English fans, so given to inventing multiple chants to praise their players, during this Euro Cup have agreed that one should prevail above all others. The one dedicated to Phil Foden is always the most repeated in the prelude to matches and at the start of these. The crowning of the Manchester City striker as the best player of the last Premier League provoked among English fans one of their proud and endogamous syllogisms. If Foden has been the best player in the English championship, he will also be the most outstanding footballer of the Euro Cup. So in the subway, in the trams, in the surroundings of the stadiums or on the terraces where they sharpen and refine their throats with liters of beer by the bucketful, English fans have worshipped him with devotion with “Phil Foden it’s on fire” to the rhythm of the chorus of Dancing in the darkby Bruce Springsteen. However, the expectations created around his figure have not been met.
Foden has neither danced nor shone on the five fields he has stepped on so far in the Euros. He himself admitted, when the criticism against him became widespread after the round of 16 match in which England almost got eliminated against Slovakia, that he also demanded to be the best player of the tournament after being chosen as the best player of the English championship. “I have been a bit frustrated,” Foden admitted. “I am not going to lie. I want to try to score, do better things for England. It has not worked, but it is about maintaining a good mentality. I have not been the best player in the Premier League to come here and not show it,” he said. Foden ended by thanking Bellingham. The goal with a bicycle kick by the Real Madrid player in the 95th minute that forced extra time allowed him to continue in the tournament that he left for a day to attend the birth of his third child. “I thought: ‘I am 30 seconds away from feeding the baby at home’. “So thanks to Jude for that… he saved me. It’s amazing, it just sums up Jude. He never gives up until the very end.”
The Real Madrid player is part of the equations that try to explain Foden’s poor performance because there are times when his positions are stacked. Above all, when Foden, fed up with not getting the ball because he plays too close to the left flank, drops back to receive it. “I don’t agree with that,” he said when asked about this juxtaposition on the pitch with Bellingham.
That false left wing position is also at the centre of the analysis to explain why Foden does not perform under Southgate as he did under Pep Guardiola at City. Heat maps reveal that Foden plays more constrained on the left with England. At his club, he starts from the right, but the sprawl of his range of action extends voluminously towards the centre. The comparison of Foden’s attacking records with City and England is also revealing. Under Guardiola, Foden averages 5.8 actions in the box per game and at this Euro, 1.4. The number of chances created (2.1) and the number of shots (3) are also higher at club than at national team (1.2 and 1.8).
Southgate had already denied the issue in the March friendlies, when he was asked why he didn’t make him play more centrally. “Ask Pep, who is the best coach in the world, where he puts Foden?” the England manager replied.
For Southgate, the only difference is that Guardiola starts him on the right. “He might miss playing with a left-footed player behind him because Trippier is right-footed and he doesn’t go as deep as when he plays on the right and this means Foden has to play closer to the wing,” explains one analyst who works for a Premier League club. Southgate said yesterday that Shaw, who made his comeback in the second half of the quarter-final against Switzerland, “is ready to start”, although he did not guarantee it. If the United full-back is fielded, it may be that Foden can be seen to be on fire and dancing for the first time at this Euro.
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