Phil Foden still has a significant role to play at the World Cup, insists England coach Gareth Southgate, as the demand for the forward to start against Wales grows.
Foden, a star player for Manchester City, has only made one substitute appearance in Qatar thus far. He came on in the 6-2 victory over Iran, which was effectively already a victory.
In the 0-0 draw with the USA, Southgate chose to use Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, and Marcus Rashford from the bench instead of Foden.
Some people were unhappy with the choice, and many spectators thought Foden should have been involved more in the tournament.
Southgate has also given a strong indication that he is prepared to unleash Foden ahead of Tuesday's match against Wales.
'We love Phil, he is a super player,' the England boss told ITV Sport.
'He was into the first game, we decided not to put him into the second. But he is going to play an important part in this tournament for us, there is no question about that.
'We haven't got any issue with Phil. In September he started both games for us and we put him into the game versus Iran.
'We decided to stick with that team and we felt the changes required something a little different for the USA.
'But we are intending to be here as long as we can. And he is a super player and we think the world of him. And he is going to play a big part.
'He can play off either wing. He can play as a false nine. He can play behind a striker, he doesn't do that as often for his club. He works hard for the team and of course he has fabulous technical ability.'
No comments:
Post a Comment