As the England squad was announced on Tuesday, it brought with it several interesting debates with Crystal Palace at the centre of many.
It’s a testament to the work Oliver Glasner has done over the past three months that Gareth Southgate picked four Eagles players in his squad for the Euros this summer.
No other club had more players picked than Crystal Palace did and it shows how sensational a team we currently have at Selhurst Park.
But as always, nothing is universal and with this being just the training squad, there are several debates regarding which players make the full squad and which are sent packing.
Now, Paul Merson has had his say on one comparison…
Merson admits he’d choose Eberechi Eze over James Maddison for England
Speaking on Sky Sports News in response to the England squad being announced, Merson weighed in on the Eberechi Eze or James Maddison debate.
“I am not surprised at the moment because when he (Maddison) is hot, he is hot. You put Eze down there. I would never put him down.
“He goes (to Germany). For me, out of him and Maddison, he goes to Germany.”
Merson then continued to explain his decision as he explained why Eze is the better player for him.
“Honestly, he is the X-factor, he is the X-factor. He can do something. Other teams won’t know a lot about him. I don’t know how you stop him. He drops his shoulder like that.”
For Merson to choose Eze over the £40m Spurs man Maddison says a lot about how remarkable Palace’s No. 10 has been recently.
READ MORE: Get to know Eberechi Eze, the versatile Crystal Palace and England star
Should Crystal Palace’s Eze be named in the full England squad?
Selfishly, things would be better for the Eagles if Eze weren’t to feature in the Euros considering his inclusion would probably mean the “unstoppable” attacker doesn’t return to Copers Cope until very late July or early August.
This however would be unfair on Eze as he truly deserves to be at the Euros this summer. This Premier League season, he’s scored 11 goals and made four assists which is a significant amount considering Palace only became good in April.
Like Merson put it so well, Eze is a player with the X-factor and this is a trait which is incredibly rare in football nowadays. While Eze wouldn’t expect to start with Phil Foden as a shoo-in, he offers something special off the bench which could be deciding through a tournament.
So the answer is absolutely Eze should be brought to Germany, in fact, if he isn’t it would be a highly controversial decision given how much more impactful he can be than Maddison.
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