Gareth Southgate defends decision to leave Phil Foden on the bench

Gareth Southgate defends decision to leave Phil Foden on the BENCH during England’s draw with the USA as he claims Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford were better suited to ‘get the ball up the pitch’ and use their pace

  • Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to leave Phil Foden on the bench
  • England stumbled to a 0-0 draw with the USA in their second World Cup game
  • Foden was an unused substitute despite England’s struggle to create chances
  • Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford were preferred options from the bench 
  • Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results

Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to leave Phil Foden on the bench during England’s 0-0 draw with the USA on Friday.

The Three Lions disappointed in the game and struggled to create chances throughout, and almost conceded on a number of occasions as they stumbled to a point in Group B.

Speaking to ITV after the match, the England boss said he thought the attributes of Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford were better suited to the match, with both preferred to Foden from the bench as his side chased a goal. 

Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to leave Phil Foden out of England’s draw

Foden was an unused substitute as England stumbled to a 0-0 draw with the USA on Friday


Jack Grealish (left) and Marcus Rashford (right) were preferred options from the bench

‘We thought it was the right thing to keep the team from the start and then the wide players we went with Jack and Marcus ahead of Phil on the changes’, Southgate said.

‘We thought Jack would keep the ball well for us and get us up the pitch and Marcus’ speed we also thought would be a threat coming into that last part of the game.’

The Three Lions boss added that he was ‘really pleased’ with his players’ application in the game, despite many suggesting it was one they should have been easily winning.

‘I knew it would be difficult for us after such a high [against Iran] to replicate that type of performance, so I’m really pleased with how the players have applied themselves’, he said.

‘Some of our quality in the final third could have been a little bit better, but we’ve shown great resilience to defend against an opponent that kept asking questions and we’ve just not been able to open them up with that really clear-cut chance.

Foden has played just 19 minutes so far this World Cup and has not started a game in Qatar

‘We didn’t quite have that same zip but this is going to happen with tournament football. We’re not going to roll through a tournament and sweep through everybody without having nights like that where you’ve got to show different qualities to get the result.’

England all but secured qualification in the game, with results having to go dramatically against them in the final round of fixtures for them to be knocked out.

They will secure top place in the group with a win against Wales on Tuesday. 

England may now need to win against Wales on Tuesday to secure top spot in Group B

They will have to suffer a terrible swing of results not to qualify despite the disappointment




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