England manager has major Phil Foden problem to solve
England head for home as World Cup hopes are ended
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Whether it’s Gareth Southgate or somebody else, the main job of the England manager ahead of Euro 2024 is to get more out of Phil Foden. Seven goals instead of just one. A shot every 34 minutes and not just one every 55 minutes. 108 seconds between passes and not 162.
In other words, Manchester City Foden and not England Foden.
This was something of a breakthrough tournament for the 22-year-old after Euro 2020 was hampered by an irritating foot injury which destroyed his ability to perform as was hoped in the knockout stages.
It was hoped that his goal against Iran would be the moment the floodgates opened.
But while there were flashes of brilliance and two assists to add to that solitary strike, he left Qatar with the rest of the England squad leaving behind the feeling there was still more to come from him.
On the eve of the tournament, he spoke of having the same buzz of confidence he had before taking the Under-17 World Cup by storm in 2017 – his player-of-the-tournament performances in helping England lift the trophy.
But there was also an admission.
“Have England seen the best of me? Definitely not,” he said. “I don’t think it is easy coming into a team and not knowing the players very well.
“You have to learn to play with different players and what they like best – running behind, or wanting balls to feet. Just little details like that.”
A month of intense training, plus the UEFA Nations League camps leading up to the tournament, should have taken care of that.
Yet the numbers between what Foden has produced this season for England fall short of his City stats in a number of key areas.
He is not getting on the ball enough, he is not shooting enough and he is not scoring enough. Oh, and his touch on the international stage does not quite match his exemplary Manchester City standards.
With England dominating games these days as much as City in terms of possession and Foden employed in much the same wide-right role for both club and country, those stats look increasingly like the symptom of a lack of confidence.
Cleverly, Pep Guardiola nurtured him gently through the forest of expectation as he came through the ranks at Manchester City. With England, there is no chance to pull him away from the spotlight and tuck him back away in the shadows sporadically.
So give him his head. Foden wants to play eventually in a more central role so let’s make him the no. 10 of a new-look England. The impeccable Declan Rice and irrepressible Jude Bellingham are sufficient to hold up a midfield against all but the very best.
A 4-2-3-1 system could offer England even more attacking options, with Foden pulling the strings in the heart of the web.
“In the middle, you can influence the game more because sometimes you are standing out wide,” Foden says. “Hopefully in the future I can become more of a central midfielder and show more of my game that I know I am capable of doing.”
The whole country knows he is capable of doing more, too. If anything, Foden seems the hardest to convince. He is not the natural extrovert of a Paul Gascoigne or so many of these precocious talents, so it has to be drawn out of him.
If, during his period of reflection, Southgate feels that as one of the leading man-managers in the game, he can do that, he should embrace the challenge of seeing out his contract by building his team around Foden for Euro 2024.
However, if Southgate is hell-bent on leaving, “How do you get the best out of Foden?” should be at the top of the FA’s candidate interview sheet.
2022/23 SEASON CITY in PL ENGLAND
TIME PLAYED 911 mins 437 mins
GOAL every 130 37
SHOT every 34 55
ASSIST every 304 219
KEY PASS every 43 44
ACCURATE CROSS every 48 44
PASS every 1.8 2.7
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