Gareth Southgate feels if not for one Manchester City player’s display on Sunday, England would not have beaten Serbia.
The 1-0 scoreline perhaps does justice to how the game unfolded — as the Serbians (six) took more shots than the Three Lions (five) but only registered a single shot on target. Gareth Southgate’s side registered three in comparison, one of which was Jude Bellingham’s goal.
The Manchester City trio of Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden played the entire game and seem likely to start against Denmark.
England boss Gareth Southgate makes big claim about how Phil Foden played against Serbia
Charlie Adam claimed that Foden has to take the onus and showcase to the world why he is indeed a top player in an England shirt — as his showing has generated quite a lot of dialogue from former players.
Rio Ferdinand felt that the 24-year-old did not demand the ball enough against the Serbians — a quality he felt led to Juan Sebastian Veron’s disappointing spell at Manchester United.
However, when quizzed about how Foden played against Serbia, Gareth Southgate felt without his off-the-ball contributions, England would not have won.
Southgate said via ITV Football on X: “I thought Phil [Foden] did an incredible job for the team on Sunday. You know, sometimes, the bits with the ball are obvious and they catch the eye.”
The England manager added: “But the amount of ground he covered, the angles of pressing, the filling in for people who were further forward, I thought without Phil’s contribution without the ball and I know that’s not the sexy bit and everyone wants to see him on the ball.”
“But without his contribution without the ball, I don’t think we win the game. So, then later in the game when we needed somebody to retain the ball and take the pressure, I thought he did that really well for us.”
The fact that Foden could play better for England was proposed to Gareth Southgate.
The 53-year-old replied: “I think Phil has obviously set an incredibly high bar at Manchester City where he knows exactly where every player is going to be every time he picks the ball up, a club he’s been at since he’s been 13 years old, you know, used to go in there during the week for training.”
“So, an environment that…he knows nothing else. With us, we’re always having to adapt to different teammates, different runs they make and there is adaptation with that.”
Brilliant management from Gareth Southgate in defending Phil Foden
With how much stick Foden has received since England defeated Serbia, credit needs to be handed to Gareth Southgate for defending him.
Manchester City’s number 47 is a player Southgate will rely on at the European Championship and as a result, he would want him to remain in high spirits.
As Southgate stated, observers would have tuned in to watch Foden produce moments of magic for England against Serbia.
But the six-time Premier League winner’s relentless work rate off the ball, his decision to retain the ball when his team were under pressure and press the opposition are perhaps the unglamorous facets of the game that are swept under the rug.
However, managers like Gareth Southgate would appreciate such graft and relentless from their players like Foden.