Phil Foden of Manchester City
Phil Foden of Manchester City (Image: Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Roy Keane fired a brutal warning to Manchester City attacker Phil Foden after his performance in England's 2-0 win over Albania, and rightly so.
The former Manchester United hero suggested the 24-year-old will be out of Thomas Tuchel's England plans if improvements are not made, following a disappointing display in Friday night's World Cup qualifier against Albania.
And that is how it should be with the national team. Too long have England relied on star names at the pinnacle of the Premier League, but what have they got to show for it from the Golden Era or Gareth Southgate's time? Absolutely no silverware.
Foden, who shows so much versatility for the national team as he does Man City that it must be commended, found himself on the right flank last night. But at club level the 24-year-old has made no secret of the fact that a central attacking role is one that he favours most.
Watching his showing in an England shirt on Friday night, Keane brutally told ITV Sports: "Listen, Foden won't have that problem coming up about where he wants to play because he won't be playing. That's a bigger problem for him."
The Man City star had no shots, the eighth-most passes plus ninth-most touches of the 16 Englishmen that played prompting the scathing response from Keane. One cross attempted also failed to hit its target on a largely disappointing night from a personal standpoint.
His form at club level hasn't exactly been great this season, but what other options has Pep Guardiola got? When it comes to England Tuchel has a plethora of talent across the country and even some more playing in Europe, so I don't think any player's place should be guaranteed simply because of star-power.
Beforehand, Keane added: "If you're one of them attacking players, you've dominated a game against an Albania side - a poor Albanian team - you've not scored a goal, had a shot on target, you've not tested the goalkeeper, you would be disappointed because you're there to effect games.
"You've got a new manager, want to make a good impression and Rashford and Foden certainly didn't do that tonight."
Sitting alongside the former Manchester United midfielder was fellow pundit Ian Wright, who shared the sentiment.
"Them two are both fortunate to be called in, the way it's going for them at the minute," the former Arsenal striker stated.
"The way they played today is something you'd look at and think, 'yeah, if I'm on the outside of that as an English player from a wing point of view, I'm thinking I've got to step my game up."
England have one more match this international break - another World Cup qualifier again at Wembley Stadium, this time against Latvia.
Whether Tuchel sticks with the XI he named as his preferred selection or opts to test out new combinations remains to be seen. Foden is the only Man City player in his first squad.
The finals of the next major tournament may only be 15 months away and with one season to finish off and another one to play before then, it feels like there should be absolutely nothing to worry about.
But the new national team boss has limited opportunities to work out his strongest squad and within that his strongest XI. Currently, Keane is right - Foden isn't exactly proving why he should be on the plane next summer.