July 4 – As England’s much-maligned team prepare to take on Switzerland in the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 on Saturday, star forward Phil Foden says the players need to shoulder some of the blame for a spate of underwhelming performances.
England manager Gareth Southgate has been widely criticised for tactics that have seen the side, one of the pre-tournament favourites, create very little in the final third in four straight games as they stumbled into the last eight.
But Foden says Southgate is not to blame for the dour displays, with the players falling way short of expectations so far.
“I feel sorry for Gareth. He has not set out to do that,” said the Manchester City forward. “In training he has been telling us to press and be high up on the pitch and I feel like sometimes, it has to come from the players. I feel like the players have got to take some of the blame.”
“There has to be some leaders to get together and find out a solution to why it is not working. There is only so much the manager can do. He sets you up in a system and tells you how to press.”
Foden travelled home both after the final group game and the last-16 victory over Slovakia for the birth of his third child and joked he was “30 seconds away from doing baby feeds at home” before Jude Bellingham’s last-ditch strike in Gelsenkirchen.
Much to the frustration of England fans, who have been singing Foden’s name at the tournament by changing the words to a well-known Bruce Springsteen song, he is still yet to replicate his club form when in an England shirt.
He was voted Premier League player of the year at the end of last season and added: “I’ve not been the best player in the Premier League to come here and not show it. So I feel like every game I’m moving little steps at a time forward and hopefully I can put in good performances for England, that’s always been my aim to show it for national team.”
Foden has frequently found himself occupying a similar position to Bellingham, leading to a debate as to whether the pair can play together.
“I feel we do work good together,” he responded. “It’s just the way the games have gone sometimes and the way football works. I feel like the last game we did build on it really well, in terms of keeping the ball a lot more. I feel like it can hopefully click together.”
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