Cesc Fabregas Disappointed in Phil Foden During England 1-0 Serbia

Cesc Fabregas gave an honest review of Phil Foden’s performance in England’s opening Euro 2024 match against Serbia. The former midfielder didn’t hold back in his assessment after the Manchester City ace struggled to have a telling impact on the encounter.

Foden is often deployed on the left wing for his country, which is a different role from the one he tends to play for his club. The 23-year-old operates best in the pockets of space in between the opposition midfield and defence, either in central areas or cutting in from the right flank.

While he didn’t do much wrong in the narrow 1-0 success over Serbia, Foden will have been left feeling disappointed at his own display as he struggled to get as heavily involved in dangerous positions as he so often does for the Premier League champions. Fabregas shared that underwhelming feeling as he disagreed with Micah Richards about the Englishman’s performance.

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Cesc Fabregas Claims Foden Can Do Better

He was disappointed in the Man City star

On BBC Sport’s post-match coverage of the game, Richards noted that Foden picked up good positions in the opening exchanges before becoming anonymous as the game went on. The retired defender said: “He wasn’t involved. At Manchester City, we obviously know it’s choreographed with the system and the movements and all those sorts of things. But it makes me sad when I see a player of this quality just in and out of games.”

Fabregas echoed the sentiments of the ex-Man City player, but at the same time drew comparisons to Jude Bellingham, who was named Man of the Match on the night. The Spaniard said:

Richards responded by saying: “I totally agree with you, but Jude, in the centre of the park, he can do that. Off the ball, [Foden] is coming from a wide position. It’s very difficult when Jude’s got the freedom of the pitch and Phil is having to go from pressing out wide, to coming in midfield.”

Fabregas was firm in his final point that he believes Foden can get more involved in the game regardless of the position and way he is asked to play by Gareth Southgate:

Phil Foden’s Best Position

The attacker often struggles on the left

The amount of attacking talent the Three Lions have at their disposal makes it extremely difficult to get Foden into his best positions. Bukayo Saka has been a standout performer for the nation on the right wing, while Bellingham operates in the centre of the pitch, where Foden would often look to drift into.

Southgate has a tough call on his hands as England head into their second group game of the competition against Denmark. Anthony Gordon could come into the side and play on the left flank, allowing Foden to move central, but this would also mean dropping one of the central midfielders.

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All statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt (Correct as of 17/06/2024)