Phil Foden destroyed following England performance: "Needs to step up"

There is no denying Phil Foden’s talent, his 19 goals and eight assists in Pep Guardiola’s title-winning Manchester City side, speaks of his quality, but with just four goals and eight assists in 35 England appearances, per Transfermarkt, shows he has never quite found his feet on the international stage, but why?

The Sun gave Foden a 5/10 rating for his performance in England’s 1-0 victory over Serbia in their Euro 2024 opener, describing Foden as, “Not at his sharpest.”

Due to Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham making themselves undroppable from their natural positions, Foden has been forced onto the left wing, a position he has played at times, but perhaps isn’t naturally suited for.

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Foden was also partnered on the left with Kieran Trippier, another high-quality footballer, but not a naturally left-sided player. Trippier’s right-footedness, combined with Foden’s natural desire to play with his left, made England’s left flank disjointed with no over, or underlaps available.

TalkSport’s Jamie O’Hara described Foden as, “He’s ineffective in an England shirt,” which whilst perhaps not inaccurate, seems reductive given he is the current Premier League Player of the Year. O’Hara did suggest Foden’s issues stem from being forced onto the left wing, much like Paul Scholes during the “Golden Generation”.

Foden’s role in Pep Guardiola’s system at City has developed over the years, with the England player gaining more freedom as he has developed. Given Harry Kane’s desire to drop deep and Jude Bellingham’s fluidity around the pitch, Foden was often occupying areas the other two were looking to play from.

As part of BBC Sport’s Euros coverage, Cesc Fabregas didn’t hold back in his criticism of Foden, suggesting the City man needs to, “step up”.

Fabregas continued, suggesting Foden needs to take some notes from Bellingham, “The way we see Jude getting the ball, imposing himself, he [Foden] owes us this class. He needs to do that himself. A player of this class, this level and this talent doesn’t even need to be told by the coach what to do.”

Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright was also critical of Foden on his podcast, Wrighty’s House. Wright said of Foden, “We can’t always blame the system. He needs to make it happen for himself and demand the ball.”

On paper, leaving out Foden for a lesser player seems unlikely, but given the brutal nature of tournament football, England, and Gareth Southgate, will need to find a solution for Foden soon, otherwise their reliance on Saka and Bellingham could be their undoing.

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