Cesc Fabregas urges Phil Foden to ‘step up’ his England performances after Serbia win in Euro 2024 opener… as Micah Richards laments ‘sad’ showing from the Man City midfielder
Cesc Fabregas has urged Phil Foden to ‘step up’ after his performance against Serbia.
The Manchester City midfielder played the whole game for England in their Euro 2024 opener against Serbia on Sunday night, starting on the left of a four-man attack.
England started well but faded as the match progressed and held on somewhat late in the match, raising eyebrows after the Gelsenkirchen match given England’s title as favourites.
Foden played alongside Jude Bellingham – the England goalscorer – Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane, but England struggled to threaten as the match progressed and Serbia chased an equalizer.
Fabregas spoke about the match as a pundit on the BBC and singled out Foden in particular for criticism, calling on the Premier League player of the season to improve his game for his country.
Cesc Fabregas has urged Phil Foden (pictured) to ‘step up’ his game when he plays for England
Fabregas (pictured) analyzed England’s performance in their opening Euro 2024 match against Serbia
England struggled with the ball throughout the match but managed to get three points on the board in their Euro opener
‘You just say mentality? No, it’s all about the mentality,” Fabregas began. ‘You can’t tell me that players like Trent, Foden, Bellingham and Rice don’t have the quality to hold the ball anywhere on the pitch.
‘It’s about: do you want it enough to make a difference and keep the ball for your team? Do you want to make things happen? Do you like to put pressure on the ball?
“They let them have the ball once they got deep in the second half, and when they started to press a bit more we started to see Foden hitting the ball without looking 40 yards. Trent, they don’t like this.
‘You will never see Xavi and Iniesta, the top players of the last fifteen or twenty years, do that. You must take this responsibility to grow. I think the second half was a bit disappointing. I would say that is the right word. And I think players like Foden need to go a step further. This is the moment for them to take on a big tournament with their country behind them.’
Foden had been criticized for his performances in the build-up to the match, having excelled for City but seemingly struggled to step up for England.
He was largely anonymous again on Sunday as England’s attack struggled throughout after their early goal.
Micah Richards, a fan and former City player who also spoke on the BBC, gave a candid analysis of the 24-year-old’s performance.
Foden recently won the Premier League again with Manchester City and was crowned the division’s Player of the Season
Micah Richards admitted it is ‘sad’ that England are struggling to get the best out of the midfielder
“It makes me sad that a player of his quality just comes in and out of the game,” he said. “It’s just disappointing that we can’t get the best out of him.”
He then compared his efforts to those of Paul Scholes, who was ushered in wide in an era when he competed with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard for places in midfield.
“It didn’t work at all,” he said of Scholes’ involvement. ‘I completely agree with Cesc at the moment, Bellingham smells the opportunity to be the leading player. But with the quality of Foden it’s just disappointing that we can’t get the best out of him.
‘He played the number 10 role in the game against Iceland. He didn’t play that well, but I would like to have more opportunities in that role.’