposition such as Malta.
Lotus-Cheek is away on his own international duty with England Under 21s alongside other Chelsea starlets Lewis Baker and Nathaniel Chalobah, as all three featured from the start in the Young Lions’ 1-0 win over Kazakhstan on Thursday, to help book their place at the Under-21 Euro championships in 2017.
However, if Arsenal legend but life-long Chelsea fan Paul Merson had his way, some of England’s brightest prospects in the impressive under-21 squad would be making the step up to the first-team squad this weekend, if only to experiment against lesser opposition.
Ahead of The Three Lions’ World Cup 2018 Qualification match against Malta, Merson told Sky Sports that against teams like theirs, England should be bold enough to try out new things.
Why isn’t Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the squad? It’s Malta, you can experiment.
It would have been a great chance for players such as Loftus-Cheek, who was named England’s and the tournament’s best player at the Toulon tournament back in the summer, and other key members of the Under-21 squad to showcase their talents and perhaps offer something new to England’s senior side.
Merson’s plea for more young and exciting stars in the England set-up comes at the same time as fellow Sky Sports pundit Matt Le Tissier’s claim that Rashford should be starting ahead of Three England’s captain Wayne Rooney.
By selecting a reasonably predictable squad with no real surprise inclusions, Gareth Southgate seems keen on keeping somewhat of a low profile as he takes to the dugout for the first time since his promotion, but some would have hoped that some of England’s best young hopeful could have made the step-up with him.
If Southgate, who gave Loftus-Cheek his Under-21 debut, keeps the job as England’s manager on a permanent basis, it will be interesting to see how much he experiments with his squad and how many of his Young Lion stars make the step-up, if any.
Until then though, we may have to put up with the same old safe squad selection from the England manager. Though if Southgate is serious about the job on a long-term basis, keeping the status-quo will score him no points; bold decisions on the other hand are more than welcome.
