Manchester City saw three players selected to represent England in the 2024 European Championship.
After helping Pep Guardiola’s side win their sixth Premier League trophy in seven years at the end of the previous season, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden were chosen to be part of England’s 26-man squad for this summer’s tournament in Germany.
In fact, all three of them have started the three group games Gareth Southgate’s side have played so far.
Now that the knockout stage is on the horizon, one pundit has claimed that the England boss has not been utilising one of City’s English players properly and should be playing him in a different role than the one he has been throughout the competition.
Scott Minto reckons Gareth Southgate is not getting the best out of Phil Foden at Euro 2024
Reflecting on the 0-0 draw against Slovenia, Minto had this to say on a recent edition of Euros All Access on the subject of how Southgate sets his England side up and where he’s been playing Phil Foden, in particular.
He said: “But he’s handcuffing himself with his initial team selection and his insistence on the system. Because he’s a pragmatic manager, he wants the 4-2-3-1, and he can’t shake himself out of it.
“Whereas I actually think one change elsewhere changes everything. You put [Anthony] Gordon on the left, you put Foden in the middle, and you drop [Jude] Bellingham back a little bit.
“I’m hearing on the radio, pundits and fans wanting the same thing. But it’s almost now that Gareth feels he can’t do that, or it’s in his DNA that he has to have the 4-2-3-1.
“Bellingham is not doing it as a number 10 at the moment. Foden’s trying his best, but we can’t get the best out of him in that position and there’s absolutely no pace down the left-hand side.”
Foden would flourish in an attacking-midfield role
This isn’t the first time a talkSPORT pundit has urged Southgate to play the City star in a more central role, as Gabby Agbonlahor said the same thing even before the 1-1 draw with Denmark.
In his latest domestic season with City, the 24-year-old scored 13 goals in 15 appearances when playing as an attacking-midfielder.
This makes us feel that this role would help Southgate get the best out of Foden in an England shirt.