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For all Paul Merson's well-documented off-field difficulties, his class as a player was never in doubt to those who played with him, managed him or watched him. His England debut in 1991, while still an insolently effective goalscorer and creator with Arsenal, came in a 1-0 defeat to Germany in a friendly, with Merson getting a resounding welcome from the Wembley crowd as he replaced Trevor Steven in the second half. It was still unclear at this stage, thanks to the way he operated for Arsenal, whether Paul was best off as a striker or as a marauding innovator of chances from the midfield. Graham Taylor seemed unclear and, although Merson and Arsenal continued to look good for each other, he wasn't recalled until March 1992 when Taylor decided to see if he was the player capable of filling Paul Gascoigne's mighty boots. Merson looked good in his first full appearance as England drew 2-2 in Czechoslovakia, scoring England's first goal in the process and giving Taylor food for thought as the injured Gascoigne's resourcefulness continued to be sorely absent with the 1992 European Championships in Sweden looming. Merson won three more caps from the next four games (the photo above is during the 2-1 win in Finland) and was handed a place in Taylor's squad entirely on merit, as although injuries had torn Taylor's defensive plans to pieces, he had a whole complement of midfield players to choose from with Gascoigne's obvious exception.
Taylor erred on the side of caution and decided to utilise Merson wide on the left while filling the centre of the midfield merely with stamina and spoiling. The game ended 0-0 and was as catatonically dull as the scoreline suggested, with Paul not given enough sniffs of the ball to cause any damage. Taylor dropped him for the next game against France, preferring the more underwhelming Andy Sinton, and that also ended goalless. The must-win final game against the hosts saw Merson given a late run as a sub as England chased a 2-1 deficit but he didn't have an effect and the tournament ended in huge disappointment. Paul was there or thereabouts for the rest of Taylor's gruesome reign in the job, but even without Gascoigne could not shirk Taylor's belief that industriousness in the centre of midfield was more worthy at international level than creativity, a problem which many of Merson's naturally gifted predecessors also endured.
That said, it was rarely the case that the media strove for Paul to be included frequently in the team, as everyone simply wanted Gascoigne back, a wish which was granted at the end of 1992, giving Merson a further headache. Paul came on as a substitute in two of England's drawn qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup - for Ian Wright in the 1-1 draw with Norway and for Gascoigne in the 2-2 draw with Holland, both at Wembley - but was mainly given a shirt when the game was a friendly. Gascoigne was injured again by the time the all-or-nothing qualifier in Rotterdam came round in 1993 and Merson got his big chance, but little could allow for the refereeing decision which put England behind and ultimately led to their downfall and that of Taylor. (Matthew Rudd)
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