Originally Posted by
lardy
He'd played a lot more than Merson in the world cup qualifiers. Merson only came off the bench once in 98, and that is what gazza could have done. Mersons spot is the only one gazza could have had, really. He wouldn't have been a starter.
Mentally, he was in a bad place with the booze, but then so was Merson. Perhaps Merson wasn't as bad, or perhaps he was just able to function a lot better.
I'm not saying gazza should have gone. He might have gone totally mad there. Just that with hoddle's history, he could have made space for a natural, albeit fading, talent.