Gabby Agbonlahor has handed out a three out of 10 rating for one Manchester City player after his display at Euro 2024 on Sunday.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag claimed Nathan Ake, whose Netherlands side beat Poland 2-1 was one of his nation’s best performers.
While Kyle Walker quietly went about his business during England’s 1-0 victory against Serbia, Joe Hart felt John Stones looked “rusty.”
Phil Foden, however, has been widely slated for his showing, with Micah Richards revealing he felt “sad” watching him be as uninvolved as he was during the game.
Gabby Agbonlahor hands Phil Foden poor player rating after England beat Serbia
Jamie Carragher felt that Jude Bellingham’s winner was a demonstration of why he should be England’s number 10 over Foden.
Cesc Fabregas claimed the 24-year-old was on the periphery of the game — adding that a player of his calibre does not need to be instructed by the manager to demand the ball more.
While doing his player ratings on talkSPORT after England defeated Serbia, Gabby Agbonlahor handed Foden a three out of 10 rating.
Agbonlahor initially said: “Got to give [Jordan] Pickford a six, I thought he did his job, few ridiculous punches, some of his kicking wasn’t great, kicking the ball straight to the defence. [Kyle] Walker, seven, give [John] Stones a five, didn’t think he was at his best. [Marc] Guehi got an eight from me, thought he was outstanding.”
“[Kieran] Trippier was safe, did okay, he’s got a six from me, Declan Rice eight, was very mature in the way he played, Trent [Alexander-Arnold], I’m going to give a four, sorry, [Jude] Bellingham, a nine, [Phil] Foden, a three, [Harry] Kane, a five and [Bukayo] Saka seven.”
Gabby Agbonlahor went on to state that Foden should have performed better, regardless of whether many feel he should have been deployed centrally instead of as a wideman.
“I think we’ve seen it in previous generations, haven’t we where players have been outstanding for their clubs and not done it in an England shirt. And we can’t talk about, oh, he’s on the left, he’s on the right, top players can play anywhere and put out a performance.”
“I’ve seen Cesc Fabregas say it last night, he was saying when you’re Premier League Player of the Season, you’ve to go out there and even when you’re on the left, you’ve got the rotations allowed as well, get on the ball, make things happen.”
Gabby Agbonlahor also delved into how Foden is not the best for England from a goalscoring perspective.
“But his stats for England, people will probably be quite shocked. Four goals in 35 games for England, one tournament goal. You compare that to Saka, who’s got goal contributions in 24 starts for England. So, you’re looking at that and you’re thinking, come on Phil, Bellingham is out there showing he wants to win the tournament.”
“We need Kane to be like that, we need Foden to be like that.”
Phil Foden should channel the criticism in a positive way
With pundits like Gabby Agbonlahor criticising Foden, it would be natural for him to be feeling upset throughout Monday.
Despite England ending up on the winning side, the £225,000-a-week man would be disappointed after starting his Euro 2024 in underwhelming fashion.
Instead of letting the criticism affect his confidence, Foden should channel his frustration into firing himself to come back stronger in the next game. The top players like the Stockport-born midfielder are held to the highest standards in the game.
As a result, the criticism they face is often the most as well but where Foden can showcase why he is an elite footballer is by reacting to the negative attention he is receiving positively.