"A similar scenario to Paul Scholes" - Manchester United legend believes England star is being misused by Gareth Southgate
Former Manchester United striker Andy Cole believes Garreth Southgate is misusing Phil Foden like England previously did with Paul Scholes. He claims that the Manchester City star should be playing down the middle and not on the left wing.
Speaking on BetFred, Cole stated that Southgate was not getting the best out of Foden by playing him on the left flank. He wants the manager to make the tough choice and drop the Manchester City star if he cannot be played in his best position. He said:
"I won't be the only person that says this but to get the best out of Phil Foden, you need to play him where he plays for Manchester City. It's a similar scenario to Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard when Scholesy had to play on the left-hand side of the midfield for England."
He added:
"You're accommodating players because you have pressure from the outside world and the media are saying that Foden needs to play but ultimately, he ends up being played in a position where they're not going to get the best out of him. As you're not going to get the best out of him, when he doesn't play well it'll be easier to leave him out of the team. Sometimes you can't get all your best players in the starting eleven."
Phil Foden was heavily criticized by football pundit Stuart Pearce after his poor display in England's 1-0 win over Serbia in their Euro 2024 opener. He even wanted the Manchester City star to be taken off after just 29 minutes.
Andy Cole gives bold advice to England manager Gareth Southgate
Andy Cole believes Gareth Southgate should sacrifice Phil Foden to get the best out of his England side. He gave the example of how Didierr Deschamps managed the France players and said:
"It probably would be Foden if someone has to be sacrificed. When you try to accommodate all your best players and it doesn't work out, then a decision has to be made. In management at the international level, you can't please everyone. Look at Didier Deschamps with France, he doesn't try to please everyone. Instead, he tries to pick the best team for specific games."
England will next face Denmark on Thursday, June 20, at Euro 2024. Their final group-stage match will be against Slovenia.