Phil Foden

After he scored his first, you had a feeling he’d get a second as the Brentford defence couldn’t track him at all. His second goal shows that he has the skill set to be a top class player— if he isn’t already.
 
S7DiscoDown said:
A terrific player. Criminally under used by England....

Meanwhile Southgate was watching Jordan Henderson play for Ajax😂
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Has he been "criminally under used" though? I didn't look forensically but I think he's played in something like 28 of Englands last 35 games. Including starting our last two knock out games at the world cup. He was a starter at the last Euros but then picked up a bit of a knock if I remember rightly and didn't feature in the latter stages much.
Southgate doesn't need to watch Foden, if he's fit he will be in the starting X1 at the next Euros.
 
TheBlueButterfly said:
Wasn't there someone on here before who said he wasn't that good/overrated? :ROFLMAO:
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You're probably on about me, though there are a handful of us on here who think the love-fest for him is a bit much at times.

He was often touted, when younger, as being the 'English Messi'. So far (nearly 24), he's not even been England's best player at any point, or City's, so he's certainly no one's Messi. A hat-trick against Brentford doesn't change that.

That doesn't mean I don't think he's very good though. He is clearly a quality player and always has been. Even if his form has often been a bit up and down. Last season Pep only started him in around half the games in PL/CL because he never quite hit top gear for very long. He's also struggled to hold down a starting berth for England for similar reasons at the majors.

I don't think I see him picking up Ballon d'Ors etc in the future, like Bellingham potentially could. But that doesn't mean I don't think he's very good. He is of the Scholes sort of level, I'd say.
 
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The difficulty is where does he play for England.

Gareth will opt for either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation.

Saka has the right position and Bellingham is playing as a number 10 for Real so that leaves the left position - im sure Foden could do it but its not where is most effective. He really has to be down the middle or at a push coming in from the right but i dont think Gareth would drop Saka or Bellingham for him.

I would personally like to see us be a bit more attacking and go for a 433 with Rice as designated holder and having both Foden and Bellingham ahead of him leaving just the left of the front three to be decided.

We really need both Jude and Foden starting
 
KDG said:
The difficulty is where does he play for England.

Gareth will opt for either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation.

Saka has the right position and Bellingham is playing as a number 10 for Real so that leaves the left position - im sure Foden could do it but its not where is most effective. He really has to be down the middle or at a push coming in from the right but i dont think Gareth would drop Saka or Bellingham for him.

I would personally like to see us be a bit more attacking and go for a 433 with Rice as designated holder and having both Foden and Bellingham ahead of him leaving just the left of the front three to be decided.

We really need both Jude and Foden starting
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Bellingham played upfront for Real on Sunday night, sort of false 9. He was pretty crap in truth, though, partly because he and Rodrygo seemed to be trying to play the same role.
 
I'm not convinced Bellingham will start as far forward for England. Think he could sit in a two with Rice, certainly in the "easier" games.

That said, if Ancelotti thinks his best position is further forward, and considering the quality available to Real, it might be a brave decision to play him anywhere else.
 
KDG said:
The difficulty is where does he play for England.

Gareth will opt for either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation.

Saka has the right position and Bellingham is playing as a number 10 for Real so that leaves the left position - im sure Foden could do it but its not where is most effective. He really has to be down the middle or at a push coming in from the right but i dont think Gareth would drop Saka or Bellingham for him.

I would personally like to see us be a bit more attacking and go for a 433 with Rice as designated holder and having both Foden and Bellingham ahead of him leaving just the left of the front three to be decided.

We really need both Jude and Foden starting
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Another option would be to go with Pep's 3-2-4-1 formation and have Bellingham and Foden as the two 10's, but I doubt Southgate will want to try a completely new formation at this late stage.
 
He's fantastic.

He has to start in England's 11. Foden, Saka and Jude are the future and need to be in our first 11 whenever they're fit. It's a simple as that.

There's no surprise that a run of games this season and he's producing some of his best stuff.

He was hampered a little last season with appendicitis which meant he couldn't nail down a spot in Man City's first 11 - and who could fault Pep really. They won the treble, with ease really.

There is no doubt he will go down as one of Man City's greatest ever players when he retires and he will likely go down as Man City's most decorated footballer. He's 24 years old and he's won everything, and whilst Pep is there, he will likely continue to collect trophies at a fast rate.

I doubt Southgate will adopt an approach which allows both Jude and Foden as #8s or #10s, because we don't have the defensive players to cover on the transition but Southgate does need to include them both in the first 11 at every opportunity.

They would both walk in any other nation's first 11, without any question.
 
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changingman said:
I'm not convinced Bellingham will start as far forward for England. Think he could sit in a two with Rice, certainly in the "easier" games.

That said, if Ancelotti thinks his best position is further forward, and considering the quality available to Real, it might be a brave decision to play him anywhere else.
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He has played as a 10 in his last few England games. Off the top of my head I know he played in that position against Italy and Scotland recently. He was probably the best player in both those games.
That's why it's not necessarily an entirely defensive decision to go with two sitting midfielders, as it will enable England to play with a true front 4 of hopefully Saka, Foden, Bellingham and Kane. They all started in our last two tournament games.
 
The Card Cheat said:
Has he been "criminally under used" though? I didn't look forensically but I think he's played in something like 28 of Englands last 35 games. Including starting our last two knock out games at the world cup. He was a starter at the last Euros but then picked up a bit of a knock if I remember rightly and didn't feature in the latter stages much.
Southgate doesn't need to watch Foden, if he's fit he will be in the starting X1 at the next Euros.
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His last few games for England.
North Macedonia, played 90, 7.8* - 1 assist
Malta, played 90, 7.9* - 1 assist
Italy, played 90, 7.1*
Australia, played 18, 6.6*
Scotland, played 70, 7.4* - 1 goal
Ukraine, played 26, 6.4*
North Macedonia, played 33, 6.2*
Malta, played 45, 7.1*
Ukraine, not in the squad
Italy, played 12, 6.0*
France, played 85, 6.9*
Senegal, played 65, 7.8* - 2 assists

He's a key player now and i'd be shocked if he wasn't one of the first names on the teamsheet.
 
Marvanelli said:
He's fantastic.

He has to start in England's 11. Foden, Saka and Jude are the future and need to be in our first 11 whenever they're fit. It's a simple as that.

There's no surprise that a run of games this season and he's producing some of his best stuff.

He was hampered a little last season with appendicitis which meant he couldn't nail down a spot in Man City's first 11 - and who could fault Pep really. They won the treble, with ease really.

There is no doubt he will go down as one of Man City's greatest ever players when he retires and he will likely go down as Man City's most decorated footballer. He's 24 years old and he's won everything, and whilst Pep is there, he will likely continue to collect trophies at a fast rate.

I doubt Southgate will adopt an approach which allows both Jude and Foden as #8s or #10s, because we don't have the defensive players to cover on the transition but Southgate does need to include them both in the first 11 at every opportunity.

They would both walk in any other nation's first 11, without any question.
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Don't disagree with any of that Marv, but I do have to pull you up on Foden's age. He's still only 23.
 
LaPennaBianca said:
You should play two holding midfielders z especially if one is Rice who can progress the ball. It gives Bellingham more freedom.
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I'm not so sure about two holding midfielders, I think one is enough if there's 4 defenders behind. We've had some decent midfield partnerships over the years but they've only had one to do the dirty work of the two.
 
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