Star Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden never took the field for England in their disappointing draw against USMNT in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Group B tie on Friday.
Foden’s absence hurt England more, especially as Mason Mount failed to create enough opportunities.
“Every single person that watched the game could see that Foden had to come on for Mount except Southgate. He is the reason this talented England squad will never win anything,” a Twitter user slammed England manager.
“So what has Foden done to Southgate? Answers on a postcard because this is shocking,” another one added.
“Phil Foden created as many chances against the USA as Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Harry Kane. Phil Foden did not play…” a third one said.
Speaking to BBC after the match Southgate said that not bringing on Foden was part of a tactical setup. Contrary to how the fans felt, Southgate strongly defended his decision to not bring on Phil Foden during the match.
“We thought Jack (Grealish) would keep the ball well, and Marcus (Rashford’s) speed would be a threat,” Southgate said, adding, “We lacked a little bit of zip in the forward areas tonight.”
“We thought it was the right thing to keep the team from the start then the wide players we went with Jack (Grealish) and Marcus (Rashford) ahead of Phil (Foden) for the changes,” he added.
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“It wasn’t our best performance for sure,” skipper Harry Kane said after the match. “Had some good spells with the ball, created some good positions, just didn’t quite have the final product today. Great clean-sheet, puts us in a great position in the group.”
When asked what was missing in the attack, Kane said: “We just need to be clinical, I think today was a complete contrast to the other game against Iran. Today we had two or three good opportunities, but we didn’t quite put them away.”
“We know we can play better now for sure. But look it’s a draw in the World Cup and no game is easy in the World Cup, I think. Clean shit is really pleasing, it puts us in a really good position,” he added.
