Paul Merson says that England does not get a chance to win the World Cup playing high-tempo Premier League football.
New England head coach Thomas Tuchel took the lead on his first match against Albania on Friday, when debutant Myles Lewis-Skell justified his selection with the opening goal and a man-of-the-match display.
Top scorer of all time Harry Kane completed a 2-0 win when the road to the World Cup of the next summer achieved a winning start that England looks to continue when Latvia, 140th in the world, went to Wembley on Monday.
Merson, however, thinks that England should try to implement new tactics to have the chance to lift the World Cup in 2026.
“Tuchel said he wants to play the Premier League way,” said Merson Soccer on Saturday. “He wants to print and play with a fast pace.
“The problem is that we play at a World Cup in a country where it gets hot. The humidity will be unbearable in some places they play.
“I would have gone the other way. He has seen England play enough times and he will know that we are not keeping the ball good enough.
“We have to start keeping the ball better and being patient.
“The Wembley -Mixte must also get a little more to the side,” he added.
“The fans may also have a slight reconsideration. They come to Wembley that action. They don't want to control and see a 1-0 victory. They get to see action how their teams play in the Premier League. That's why we love it so much because there can be a corner on the one hand and a shot 30 seconds later on the other side.
“But England must start changing the way they play. They must be patient and keep the ball.
“I have been there. The team beats the ball at the back and the crowd is going crazy. They want the ball forward and quickly, and then the players panic and give it away.
“We must be more patient. If we are not patient and we don't have the ball, we have no chance of the World Cup.
“We didn't keep the ball with the euros and in the end we were punished. We have to do that better.”
'Lewis-Skelly can continue to get 90 English caps'
Tuchel praised “amazing” history-making debutant Lewis-Skelly, where the left back was the youngest goal-oriented debutant ever of the nation ever at the age of 18 and 176 days.
Lewis-Skelly met a beautiful defense-splitting Jude Bellingham Pass with a smart finish to put England on the road, and Merson was full of praise for the performance of the Arsenal defender.
Merson said: “It is very difficult to explain what Myles-Lewis Skelly does at this age.”
“To play at the highest level at the age of 18 in Arsenal, where you play under heavy pressure every week, this boy has confidence. At Arsenal you have to win every week and he deals with that pressure.
“He is incredible. Don't forget, at the academy level he played midfield.
“The thing that made his goal was the run of the ball. He is willing to run without the ball. For an 18-year-old to do that at an international level, that is incredible.
It is not the finish, but when he sees the space to meet, when he sees the photo of Jude Bellingham who has the ball, ready to pass. Making the run, that's smart from Lewis-Skelly.
“It's great, TOPLA. He is a player you can see playing for England, 70, 80, 90 times.”
'Foden and Rashford will not get too many more opportunities'
Despite the victory over Albania, Tuchel has enough to think after a winning start, which meant that he wanted more, where the head coach called a variety of nodding that should iron.
The wing players of England were to those issues that Marcus Rashford had given, which made his first international performance since last March, and Phil Foden were not as “impactful” as the new coach wanted.
The latter is a constant mystery, given the talented 44 -cap Vooruit is rarely – as the player has admitted earlier – brought his Manchester City form to the international stage while stretching his run without a target involvement for England to 17 games.
Merson believes that both Foden and Rashford will not have too much longer to impress Tuchel.
He said: “With what Tuchel said about Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden, I don't think they will have too many more opportunities.
“They will probably play in the next game and he will think he has made a bit of an attempt, and he will want to see how they react.
“If they don't act against Latvia, he will tell you later. But it is not easy to play for England against teams that put 10 players behind the ball. You better play against France where you would be a better player.
“Everywhere where Tuchel has been, he has not been there very long. He goes inside and he is not worried about the disturbing of people.
“By the time everyone has had enough of him, he is gone.
“That is what England needs, but it will not be easy. I still think we will think the line what an incredible job Gareth Southgate has done with England.”
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