Izzy Christiansen made a fresh claim involving Phil Foden as England drew 0-0 to Slovenia in their final game in Group C at Euro 2024.
The Three Lions are set to face the Netherlands in the Round of 16 on Sunday, who lost 3-2 to Austria on Tuesday and finished in third place in Group D behind France and Austria.
The good news for Gareth Southgate’s side is that they finished at the top of the group — with five points in three games.
The bad news for England boss Gareth Southgate is that his star-studded attack that features big names like Phil Foden, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham continued to struggle against Slovenia.
Izzy Christiansen makes Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham observation as England draw to Slovenia
The expectation would have been from inside the English camp that their talented attack would finally click against the Slovenians.
But that was far from the case, with Cole Palmer, who was brought on in the 71st minute, looked like his nation’s brightest spark on the night.
Izzy Christiansen noted that Foden and Bellingham struggled to gel together when they occupied the left-hand side of the attack for England in their bore draw against Slovenia.
The pundit told BBC Sport: “What I have noticed is that Jude Bellingham is coming over to the left as well as Phil Foden. It feels like a deliberate move to get them closer together, so they can combine to create an overload and then find a way to break through that Slovenia defence.”
“The movement between the two of them has been a little delayed and is lacking rhythm and intensity. I don’t think it is working at the moment.”
Gareth Southgate is struggling to get the best out of Phil Foden in particular
It is hard to disagree with Izzy Christiansen as there seemed to be a lack of clarity in the roles both Foden and Bellingham were supposed to play for England against Slovenia.
The pair rotated with each other — with one of them roaming into midfield if the other was at left-wing.
But as Wayne Rooney rightly pointed out before the game, the pair were often getting in each other’s way on the left-hand side of the attack.
Manchester City’s number 47, in particular, has struggled at the tournament, with Gareth Southgate persisting with him as his first-choice left-winger.
When Foden does roam into his favoured number 10 position, there seem to be no recognisable patterns of play drilled into his teammates by Southgate to find him in dangerous areas — as was once again the case against Slovenia.
At this point, it seems like Gareth Southgate could take either of two decisions when it comes to the 24-year-old; persisting with him on the left-wing or dropping the decorated attacker for a natural winger.
Considering the wonderful season Foden had coming into the European Championship, it is a shame that the England boss is yet to crack the code on how to best utilise the twinkle-toed attacker.
