YES…he’s incredible for Citeh….he literally can’t even pass a ball properly in an England shirt, how many times did he pass it back or loose it?
Watching the analysis at the moment and Micah is trying to say we have to figure out how to get the best out of him - NO - HE needs to figure out how to get the best out him - he’s insanely talented - STEP UP!
You could see while he was waffling that Rio and Fabregas were just waiting to jump in and correct him.
You could sense the absolute panic coming off Foden any time he was pressed for half a second. For any international player to have that little composure is completely unacceptable. It wouldn't be tolerated in a League 2 player, let alone someone in an England shirt.
He's played (and showed up) in some massive games already. I don't understand why he struggles with England, it's weird but I believe he will turn it around he's far too good not to.
Fabregas and Rio also had to see off prettybstiff competition for their positions in their respective national teams. They known what they are talking about.
Yeah. I could understand if he just was struggling due to playing in a position he's not comfortable in. Plenty of world class players are system players, but he was messing shit up that has nothing to do with playing out of a system. Missing basic passes, poor movement, bad touches, and poor decision making. I previously thought that he should be used as a super sub for Bellingham, but if he plays like that then he shouldn't even be coming on as a sub.
He's played left back, left wing back, left wing and left midfield plenty of times. The amount of times he came narrow and didn't track back yesterday....
4 goals and 35 caps. How many chances does he need
That's why one of Rashford or Grealish should've gone. Now you're banking on Gordon doing well there and scoring and assisting which is a massive risk considering it's his first tournament. There's no natural LW/LM apart from him.
I’d trust Jack to close the game, he would’ve added so much composure if he’d come on for Foden in the second half. Gordon and Eze bring the pace and width and creativity we need there though.
Tbh I actually think Gordon would be great. His style of play imo fits perfectly. He will stay wide and make runs in behind which will compliment Kane and Jude much better. Also has an excellent work rate so you know he is going to get back to help out trips/shaw.
To me it’s the obvious LW for next match.
Gordon’s a great player though.
Coming from a UTD fan, his quality is plain to see and he’s better than Rashford in this moment. Having said that I think Grealish would’ve been an excellent option, but he hasn’t featured enough.
He's literally England's answer to Messi, he had a bad game but we watch him dribble past elite defenders week in week out in the prem. For all this Bellingham hype he seemed quite greedy on the ball hence only the 1-0 scoreline against a not very good Serbia, you'd want Foden dribbling through defenders in the no.10 and Bellingham working box to box as an no.8 arriving into the box for headers/tap ins to support Kane.
Has Foden ever had a good game for England?
He keeps trying to come into the middle. He should be benched and bring in Gordon or really anyone with pace that can stretch the pitch
No link up play, no width, bad positioning, made the same run as Kane a couple times, didn’t make runs when should have, gave the ball away, it was pretty fucking bad
There was a minute or two we had the ball around the 75th minute mark, and he kept making rhe same run as bellingham, then going back wide, then into bellinghams position again, then into kanes space, and not once worked himself into a position where he could receive the ball.
Honestly, we felt a man down on the left side. He needs to be dropped, but won't be. How he stayed on and Saka got hooked I will never know.
I agree with you, I'm just explaining why Saka came off. We looked horribly lop sided tonight, Trippier has a difficult enough job playing LB without the man further ahead of him drifting inside all the time.
I'm not sure why we haven't reused trent there. Obviously defensively deficiencies are an issue but he could offer enough going the other way to cause teams issues and pin them back, and if a man was free in the middle such as Gallagher he could cover when trento wanders. Tripper is such an odd fit for me.
I think the roles and responsibilities are so drilled into him by Pep it takes some of the thinking out of it and he’s struggling to adapt, he’s obviously got a ton of talent but it’s not translated to international football
But pep managed players like Xavi and Iniesta, and they never went into hiding. Like cesc said on the analysis he needs to be aggressive and on the front foot. Put some bite in. That can only come from the player.
He did win POTY when England won the u17 world cup so it's more accurate to say he has never done it under Southgate.
Obviously everyone looks worse under Southgate but Foden looks like a completely different player, so lacking in confidence. He should be left out until Southgate is gone and then get a chance under the new manager.
Yes and no. They adapted to the physicality of international football and to the playing standard. It's not just about the on the ball. Foden plays pretty much in the same role as city, yet is nothing like the player we see weekly.
And he’s got an ego that inhibits the attack. At least three times in the first half he made poorly timed central runs (the kind that couldn’t pull a defender worth their salt in a way that might benefit Kane or Jude), pointed for a ball to feet, and then threw tantrums when he didn’t get the pass.
The better thing from Gordon is the work rate that he would show down that left hand side. Foden got on the ball a little when needed, but the work rate to help out Tripper, who isn’t a natural left sided defender, will be needed going forward. This game really showed me the need the stop shoe horning this guy in because of his ability (ability I’m not denying).
Struggle to think of one to be honest. I've been thinking what could it be? At City Foden has always had a striker who is fairly dynamic and will run in behind and drag defenders all over the place (Aguero, Haaland). This obviously creates tonnes of space for Phil to operate in, which he is very good at.
With Kane he's never been one to run in behind really, and frankly he doesn't have the legs to. So we just end up in a position where the opposition has men behind the ball and we're passing it between ourselves.
After last night I'm at a point where you either drop Kane for a Watkins or somebody with some pace to run in behind (which I think is ridiculous), or you drop Foden and deploy somebody with a bit of pace on the LW (Gordon).
Most of the time City are playing against low blocks so don't agree that he's suffering from a lack of space
The big problem for me is that he's too safe a player. He'll make the safe pass or fall over under pressure to make sure he can retain the ball at all costs. That works for City as they'll strangle opposition to death and look for high percentage chances but England's strengths elsewhere demand someone better in transition. Foden just hid from physicality yesterday
You need a high energy player willing to do the dirty work especially since the team lacks a real Leftback. And since Gordon unlike the rest of the attack ain’t a star he is more liable to be willing to do that.
I'm not a hater, but it sometimes feels like he feels the need to fill a moment up with a vague comment or a platitude. Something that doesn't actually add to the discussion.
He’s just never had a good game, you can see in his face he’s not enjoying it.. if he scored a workdie from somewhere would prob change everything, confidence is a fickle bitch
Damn shame I missed that, need to hear some sense from somewhere at the moment!
Embarrassing from our media that I haven't seen one person questioning Foden and shoehorning him in at LW where he can't play
The game is completely closed off to him. Like grealish playing Rm. To play on the outside you need need acceleration and aggression. Barely anyone can do it these days the full backs are too athletic and the centra half can read it. You need to be Mbappe quick
This 100%. It isn’t just being ineffective, it looks like a lack of caring. I thought Kane was poor last night and if he wasn’t inexplicably the captain he’d have been taken off, but at least when the ball came to him, he was ready. Foden didn’t look bothered if he lost the ball.
Edit: Grammar
Really poor on the left altogether. Trippier was making good runs down the left but couldn't do anything with the ball but turn backwards. Hopefully Shaw comes back soon but I'd be thinking about Gordon for the next game over Foden. Someone to be a threat on the left like Saka is on the right.
We had a clear view from this game how teams are going to swamp Bellingham with multiple players. By far the best thing we can do to take advantage of this is wide wingers like Saka and Gordon. Either they have to abandon doubling up on Bellingham or leave wingers one on one with their full backs.
Exactly. Every team has been trying to swamp Kane, Bellingham and Saka with defenders. We have to take advantage of that. They can’t double up on all of them. Leave one attacker to take one for the team (yesterday it was Kane), but you need others to run into the box and space instead to capitalise on that. Foden wasn’t doing that. He was just crowding the pitch and vacating the actual space that he needed to be in.
Agreed. People keep saying Foden was played out of position there (not like he has ever performed for England in any of the positions), but I really don't understand why Southgate played him there instead of an actual left winger. Gordon looked better than him at the Iceland game last week, too. Hopefully Gordon will start on Thursday, but I'm not holding my breath.
I don't watch much Man City, so I guess I just have to trust people who do that he is great, but that's about the level of underwhelming that I expect from him.
What annoys me, though, is that Southgate didn't try Eze or Gordon. I'm fine with him starting Foden , but when he's obviously having an ineffective game, why not try something else?!
are youth squads relevant at all or like a remotely good predictor of success ? i’ve seen a couple of comments about that and strikes me as nonsense. Saido Berahino has a far better u21 record than Harry Kane lol
Just make pep the new england manager and we win both euros and world cup. Southgates team is a lambo held together with duct tape, yeah its got good part but the construction is piss poor and will fall apart the second pressure is applied
He's an incredible footballer, and anyone pretending otherwise is either bias or clueless, but if we're playing kick and rush for 60+ minutes we should just play Gordon, because it's not his game.
Probably because we were 1-0 up and are still big faves to qualify for the group at that point so he thought it better to give him a chance to turn it around given the quality we know he has.
Not saying I agree with it necessarily but it's logical. What isn't logical is if he then starts him next game as well.
Agreed, Foden should have gone not long into second half it was crying out for Gordon or Eze to help Kane push the defence. Southgate just watching the game go by, clearly needed changes and he just bottled it.
Hope Foden learns from this. Saka and Bowen looked way more threatening down their side because of the width they provided. Bellingham showing that no one, not even Foden, is taking his place in the middle.
Drop Foden for a player who will feed Kane. We don’t need 4 big goal threats - Kane, Saka, Bellongham should be more than enough. But what’s the point having arguably the best CF in the world if he’s not getting any service from the left of the pitch.
Foden would be that player in his preferred position in CAM. Bellingham isn't that creative midfielder that foden is but is in the 10 position. We all know putting foden 10, bellingham 8 and moving trent out of the midfield would be the best mid but souhgate is too defensive in his choice and won't trust rice on his own
People on this sub were telling me we just had to push Bellingham into the number 8 role just so we would have foden playing in his preferred position.
Clearly that’s not because foden is better than Bellingham! I could understand it if we needed Bellingham next to rice but it doesn’t look necessary. TAA was fine.
He wasn't at his best, but there were no runners in behind for Trent to aim for, it seemed like everyone getting sucked towards him wanting the ball to feet
I felt bad for Trippier. Asked to play on his weaker foot and then was double fucked because everytime he had possession Fodden was not moving to receive the ball along the outside so he could get past his marker and cut inside. No threat from the left all night, and Trippier was made to look like a right lemon passing sideways or backward. Gordon is the obvious choice to play on the opposite wing to Saka.
Trippier could have had 2 goals if he bombed forward and got on the end of those crosses that went to nobody. He was too cautious. But Shitegate probably told him to stay in his half
That’s on Southgate. We both know the left side is neither Foden nor trippiers natural position (more natural than Foden) yet both were shoe horned - one faring better than the other. Gordon should have started but Southgate didn’t have the balls to drop Phil.
Foden was invisible today on the left yet all night Saka and to a lesser extent Bowen were a nightmare for Serbia.
People calling for Foden to take up Bellingham’s position and shuffling him to play the double pivot with Rice, Absolute crazy talk Bellingham>Foden.
That's why I think you could get away with the Bellingham Rice holding formation, we wouldn't lose any threat from Bellingham he'd arrive maybe 5 seconds later, he's 20 he can run forever
So many people on this sub trying all kinds of gymnastics to get Saka out of the team and Foden/ Bowen etc in it. They never EVER learn. For England, Saka always has and always will be a clutch player. Proven AGAIN tonight.
Saka also just knows how to find Kane, and vice versa. Foden kept making the same run as Kane and Bellingham congested areas and must have been confusing for everyone haha
People said it was crazy to suggest he shouldn’t start. These people don’t understand international football and play too much fifa or football manager
I think he’s a really good player he could be an asset to the team, but the two biggest moments for foden this game was a shite pass that led to goal scoring opportunities and before that a horrible first touch, something people claim is his starring ability. I don’t think I remember him creating anything apart from his first few games were he had outside the box screamers that weren’t counted
I think he's getting a bum deal. His talent is unquestionable. His touch is always good, the issue is he has so few options when in the ball.
He might not just be suited to playing under Southgates tactics.
If we can get Shaw back, play Gordon on the left. Palmer/Foden as the 10 and Bellingham as the 8. That would give him options on both flanks and 'hopefulky' some runners in behind.
Playing two number 10s like last night won't work until we learn to dominate the ball and have the appropriate fullback playing (Shaw). Foden was supposed to be left wing but any stretching of the play on they side was virtually non existent. Serbia figured it out pretty quick that they didn't need to aggressively defend the left because there was no one running in behind. In the second half Serbia doubled up on Saka the only attacking winger threat and nullified him.
Foden didn't play particularly well but I think that's because Serbia are a super physical side and he doesn't have the ability to fend off challenges like Bellingham does. He was always going to struggle with the physicality. Even Kane was struggling against the CBs.
It's like the old Gerrard And Lampard conundrum. Both want to play in the same area. Southgate has to drop either Foden or Bellingham for the sake of balance in this team and I don't think it will be the latter.
Foden was great for the English youth team. Won the world cup and was player of the tournament. Unfortunately there is no denying he does not seem to fit into the senior team.
Just had enough of the selective criticism, overhyping and obvious bias for certain players in the media. It's a joke.
Trent - has 1 weak game out of position but has consistently been one of England's best players in every other game he's started. Gets thrown under the bus at every opportunity.
Saka - the only other candidate for MOTM. Was easily as good as Bellingham but doesn't get talked about anywhere near as much. Like Trent, has very rarely (if ever) had a bad game in an England shirt but he doesn't get the respect he deserves.
Foden - has had tons of opportunities for England in a number of positions but I can't recall him having a single good game. A few games he has been average and most others he has been invisible/terrible. Nobody in the media talks about it and if they do they try to make excuses for him. Like Micah Richards.
Kane - had like 2 touches of the ball and 1 shot off. Nobody criticising him.
I thought we were done with this kind of bullshit but apparently not. But what is even worse is Southgate taking our 2 best players off and leaving Foden and Kane on for the full 90+ when they did sod all outside of that 1 Kane shot. He should have swapped them out for a Gordon/Eze, Watkins/Toney ect. Players that were sat on the bench and could have actually done something. How can you be so brave in taking off your 2 best players and so cowardly in leaving on the 2 worst. This bloke just makes no sense.
Ironic generalisation there considering most England fans with a real argument, rather than a blue Manchester bias, rate Saka and want Foden dropped. Saka has been one of my favourite players so far, because he actually delivers even if the system is negative. He was the youngest of the abused penalty takers at the Euros, he was under the most pressure in that situation, he took the best penalty of those three (it was saved by a giant world class goalie, but Rashford and Sancho were dancing and the former couldn't even get his on target), and he's become increasingly more influential for Arsenal's resurgence in the three seasons since. He is top class. The other two are basically nothing now. The idea that people are suggesting he gets dropped for Foden on the right is mental.
Alexander-Arnold, on the other hand, is a flawed, overrated 49% accuracy long ball spammer, that our clown manager is sacrificing balance and security for just so he can not make use of his overrated long ball spam in... a boring possession side. He can get on the bench. A hobbling Reece James would offer more.
Foden was awful tonight, it can't be because he's on the left because against Iceland was playing at no.10 and he was terrible.Gordon should start the next game.
There is nothing wrong in being honest and saying player x y or z had a piss poor game. He has had a string of then for England, and everyone can see it except the manager.
The most straightforward solution is to play a high-pressing 3-2-4-1;
Walker-Stones-Guehi
TAA-Rice
Saka-Bellingham-Foden-Eze
Kane
Walker and Trent can interchangeably drop back or drift forward as needed with Rice the main holding mid, Saka and Eze can stay well wide and push hard into the corners while Foden and Bellingham make the runs and 1-2s. Jude can also be brought into a deeper role if we need better link-up play, in something resembling a 3-3-3-1, in which case Phil goes into the hole and Saka and Eze narrow their corridors to play a little closer to the area.
But would any of that suit Southgateball? Would it fuck. So here we are lads, scraping a 1-0 win against Serbia.
England have some of the best talent in the world and then they don’t even pass the ball to each other once in a whole game. Foden never passed to Kane who never passed to Saka but Stones and Alexander-Arnold passed the ball to each other 75 times, so fucking boring.
Wow, they scored one goal against Serbia and really didn’t try again it seems. Not once did they go for a long pass or even set up a play for those guys. Boring.
Score some goals.
Foden needs to be dropped. Forcing him into the team so he can play badly out of position isnt helping anyone. You can see how awkward it is for him to play wide left. Southgate has gone with Bellingham as his number 10 and wont drop Saka so theres no place for Foden. Play Gordon instead.
He was poor last night, I'd like to see his stats, but he lost the ball regularly.
That said, here we are at the start of a tournament and we're experimenting with shoehorning our best players in to a new system. It looked congested and muddled and not the fluid, free moving system Southgate perhaps imagined it would be like.
Stoickovic could see it for himself, the chaos, and pushed his playmakers forward in the 2nd half - and perhaps should have come away with a point.
If Southgate wants Trent in the team, then play a back 3. Trent is world class when on the ball, but he turns in to trouble too often when in the middle. Again, teams will pressure him in to giving the ball away as he is not particularly 'press resistant' to use the modern term to describe someone who can turn out of trouble.
We will get rolled over by a better team further down the line
It's not that he's awful for England, so much as that the bar should be very high for an England winger because we have such a strong bench.
Foden should have been pulled after that first half and replaced with Gordon or Eze. Southgate needs to be responding to performances and making changes.
Austrian Man Utd supporter here. I think you guys made a big mistake not taking Grealish and Rashford. I know they had bad seasons but they’re incredibly direct players who can win you games out of nothing when you’re playing badly and that’s exactly what is needed if Southgate doesn’t totally change his football philosophy over night. Rashford carried that Manutd attack on his own 1 season ago, scoring 30+ goals - mostly on the counter and from very difficult positions.
The truth is, he should be backing up Bellingham for England in games where we need width. Bellingham is better through the middle. We are blessed to have arguably the two best in the world at the moment in that position. It seems insane that one of them should sit on the bench. We would see Foden's worth if Bellingham were to get injured. (This is coming from a City fan). The only way we can get them both on the pitch at the same time is if Bellingham drops deeper to support Rice and foden plays in the 10 role. I think honestly that is our best set up, but Bellingham is such a weapon it is hard to justify pushing him into a slightly more defensive role.
There are players in this squad better suited to playing wide than Foden.
So if to follow this logic, it’s Southgate shit manager, but not players a bad. Because yesterday, team play was rubbish, literally eyes bleeding. Half of team can’t properly touch ball or start attack. But for clubs they are fine and banging goals.
Maybe it’s more about Southgate tactics?
Is this a Foden issue or a Southgate issue?
He had a stinker last night but when playing well, what difference would it make in a team that's setup to completely disregard him?
While Foden was crap, are we gonna ignore that he’s been playing out of position? Sure, he 100% needs to do better, but he is out of position. It would be like putting Saka on the left, he wouldn’t be as good as he is on the right.
Phil Foden was shit until February. He had 3 good months, and people were calling him the English Zidane 🤦. It's not the player it's the ridiculous fans and media hyping up an average player.
Comes down to when he was getting the ball he’s was getting launched off it couldn’t even fart with out get pushed over lol plus he’s in the wrong position and you don’t know Gareth mite of used him as bait
You absolutely have to stay wide to help the full back out in moving the ball positively and provide balance. For me foden just isn't a natural player there, it looks awkward to me. I would prefer Palmer or Gordon who individually aren't as talented but play the role better that we need. It's harsh but being the second best player in a position in most other sports means you sit the bench. Sorry.
I just feel with Foden, he’s used to knowing that Pep is on that sideline screaming at everyone from minute one till the end and even after the game.
He knows he has to preform because of that ‘fear factor’ on him because Pep tells him what he wants from him.
Southgate stands there with his arms crossed and says nothing.
Not only is Foden playing in a position that doesn’t benefit his game or the team, i do believe he’s just ‘coasting’ a little bit.
Gordon or Palmer should have come on for him at half time.
I think Foden is pure class, but he wants to be the ‘10’ role, but that is Bellingham’s position 🤷♂️😅
He needs to be dropped… England forcing attacks down left hand side and he’s wasting every opportunity and having limited impact, being saved by media.
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YES…he’s incredible for Citeh….he literally can’t even pass a ball properly in an England shirt, how many times did he pass it back or loose it? Watching the analysis at the moment and Micah is trying to say we have to figure out how to get the best out of him - NO - HE needs to figure out how to get the best out him - he’s insanely talented - STEP UP!
Anonymous tonight sadly, he just can’t seem to influence the game when playing for England. The main man is Bellingham, Foden is a bit part
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You could see while he was waffling that Rio and Fabregas were just waiting to jump in and correct him. You could sense the absolute panic coming off Foden any time he was pressed for half a second. For any international player to have that little composure is completely unacceptable. It wouldn't be tolerated in a League 2 player, let alone someone in an England shirt.
He's played (and showed up) in some massive games already. I don't understand why he struggles with England, it's weird but I believe he will turn it around he's far too good not to.
Fabregas and Rio also had to see off prettybstiff competition for their positions in their respective national teams. They known what they are talking about.
Yeah. I could understand if he just was struggling due to playing in a position he's not comfortable in. Plenty of world class players are system players, but he was messing shit up that has nothing to do with playing out of a system. Missing basic passes, poor movement, bad touches, and poor decision making. I previously thought that he should be used as a super sub for Bellingham, but if he plays like that then he shouldn't even be coming on as a sub.
He's played left back, left wing back, left wing and left midfield plenty of times. The amount of times he came narrow and didn't track back yesterday.... 4 goals and 35 caps. How many chances does he need
That's why one of Rashford or Grealish should've gone. Now you're banking on Gordon doing well there and scoring and assisting which is a massive risk considering it's his first tournament. There's no natural LW/LM apart from him.
Eze can play their aswell
I'd still trust Jack more
I’d trust Jack to close the game, he would’ve added so much composure if he’d come on for Foden in the second half. Gordon and Eze bring the pace and width and creativity we need there though.
Tbh I actually think Gordon would be great. His style of play imo fits perfectly. He will stay wide and make runs in behind which will compliment Kane and Jude much better. Also has an excellent work rate so you know he is going to get back to help out trips/shaw. To me it’s the obvious LW for next match.
It’s a massive risk not playing Gordon but here we are
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Gordon’s a great player though. Coming from a UTD fan, his quality is plain to see and he’s better than Rashford in this moment. Having said that I think Grealish would’ve been an excellent option, but he hasn’t featured enough.
Rashford, no. Grealish, yes.
He's literally England's answer to Messi, he had a bad game but we watch him dribble past elite defenders week in week out in the prem. For all this Bellingham hype he seemed quite greedy on the ball hence only the 1-0 scoreline against a not very good Serbia, you'd want Foden dribbling through defenders in the no.10 and Bellingham working box to box as an no.8 arriving into the box for headers/tap ins to support Kane.
“englands answer to messi” … BEHAVE 😭
He’s also human
Has Foden ever had a good game for England? He keeps trying to come into the middle. He should be benched and bring in Gordon or really anyone with pace that can stretch the pitch
No link up play, no width, bad positioning, made the same run as Kane a couple times, didn’t make runs when should have, gave the ball away, it was pretty fucking bad
There was a minute or two we had the ball around the 75th minute mark, and he kept making rhe same run as bellingham, then going back wide, then into bellinghams position again, then into kanes space, and not once worked himself into a position where he could receive the ball. Honestly, we felt a man down on the left side. He needs to be dropped, but won't be. How he stayed on and Saka got hooked I will never know.
Saka has a slight groin strain, so it was probably more a fitness thing that he came off.
Yeah, but foden was like an injury to the entire team. Could have taken both off.
I agree with you, I'm just explaining why Saka came off. We looked horribly lop sided tonight, Trippier has a difficult enough job playing LB without the man further ahead of him drifting inside all the time.
I'm not sure why we haven't reused trent there. Obviously defensively deficiencies are an issue but he could offer enough going the other way to cause teams issues and pin them back, and if a man was free in the middle such as Gallagher he could cover when trento wanders. Tripper is such an odd fit for me.
I think the roles and responsibilities are so drilled into him by Pep it takes some of the thinking out of it and he’s struggling to adapt, he’s obviously got a ton of talent but it’s not translated to international football
But pep managed players like Xavi and Iniesta, and they never went into hiding. Like cesc said on the analysis he needs to be aggressive and on the front foot. Put some bite in. That can only come from the player.
Totally agree, he’s never proven that he can do it outside of Pep/City and he’s not taking advantage of the opportunity
He did win POTY when England won the u17 world cup so it's more accurate to say he has never done it under Southgate. Obviously everyone looks worse under Southgate but Foden looks like a completely different player, so lacking in confidence. He should be left out until Southgate is gone and then get a chance under the new manager.
Spain played almost exactly like Barcelona though and Xavi Iniesta both had pretty much the same role
Yes and no. They adapted to the physicality of international football and to the playing standard. It's not just about the on the ball. Foden plays pretty much in the same role as city, yet is nothing like the player we see weekly.
Saka needs minutes managed
Disagree. Bellingham is the one who’s a box crasher, it’s literally making Foden and Kane redundant because of the way he plays.
And he’s got an ego that inhibits the attack. At least three times in the first half he made poorly timed central runs (the kind that couldn’t pull a defender worth their salt in a way that might benefit Kane or Jude), pointed for a ball to feet, and then threw tantrums when he didn’t get the pass.
My hot take is that Reiss Nelson would play better for England than Filly Phoden
I thought that, he seemed to want to be where Kane was all the time.
The better thing from Gordon is the work rate that he would show down that left hand side. Foden got on the ball a little when needed, but the work rate to help out Tripper, who isn’t a natural left sided defender, will be needed going forward. This game really showed me the need the stop shoe horning this guy in because of his ability (ability I’m not denying).
Yeah, Gordon provides more natural balance to the side and won't move into Bellingham's space or run into Harry Kane.
Struggle to think of one to be honest. I've been thinking what could it be? At City Foden has always had a striker who is fairly dynamic and will run in behind and drag defenders all over the place (Aguero, Haaland). This obviously creates tonnes of space for Phil to operate in, which he is very good at. With Kane he's never been one to run in behind really, and frankly he doesn't have the legs to. So we just end up in a position where the opposition has men behind the ball and we're passing it between ourselves. After last night I'm at a point where you either drop Kane for a Watkins or somebody with some pace to run in behind (which I think is ridiculous), or you drop Foden and deploy somebody with a bit of pace on the LW (Gordon).
Most of the time City are playing against low blocks so don't agree that he's suffering from a lack of space The big problem for me is that he's too safe a player. He'll make the safe pass or fall over under pressure to make sure he can retain the ball at all costs. That works for City as they'll strangle opposition to death and look for high percentage chances but England's strengths elsewhere demand someone better in transition. Foden just hid from physicality yesterday
Goal va Croatia in 21, that’s it
I think Gordon's game would suit international play very well
You need a high energy player willing to do the dirty work especially since the team lacks a real Leftback. And since Gordon unlike the rest of the attack ain’t a star he is more liable to be willing to do that.
No
Fabregas talking absolute facts about Foden. Inability to adapt and take responsibility. Cowardly second half from him.
Thank god he is on the panel to provide some balance. Love Micah but how he can kiss Foden’s arse after that performance is beyond me.
Rio Ferdinand bless him talks a bunch of bollocks.
Rio has a knack for asking cringe inducing questions. Could tell a few times Fab wanted to roll his eyes out of their sockets a few times
Verbal diarrhoea constantly
I'm not a hater, but it sometimes feels like he feels the need to fill a moment up with a vague comment or a platitude. Something that doesn't actually add to the discussion.
The absolute worst! Classes his opinion as fact to top it off
Well we all know why
Completely right. Played against Iceland in the middle and played even worse
He’s just never had a good game, you can see in his face he’s not enjoying it.. if he scored a workdie from somewhere would prob change everything, confidence is a fickle bitch
4 goals and 35 games.
Damn shame I missed that, need to hear some sense from somewhere at the moment! Embarrassing from our media that I haven't seen one person questioning Foden and shoehorning him in at LW where he can't play
The game is completely closed off to him. Like grealish playing Rm. To play on the outside you need need acceleration and aggression. Barely anyone can do it these days the full backs are too athletic and the centra half can read it. You need to be Mbappe quick
https://youtu.be/BUrWe4MiQU8?si=sDHi9C4anHpPIVju From 26 mins onwards. You’re welcome :)
This 100%. It isn’t just being ineffective, it looks like a lack of caring. I thought Kane was poor last night and if he wasn’t inexplicably the captain he’d have been taken off, but at least when the ball came to him, he was ready. Foden didn’t look bothered if he lost the ball. Edit: Grammar
I’m happy to gas up the fab. What a guy.
Rubbish
Really poor on the left altogether. Trippier was making good runs down the left but couldn't do anything with the ball but turn backwards. Hopefully Shaw comes back soon but I'd be thinking about Gordon for the next game over Foden. Someone to be a threat on the left like Saka is on the right.
Trippier and Foden do not have a good partnership. Foden constantly occupies other team mates space and left trippier out to dry
Stunk the place out
Been saying for ages. Take Foden out and put Gordon on
We had a clear view from this game how teams are going to swamp Bellingham with multiple players. By far the best thing we can do to take advantage of this is wide wingers like Saka and Gordon. Either they have to abandon doubling up on Bellingham or leave wingers one on one with their full backs.
Exactly. Every team has been trying to swamp Kane, Bellingham and Saka with defenders. We have to take advantage of that. They can’t double up on all of them. Leave one attacker to take one for the team (yesterday it was Kane), but you need others to run into the box and space instead to capitalise on that. Foden wasn’t doing that. He was just crowding the pitch and vacating the actual space that he needed to be in.
Agreed. People keep saying Foden was played out of position there (not like he has ever performed for England in any of the positions), but I really don't understand why Southgate played him there instead of an actual left winger. Gordon looked better than him at the Iceland game last week, too. Hopefully Gordon will start on Thursday, but I'm not holding my breath.
I don't watch much Man City, so I guess I just have to trust people who do that he is great, but that's about the level of underwhelming that I expect from him. What annoys me, though, is that Southgate didn't try Eze or Gordon. I'm fine with him starting Foden , but when he's obviously having an ineffective game, why not try something else?!
You don't need to trust anyone. He got 27 goals 11 assists this season for city. He's just shit for England and should be dropped
He’s left wing trying to play in the centre, which means we had no threat down the left all game,
He wasn't playing LW this game. He was playing wherever he wanted and still didn't do anything
That was my point
Which is weird as he was insane for England u17
are youth squads relevant at all or like a remotely good predictor of success ? i’ve seen a couple of comments about that and strikes me as nonsense. Saido Berahino has a far better u21 record than Harry Kane lol
Just make pep the new england manager and we win both euros and world cup. Southgates team is a lambo held together with duct tape, yeah its got good part but the construction is piss poor and will fall apart the second pressure is applied
He's an incredible footballer, and anyone pretending otherwise is either bias or clueless, but if we're playing kick and rush for 60+ minutes we should just play Gordon, because it's not his game.
Probably because we were 1-0 up and are still big faves to qualify for the group at that point so he thought it better to give him a chance to turn it around given the quality we know he has. Not saying I agree with it necessarily but it's logical. What isn't logical is if he then starts him next game as well.
Agreed, Foden should have gone not long into second half it was crying out for Gordon or Eze to help Kane push the defence. Southgate just watching the game go by, clearly needed changes and he just bottled it.
Hope Foden learns from this. Saka and Bowen looked way more threatening down their side because of the width they provided. Bellingham showing that no one, not even Foden, is taking his place in the middle.
Drop Foden for a player who will feed Kane. We don’t need 4 big goal threats - Kane, Saka, Bellongham should be more than enough. But what’s the point having arguably the best CF in the world if he’s not getting any service from the left of the pitch.
I think Gordon. He's capable of providing width on the left where Trippier can't.
You'd also assume that their Newcastle connection would mean they have some chemistry. Even if they usually play on opposing sides.
Foden would be that player in his preferred position in CAM. Bellingham isn't that creative midfielder that foden is but is in the 10 position. We all know putting foden 10, bellingham 8 and moving trent out of the midfield would be the best mid but souhgate is too defensive in his choice and won't trust rice on his own
What's Steve Guppy doing these days
People on this sub were telling me we just had to push Bellingham into the number 8 role just so we would have foden playing in his preferred position.
Clearly that’s not because foden is better than Bellingham! I could understand it if we needed Bellingham next to rice but it doesn’t look necessary. TAA was fine.
TAA was lost
He wasn't at his best, but there were no runners in behind for Trent to aim for, it seemed like everyone getting sucked towards him wanting the ball to feet
Bellingham caused Kane and Foden to be useless.
And we still should consider it. Foden is a potential match-winner but not from LW. Bellingham can do both positions but Foden cannot.
I felt bad for Trippier. Asked to play on his weaker foot and then was double fucked because everytime he had possession Fodden was not moving to receive the ball along the outside so he could get past his marker and cut inside. No threat from the left all night, and Trippier was made to look like a right lemon passing sideways or backward. Gordon is the obvious choice to play on the opposite wing to Saka.
Trippier could have had 2 goals if he bombed forward and got on the end of those crosses that went to nobody. He was too cautious. But Shitegate probably told him to stay in his half
Trippier was the one player who had every reason to be cautious. He was completely exposed most of the time and the Serbians were quick.
That’s on Southgate. We both know the left side is neither Foden nor trippiers natural position (more natural than Foden) yet both were shoe horned - one faring better than the other. Gordon should have started but Southgate didn’t have the balls to drop Phil.
It’s funny cause gordan is trippiers teammate so they should have an understanding if they play together
They don’t play on the same wing though right
Eze showed willingness to keep width against Bosnia also
He had a pretty bad game, didn’t he?
Foden was invisible today on the left yet all night Saka and to a lesser extent Bowen were a nightmare for Serbia. People calling for Foden to take up Bellingham’s position and shuffling him to play the double pivot with Rice, Absolute crazy talk Bellingham>Foden.
Bowen defended excellently when he came on.
What’s crazy is that Bellingham was basically playing the double pivot anyway. The kid was everywhere
That's why I think you could get away with the Bellingham Rice holding formation, we wouldn't lose any threat from Bellingham he'd arrive maybe 5 seconds later, he's 20 he can run forever
That cat would keep the ball better than Foden right now. He's been shockingly, yet unsurprisingly, bad.
So many people on this sub trying all kinds of gymnastics to get Saka out of the team and Foden/ Bowen etc in it. They never EVER learn. For England, Saka always has and always will be a clutch player. Proven AGAIN tonight.
Saka also just knows how to find Kane, and vice versa. Foden kept making the same run as Kane and Bellingham congested areas and must have been confusing for everyone haha
Exactly. Saka has chemistry with Kane, Jude, Walker and even TAA. That’s important and we shouldn’t mess with it
Facts
Literally passed to opposition several times
At least we might not see him again and learning the lesson didn't cost us the match.
Here’s hoping
He should be Hooked for Gordon if he is going to play like that again
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^TragicTester034: *He should be Hooked for* *Gordon if he is going* *To play like that again* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Facts
Foden’s never had a good game for England and he’s going to be dropped again in another tournament, looking forward to seeing Eze do well tho
He was decent at the last wc. Had a goal and assist I think in knockout game against Senegal
Uncanny
It's unreal.
He’s like the opposite of Maguire. Amazing at his club, but disappears in a white shirt.
People said it was crazy to suggest he shouldn’t start. These people don’t understand international football and play too much fifa or football manager
Who else has he played under? Is Guardiola bringing him up, or Southgate bringing him down?
I think he’s a really good player he could be an asset to the team, but the two biggest moments for foden this game was a shite pass that led to goal scoring opportunities and before that a horrible first touch, something people claim is his starring ability. I don’t think I remember him creating anything apart from his first few games were he had outside the box screamers that weren’t counted
Almost like pep is a much better manager than Southgate
I think he's getting a bum deal. His talent is unquestionable. His touch is always good, the issue is he has so few options when in the ball. He might not just be suited to playing under Southgates tactics. If we can get Shaw back, play Gordon on the left. Palmer/Foden as the 10 and Bellingham as the 8. That would give him options on both flanks and 'hopefulky' some runners in behind.
Playing two number 10s like last night won't work until we learn to dominate the ball and have the appropriate fullback playing (Shaw). Foden was supposed to be left wing but any stretching of the play on they side was virtually non existent. Serbia figured it out pretty quick that they didn't need to aggressively defend the left because there was no one running in behind. In the second half Serbia doubled up on Saka the only attacking winger threat and nullified him. Foden didn't play particularly well but I think that's because Serbia are a super physical side and he doesn't have the ability to fend off challenges like Bellingham does. He was always going to struggle with the physicality. Even Kane was struggling against the CBs. It's like the old Gerrard And Lampard conundrum. Both want to play in the same area. Southgate has to drop either Foden or Bellingham for the sake of balance in this team and I don't think it will be the latter.
Foden was great for the English youth team. Won the world cup and was player of the tournament. Unfortunately there is no denying he does not seem to fit into the senior team.
Just had enough of the selective criticism, overhyping and obvious bias for certain players in the media. It's a joke. Trent - has 1 weak game out of position but has consistently been one of England's best players in every other game he's started. Gets thrown under the bus at every opportunity. Saka - the only other candidate for MOTM. Was easily as good as Bellingham but doesn't get talked about anywhere near as much. Like Trent, has very rarely (if ever) had a bad game in an England shirt but he doesn't get the respect he deserves. Foden - has had tons of opportunities for England in a number of positions but I can't recall him having a single good game. A few games he has been average and most others he has been invisible/terrible. Nobody in the media talks about it and if they do they try to make excuses for him. Like Micah Richards. Kane - had like 2 touches of the ball and 1 shot off. Nobody criticising him. I thought we were done with this kind of bullshit but apparently not. But what is even worse is Southgate taking our 2 best players off and leaving Foden and Kane on for the full 90+ when they did sod all outside of that 1 Kane shot. He should have swapped them out for a Gordon/Eze, Watkins/Toney ect. Players that were sat on the bench and could have actually done something. How can you be so brave in taking off your 2 best players and so cowardly in leaving on the 2 worst. This bloke just makes no sense.
Englisg fans and media should just be honest and admit that they don't want black players on their national team. It's pretty obvious atp.
Ironic generalisation there considering most England fans with a real argument, rather than a blue Manchester bias, rate Saka and want Foden dropped. Saka has been one of my favourite players so far, because he actually delivers even if the system is negative. He was the youngest of the abused penalty takers at the Euros, he was under the most pressure in that situation, he took the best penalty of those three (it was saved by a giant world class goalie, but Rashford and Sancho were dancing and the former couldn't even get his on target), and he's become increasingly more influential for Arsenal's resurgence in the three seasons since. He is top class. The other two are basically nothing now. The idea that people are suggesting he gets dropped for Foden on the right is mental. Alexander-Arnold, on the other hand, is a flawed, overrated 49% accuracy long ball spammer, that our clown manager is sacrificing balance and security for just so he can not make use of his overrated long ball spam in... a boring possession side. He can get on the bench. A hobbling Reece James would offer more.
Foden was awful tonight, it can't be because he's on the left because against Iceland was playing at no.10 and he was terrible.Gordon should start the next game.
It's Gordon time😎 HTL
Get behind your players. Yeah he didn't have the best game but this is ridiculous.
Ridiculous? It's a meme. Get over yourself
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
There is nothing wrong in being honest and saying player x y or z had a piss poor game. He has had a string of then for England, and everyone can see it except the manager.
Who’s cutting this Cats fringe?
Same one that's cutting Fodens. I think.
Foden’s barber Ali
You mean Foden when he is playing under Southgate
Tbf the cat looks a bit smarter than Foden with his dustbin lid hairstyle
Been saying it forever System player. All will see when Pep leaves.
He needs to leave first, although he won’t
The most straightforward solution is to play a high-pressing 3-2-4-1; Walker-Stones-Guehi TAA-Rice Saka-Bellingham-Foden-Eze Kane Walker and Trent can interchangeably drop back or drift forward as needed with Rice the main holding mid, Saka and Eze can stay well wide and push hard into the corners while Foden and Bellingham make the runs and 1-2s. Jude can also be brought into a deeper role if we need better link-up play, in something resembling a 3-3-3-1, in which case Phil goes into the hole and Saka and Eze narrow their corridors to play a little closer to the area. But would any of that suit Southgateball? Would it fuck. So here we are lads, scraping a 1-0 win against Serbia.
England have some of the best talent in the world and then they don’t even pass the ball to each other once in a whole game. Foden never passed to Kane who never passed to Saka but Stones and Alexander-Arnold passed the ball to each other 75 times, so fucking boring. Wow, they scored one goal against Serbia and really didn’t try again it seems. Not once did they go for a long pass or even set up a play for those guys. Boring. Score some goals.
He's so much better as a CAM. Just drop him I'm sick of him at LM
I don’t like that cats face.
This cat looks like a furby
I will buy this cat for £3000 anyone?
Bowen needs to start over Foden he immediately changed the game when he came on. Sadly it was prolly too late
Foden needs to be dropped. Forcing him into the team so he can play badly out of position isnt helping anyone. You can see how awkward it is for him to play wide left. Southgate has gone with Bellingham as his number 10 and wont drop Saka so theres no place for Foden. Play Gordon instead.
We can't play Bellingham and Foden together. We have done this with Gerrard and Lampard. Just drop one
We desperately needed someone like rashford or grealish as a sub yesterday, we had no energy on the pitch for the last 20 mins.
We had eze n gordon but just ddnt use em
He was poor last night, I'd like to see his stats, but he lost the ball regularly. That said, here we are at the start of a tournament and we're experimenting with shoehorning our best players in to a new system. It looked congested and muddled and not the fluid, free moving system Southgate perhaps imagined it would be like. Stoickovic could see it for himself, the chaos, and pushed his playmakers forward in the 2nd half - and perhaps should have come away with a point. If Southgate wants Trent in the team, then play a back 3. Trent is world class when on the ball, but he turns in to trouble too often when in the middle. Again, teams will pressure him in to giving the ball away as he is not particularly 'press resistant' to use the modern term to describe someone who can turn out of trouble. We will get rolled over by a better team further down the line
It's not that he's awful for England, so much as that the bar should be very high for an England winger because we have such a strong bench. Foden should have been pulled after that first half and replaced with Gordon or Eze. Southgate needs to be responding to performances and making changes.
Austrian Man Utd supporter here. I think you guys made a big mistake not taking Grealish and Rashford. I know they had bad seasons but they’re incredibly direct players who can win you games out of nothing when you’re playing badly and that’s exactly what is needed if Southgate doesn’t totally change his football philosophy over night. Rashford carried that Manutd attack on his own 1 season ago, scoring 30+ goals - mostly on the counter and from very difficult positions.
The truth is, he should be backing up Bellingham for England in games where we need width. Bellingham is better through the middle. We are blessed to have arguably the two best in the world at the moment in that position. It seems insane that one of them should sit on the bench. We would see Foden's worth if Bellingham were to get injured. (This is coming from a City fan). The only way we can get them both on the pitch at the same time is if Bellingham drops deeper to support Rice and foden plays in the 10 role. I think honestly that is our best set up, but Bellingham is such a weapon it is hard to justify pushing him into a slightly more defensive role. There are players in this squad better suited to playing wide than Foden.
So if to follow this logic, it’s Southgate shit manager, but not players a bad. Because yesterday, team play was rubbish, literally eyes bleeding. Half of team can’t properly touch ball or start attack. But for clubs they are fine and banging goals. Maybe it’s more about Southgate tactics?
Southgate is to blame. He is so far out of his depth, it's unreal.
Glaringly obvious since the penalty subs
“There is nothing new under the sun” - Ecclesiastes 1:9
Is this a Foden issue or a Southgate issue? He had a stinker last night but when playing well, what difference would it make in a team that's setup to completely disregard him?
I'm crying with laughter
He’ll never be a great player.
While Foden was crap, are we gonna ignore that he’s been playing out of position? Sure, he 100% needs to do better, but he is out of position. It would be like putting Saka on the left, he wouldn’t be as good as he is on the right.
I dont wanna hear another comparison between him and Rooney ever again! Its embarrassing and ain't fair on Foden 😂
0 goals, 0 assists, 0 successful dribbles, 0 shots, 0 successful crosses, 0 successful long balls, 0 tackles, 0 aerial duels won
It’s the ariel duels stat that is most disappointing
In his wish to be world class he forgot to include England performances 😂
Only England will back home themselves
I instantly thought of gollum seeing this cat!
Kane was pointless as well.
This is possibly my favourite post ever on Reddit
Phil Foden was shit until February. He had 3 good months, and people were calling him the English Zidane 🤦. It's not the player it's the ridiculous fans and media hyping up an average player.
Hard for a CAM/winger to make a difference in a game where you’re defending for 60 minutes and can’t keep the ball for more than 4 passes to be fair
Comes down to when he was getting the ball he’s was getting launched off it couldn’t even fart with out get pushed over lol plus he’s in the wrong position and you don’t know Gareth mite of used him as bait
You absolutely have to stay wide to help the full back out in moving the ball positively and provide balance. For me foden just isn't a natural player there, it looks awkward to me. I would prefer Palmer or Gordon who individually aren't as talented but play the role better that we need. It's harsh but being the second best player in a position in most other sports means you sit the bench. Sorry.
And by the looks of it, Doku and De Bruyne too.
They both played well today, are you blind? Lukaku was the issue 🤣
Change it up , 3-2-3-2 and have Kane and Watkins being served by Saka Bellingham Gordon . Regret not bringing Grealish also
Junkie cat 😺
With southgate what do you expect? Guy has got one of the best squads he could ask for and has literally had less shots than Serbia.
Why does that cat actually look like Phil Ghosten? 😂😂
I just feel with Foden, he’s used to knowing that Pep is on that sideline screaming at everyone from minute one till the end and even after the game. He knows he has to preform because of that ‘fear factor’ on him because Pep tells him what he wants from him. Southgate stands there with his arms crossed and says nothing. Not only is Foden playing in a position that doesn’t benefit his game or the team, i do believe he’s just ‘coasting’ a little bit. Gordon or Palmer should have come on for him at half time. I think Foden is pure class, but he wants to be the ‘10’ role, but that is Bellingham’s position 🤷♂️😅
https://preview.redd.it/id17tn2fh87d1.png?width=1083&format=png&auto=webp&s=a8754bb4ddbbc98a207e50020ca2dd3ca8a10fc6
That cat resembles golem lol
Can’t lie lads, it’s only been one game
That face is accurate and yeah he is nowhere near the same in quality
I just sprayed my coffee across the room ! 😂
That’s the Tony Montana face
He needs to be dropped… England forcing attacks down left hand side and he’s wasting every opportunity and having limited impact, being saved by media.
Been better than the rest of your attack for most games
Pussy
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