Roy Keane delivered a withering assessment of Phil Foden’s performance against Albania and believes it doesn’t bode well for his chances of starting for England under new boss Thomas Tuchel.
The Three Lions dispatched of Friday night’s opponents with relative ease as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Harry Kane both scored to kick off the World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win.
Tuchel was not impressed by the performances of his two wingers, Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford, telling ITV after the final whistle that neither player made an impact.
The German tactician said: “We lacked a bit of runs off the ball, so it was a bit too much passing and not enough dribbling. Not aggressive enough towards goal.
“They were very good in the last weeks in their clubs. We will keep encouraging them and give them a structure so they can show their potential.”
Read – Tuchel unimpressed with two England stars following Albania win
Keane was even more critical of Foden after the Manchester City star failed to take a shot or create a shot before being hauled off in the 74th minute.
“If you’re one of them attacking players and you’ve come off the pitch and you’ve dominated a game like that against a poor Albania team… you’ve not scored a goal, you’ve not had a shot on target, you’ve not tested the goalkeeper. You would be disappointed because you’re there to affect games,” the former Manchester United captain said on ITV.
“You’ve got a new manager, you want to make a good impression. Rashford and Foden certainly didn’t do that today.
“I think [Foden] might be lacking in confidence. He’s definitely off it, his club form is not great. We know he’s got that quality but even tonight when he was getting it… when Foden’s at his best, you’re sitting there going, ‘Something’s going to happen.’
“Even when he cuts in, gets the pass out, gets a shot away. He did none of that today. When he got the ball tonight… I don’t expect anything from Foden at the moment.”
Roy Keane says Phil Foden ‘won’t be playing’ under Tuchel
Foden was positioned on the right side of the front three rather than his preferred attacking midfield role, but Keane wasn’t having that as an excuse for his poor performance – and suggested he won’t have a place in Tuchel’s team going forward.
“You can’t go down that road again of where he wants to play,” the Irishman said. “Wherever he’s playing, you [need to] affect the game. You affect the game in different ways. He didn’t do that tonight.
“Foden won’t have that problem coming up about where he wants to be playing because he won’t be playing.”
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