Phil Foden was in the starting XI when England beat Albania 2-0, but was only a substitute in their win against Latvia 3-0 in the recent FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
These marked Thomas Tuchel’s first match in charge of the Three Lions. The 53-year-old German must not have been too impressed by his team’s display despite the win over their lowly opposition.
For England, Marcus Rashford made a return to international football, starting on the left flank. Phil Foden started on the right, Jude Bellingham as the No. 10 and Harry Kane as the striker.
Phil Foden fails to impress once again
Both Foden and Rashford had unimpressive outings on the day. Foden’s form has seen a downward trend since the European Championships last year.
The right-winger, who will turn 25 this May, has had an underwhelming season for Manchester City as well.
Foden has scored 10 goals in 38 matches so far this season for the Cityzens. Last season, Foden scored 27 goals in 52 matches and also won the PFA Player of the Season award.
However, since the Euro 2024, he has experienced a major slump in his form.
Foden has made 44 international appearances for England and is experienced enough at that level. However, his return of only four goals and eight assists in those appearances does not do him justice, given his obvious talent as a player.
Lamine Yamal has the exactly same goals/assists numbers, having played 25 fewer matches.
England have Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer, both of whom can play on the right flank and are in better form than Foden. Both were unavailable against Albania and as a result, Foden got a chance to feature in the starting XI.
With someone like Anthony Gordon being in good form as the left-winger, Foden should find it difficult to feature on the left flank as well.
As it stands, the young Englishman’s chance of being a regular starter for his country will only increase if Tuchel decides to make England with a 3-5-1-1 formation.
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No Change in Formation
Tuchel seems to favour the 4-2-3-1 formation at the moment and used it in both matches this international break.
Playing with a back-three will mean that he will have to play Saka or Palmer as a left wing-back, which is not their preferred position anyway.
Moreover, with a talented young left-back like Myles Lewis-Skelly, who scored against Albania on the day, in his squad, Tuchel should not be thinking about starting with a back-three.
That means that in the future, Foden will have to fight it out with Saka and Palmer for a place on the right flank.
He can still make the cut ahead of Rashford and Gordon, but as his performance as a left-winger in Euro 2024 suggested, he is not very comfortable playing there and does not play in that position for his club either.
As things turned out, Foden did not start in England’s 3-0 win over Latvia on Monday, March 24.
Therefore, the only way for Foden is to improve his performance. He still has a long career ahead of him and should be able to improve upon his performance for his club and country.
It remains to be seen whether Tuchel will help him to find his groove for the Three Lions in the next international break.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Colorsport
Recording Date: 21.03.2025