Phil Foden is England’s brightest star but where should the Stockport Iniesta be deployed at Euro 2024? OLIVER HOLT gives his verdict
The Stockport Iniesta selection debate becomes less and less complicated with each match-winning performance he produces for Manchester City.
The question is no longer whether Gareth Southgate will pick Phil Foden to start for England at this summer’s European Championship. The only question now is where he will play it.
Foden has simplified that debate all on his own. His two goals against Manchester United on Sunday were just the latest manifestation of the blossoming of a special talent. It has gotten to the point where, even in an England team full of attacking power, it is unthinkable that he will be left out.
It made the heart sing when I heard Pep Guardiola’s tribute to him on Sunday and heard him say that ‘he lives to play football’. Foden’s nickname may be a nod to his roots and a childhood spent in the shadows of Stockport County’s Edgeley Park ground, but if the Iniesta part of it started out as a far-fetched tribute, it doesn’t feel that way anymore.
After the win over United, the City boss mentioned him in the same breath as Lionel Messi in another burst of clarity. It was unthinkable that Spain would have left Prime Minister Iniesta out of their starting XI and it is now unthinkable that England will leave Foden out of their starting XI.
Phil Foden put in a sparkling performance during Man City’s 3-1 win over rivals Man United
The City Academy graduate bagged a brace as the hosts turned the match on its head to win
Gareth Southgate must now figure out where Foden fits into his England plans for Euro 2024
It wasn’t just his goals in the Manchester derby that made Foden stand out on Sunday. It was his overall performance. In an excellent City team he was the outstanding player. He tortured the United defenses all afternoon. In the run-up to his second goal, he literally walked circles around Casemiro.
Certainly, there are those who like to characterize Southgate as an overly cautious manager and worry that the England boss will still try to find reasons not to choose Foden and instead shore up his midfield with Kalvin Phillips or Jordan Henderson . Those concerns are now outdated.
Teams evolve quickly in the white heat of the build-up to a tournament and even if Southgate takes some convincing on how to accommodate Foden’s special talent in his squad without upsetting the balance, Foden has dismissed all those concerns and more with the way he plays for City.
He is not only excellent in the future. He is not only technically brilliant. As the post-match analysis of his performance against United underlined, he is also a diligent team player, a player who does not neglect his defensive duties and understands what it takes to keep a place in the best club in the world.
Southgate may be a conservative manager, but he wants to win football matches and crown his years in charge of England with a first major tournament victory since 1966. He was at the Etihad on Sunday and he saw a player who is not only a match winner, but he also saw a player who will not let him down. He saw a jewel. He spotted a player he needs to add to his no-drop list.
As England head towards clashes with Brazil and Belgium at the end of this month, Harry Kane is also on that list. And Bukayo Saka. And of course Jude Bellingham. And Declan Rice. And John Stones. And Kyle Walker. And Jordan Pickford. It is mainly a tribute to Guardiola that Foden is now also on that list.
It is now unthinkable that Foden will not start for England when the tournament begins
Pep Guardiola has carefully crafted Foden’s career and helped nurture his talent
Guardiola has carefully crafted Foden’s career. He has nurtured his talent during times when agitators said Foden was being held back or marginalized and should be sent out on loan. Guardiola has ensured that he has not gone the way of so many other great English talents, dismissed as a dilettante or an outsider.
When Stan Bowles died last month, it led to an outpouring of loving tributes to a special talent, but also to an outpouring of regret that Bowles had earned just five caps for England. Tony Currie, another extravagant talent, was limited to 17 caps. Frank Worthington got eight caps.
Foden’s career should not be sidetracked like this. His talent and Guardiola’s appreciation for it have ensured that. Southgate deserves some credit too. Foden has already won 31 caps for his country. He is not destined for a cameo role for England. He is destined to become one of our most important players.
Where? That question remains partly because Foden is so gifted that he can play in both midfield and the attacking line. My own preference would be to play him on one side of Kane, with Saka on the other. I’d have Rice, Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, but that might be a step too far towards adventure.
A front three of Harry Kane (L), Bukayo Saka (R) and Phil Foden would be my preference
Some will argue that Foden is being sidelined, but that ignores the fact that Foden, like Nottingham Forest’s great left winger John Robertson, has the talent to be a playmaker from almost anywhere on the pitch. He dictated the game on Sunday from a nominally wide position. He could do that for England too.
As City chase another Treble and push relentlessly on all fronts, Foden is at the heart of their campaign. On Sunday, when Guardiola’s side take on Liverpool and Klopp’s Kids, Foden will stand out as an example of a rare talent who has been trained by a club’s academy to the point where his skills are now in full bloom at the age of 23 come.
Perhaps it is a good thing that there is now a debate about whether Bellingham or Foden is England’s greatest talent. Who cares, honestly? Southgate is a lucky manager to have both at his disposal. Where to play the Stockport Iniesta is no problem. It’s a privilege.
Farewell Ten Hag?
It is becoming increasingly difficult to see a long-term future for Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
I love Ten Hag and it is clear that, like several United managers before him, he has been let down by the club hierarchy, but he has had to put out so many fires and face so many blind players that all the dynamism in his reign has ended.
He obviously bears some responsibility for that. Antony, for example, was his signing and he has been a spectacularly expensive failure.
On Sunday, United played like a National League team against Manchester City, a team hoping for a massive kill against an elite team. Progress has come to a standstill.
United look as far away from the top sides as ever. Everything about Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s involvement with the club points to a more dynamic approach and that means a farewell to Ten Hag in the summer.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to see a long-term future for Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford
F1’s moral compass
Lewis Hamilton weighed in on the controversy surrounding Red Bull team boss Christian Horner last week.
βIt is a very important moment for the sport to ensure that we stay true to our values,β he said. I’m not being funny, but I didn’t know F1 had values.
That’s not even a criticism, just an expression of my own ignorance.
I love F1 and I have a lot of respect for the drivers and the teams that compete in it, but I have never associated it with a moral compass. Maybe they can let us know more ahead of the next race in Saudi Arabia.