“I haven’t seen a struggling Premier League team do it in the last 10 years” - Paul Merson on ‘mind-blowing’ England problem from Euro 2024 final

Former Arsenal attacker Paul Merson has lashed out at England's route one tactics in the UEFA EURO 2024 final against Spain on Sunday (July 14). Gareth Southgate's side slumped to a 2-1 defeat, as La Roja lifted a record fourth European Championship title.

Merson singled out England's reluctance to play out from defense as the main reason for their inability to create enough goalscoring chances. The 56-year-old claimed that the constant 'lumping' of the ball by shotstopper Jordan Pickford was just an under-utilization of world-class ball-playing defenders like John Stones.

The stats backed Merson's comments, with England only completing 294 passes (77% completion), just over half of Spain's 545 (89% completion). Speaking to presenter Jeff Stelling in the latest episode on the Football's Greatest YouTube channel, Merson said:

“How many times did we lump the ball [up the pitch] in the final? Come on, Pickford’s better than that. We’re playing with one of the best ball-playing centre halves in the world of football in John Stones.

“Surely not that many times [Pickford was told to keep kicking the ball up the field rather than allowing defenders to play it out from the back]. I haven’t seen a struggling Premier League team do it that many times in the last 10 years. I watch a lot of football, every Saturday. I watch relegation teams, sides that are struggling like a Burnley even they didn’t kick the ball up field like we did. It was mind-blowing," Merson concluded.

The loss in the final was the last straw for Southgate, who announced his decision to step down from his position two days after the game (July 16).

"I like that" - Paul Merson backs Chelsea legend Frank Lampard to take over as England manager

Paul Merson backed Chelsea icon Frank Lampard to take over as the England manager after Gareth Southgate announced his decision to step down from the position.

Lampard has had a topsy-turvy managerial career so far. He took Derby County to the EFL Championship play-off final in his first ever senior managerial stint. However, his spells at Chelsea and Everton were severely under-par, which saw him get sacked from both roles.

Despite the setbacks, Merson has named Lampard as a deserving candidate to lead the English national team. In conversation with presenter Jeff Stelling on the Football's Greatest YouTube channel, the 56-year-old said:

"Yeah, I like Frank (Lampard). I like the Frank situation. The big advantage Gareth (Southgate) had, he played at tournaments. He lived tournaments and international football [as a player]. I think it's a big advantage. Frank's been at tournaments and been deep in tournaments. Been to tournaments as really fancied and failed miserably. Big experience that is. That's a good shout. I like that shout… I didn't think of that one, but I like that."