The international break has just been and gone, and, once again, one of the big talking points around the England camp has been Phil Foden.
England were decent, if uninspiring, in their first two games under Thomas Tuchel last week, and, once again, Phil Foden’s performances were questioned.
Fans criticised Foden after his performance against Albania, while Darren Bent claimed Foden should leave Man City after his latest England outings.
However, Gary Neville went out to bat for Foden this week on Stick to Football.
Indeed, Neville says that Foden should be in the England team no matter what due to his talent.
“It’s the age old thing with England. Some players have to be in form to play, other players will get played irrespective of the club form. So managers with England for the years have been to eight tournaments and I know how they think is that ultimately Harry Kane, doesn’t matter what he’s scored in his last five games for his club, is going to play for England,” Neville said.
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“Shearer didn’t score all the way up to the Euros, Les was never going to play, Fowler was never going to play, it’s going to be Shearer because he’s just Shearer, right? Foden should be that player for me.”
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Gabriel Agbonlahor has reacted to Neville’s comments, stating that he believes this view to be ‘absolute garbage’.
Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Gabriel Agbonlahor disagrees with Gary Neville’s Phil Foden verdict
Agbonlahor shared his verdict after hearing what Neville had to say about Foden.
The pundit claimed that Foden hasn’t been good enough this season, stating that he shouldn’t be guaranteed a place in the England team.
“Listen, Foden’s an outstanding player, Player of the Season last season, but his numbers have dropped this season,” Agbonlahor said.
“So far he has seven goals in 24 Premier League games. Last season he had 19 in 35. His numbers have dropped. He’s not going to get to them goals.
“Sometimes you can have a top player and it doesn’t work for them in the international team. No way can Foden be guaranteed to start.
“Foden doesn’t look like he can do it on the wing, especially for England. You can’t say he should be guaranteed. I think Neville is coming from the case that Scholes didn’t play as much as he should have.
“I remember the Euros in 2021 when he dyed his hair blonde and he couldn’t do anything in that tournament. He hasn’t performed in an England shirt, and to say that he should be a guaranteed starter is absolute garbage.
“He just hasn’t done it, on that right side, you could have Palmer, Saka, you have Bowen as well. There’s Eze, Rashford, Bellingham in that number 10 position, it’s a banker isn’t it?
Phil Foden Man City stats compared to England
Phil Foden is a wonderful footballer, there’s no doubt about it, but, for some reason, he just can’t seem to find his best form for England.
Certain players really step up a level when they play for their country – Miroslav Klose is arguably the best international striker in history, despite not being all that amazing at club level, while someone like Danny Welbeck always seemed to save his best performances for England too.
However, Foden seems to regress when he plays for England, and the stats show it.
|Phil Foden for Man City|Phil Foden for England|
|---|---|---|
|308|Games|44|
|97|Goals|4|
|60|Assists|9|
|0.31|Goals per game|0.09|
|0.19|Assists per game|0.2|
The strange thing is, Foden is often playing against weaker opposition for England too.
Indeed, while Foden has been able to score big goals in big games against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and even Real Madrid in the past, he’s often drawn blanks against the likes of San Marino, Albania and Andorra for England.
Something just isn’t clicking for Foden when he plays for England, and maybe Thomas Tuchel should have a word with Pep Guardiola to try and figure out what the problem is here.