Three Lions boast best player in Germany, Spain and England after Foden award – but can Gareth Southgate make it work?
PHIL FODEN’S election as FWA Footballer of the Year is a deserved triumph for the Manchester City schemer.
But it serves to exemplify the dilemma facing Gareth Southgate this summer – how to create a winning recipe from the finest ingredients an England manager has had for years.
The Three Lions boss can now field the best individual player in England, Germany and Spain in the shape of Foden, skipper Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
He also has one of the finest defensive midfielders in the world in Declan Rice, plus Bukayo Saka, a right-wing option who would walk into most of the Euro 2024 starting teams.
Yet Southgate’s key decisions over precisely how he will piece the England jigsaw together remain unclear – with the tournament just six weeks away.
As recently as the start of February, Southgate seemed to have made a decision. It was going to be Bellingham at the centre of a line of three behind Kane, probably with Foden on the left and Saka on the right.
Why? Well, Southgate’s own words made it clear.
Referring to Bellingham’s move into an advanced role for Real, rather than as the central midfielder he had been at Dortmund and, previously, for England, he said: “Yes, it’s definitely different to where we started him.
“But when he’s having the success in the role he has it would be silly not to mirror that in terms of where he will play.”
That left the question mark over who would start alongside Rice, especially with Kalvin Phillips having fallen off a cliff and Jordan Henderson’s Saudi mistake.
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Yet three months on, and Bellingham’s role at Real has evolved again, mainly reverting to a deeper starting position, allowing him to arrive on the scene at the right moment slightly later.
Indeed, arguably Bellingham’s least effective recent performance came against Kane’s Bayern Munich on Tuesday, when he started as the most advanced midfielder.
Three ways Phil Foden has been transformed into Man City, and England's, most important player
By Lee Scott
PHIL FODEN ran away with the voting for Footballer of the Year – and it’s easy to see why.
Foden has been transformed into Man City’s new David Silva and England’s Euro 2024 swiss army knife.
Initially used sparingly by Pep Guardiola, the Stockport technician has become a key player for City.
Foden’s his tactical intelligence and game understanding make him stand out week in, week out – even in City’s team of expensively-assembled superstars.
From playing the final pass and running between the lines to leading the press, Foden really can do it all.
Click here to read our tactical analysis of the Premier League’s best player.
So if Southgate accepts that Ancelotti is right, it means Bellingham – rather than Manchester United’s teenage prodigy Kobbie Mainoo or any of the alternatives – as Rice’s partner.
And that allows Foden to have the freedom of the field at 10, rather than being shunted out on the left.
Since the turn of the year, Foden has scored a staggering 15 goals for City in just 20 appearances, with 11 of them in a mere 12 Premier League games.
Add in the goals and chances he constructs and it is hard to argue against Foden as the creative hub of Southgate’s side, filling the space left when Kane pushes on to the opposing centre-halves and able to run in behind, too, if the skipper drops into space.
With Saka a certainty on the right, England will have the ability to stretch teams and hurt them.
But it does leave a left-sided issue for the manager to solve.
Once upon a time that would have been Raheem Sterling, although he is out of favour now, perhaps for good.
Marcus Rashford, despite his United tribulations, will be in the squad, as will Jack Grealish, although James Maddison’s post-injury dip for Spurs could see him miss out, even from the 26-man party that Uefa are now likely to confirm – especially given Cole Palmer’s brilliance for Chelsea.
Yet the option that could emerge is a player who only made his debut against Brazil in March and has played just 86 England minutes.
Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon loves it on the left and has pace in abundance. He is full of self-belief and a goal threat too, with 11 strikes to his name this term.
It would leave Southgate with plenty of bench alternatives too.
So there you have it. Kane at centre forward, Saka, Foden and Gordon behind him, Rice paired with Bellingham.
Good enough to win the Euros? I think so. Mind you, have you seen that England defence?
Inside humble Phil Foden's family life
By Jon Boon
PHIL FODEN may be flashy on the pitch, but the Premier League’s Player of the Year is a humble family man off it.
The Man City superstar earns an astonishing salary believed to be £11.7million-per-year.
But the Stockport kid is frugal with his cash as he enjoys his down time with childhood sweetheart Rebecca and their two kids.
Foden only passed his driving test last year… and turns up for training in City’s glittering club car park in a £40k VOLKSWAGEN.
And in his spare time he loves nothing more than a FISHING trip.
He celebrated his first big City contract by buying his mum and dad a Cheshire mansion and lives with them until 2021.
But Foden has now splashed out on a luxury £3million mansion for his own growing family.
Click here for to find out all about Foden’s glamorous life…
