Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Foden is key to England’s golden future.. if onlypep would get the message
IT is hard to tell whether Pep Guardiola committing himself to Manchester City for another two years is good news or bad news for Phil Foden.
For every time Pep lauds Foden as the greatest thing since Lionel Messi, he leaves him out of a big game.
Surely desperate to find a winner against Liverpool a couple of weekends ago, Guardiola left Foden on the bench.
He made only one substitution but Bernardo Silva was sent on, not Foden, and the game finished in a draw.
The party line, stuck to by so many, is that Guardiola has nurtured Foden skilfully. He is, after all, a young player.
But Foden will be 21 in May and he has started only 16 Premier League matches.
His talent is so rare, he should be an automatic starter when fully fit.
Even with a squad as deep as City’s, there are automatic Premier League selections. Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne, when not in need of a rest against lesser opposition, line up if healthy.
Foden has lined up in big games and was in from the off in City’s first four Premier League matches of this season.
For the last three, he has been on the bench.
My guess is that is where he will find himself at the Tott enham Hotspur Stadium tomorrow evening.
But the good news is City will have enough f i xtures to keep Foden ticking over.
Good news for Gareth Southgate, that is.
He normally l i ke s hi s players to be first-choice with their clubs but, last season, Foden started nine Premier League games and came on i n 14. That would probably suit Southgate this time around.
Because the final piece of evidence that Foden, along with the likes of Mason Mount, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and the older Jack Grealish, will be at the heart of a hugely promising England future was presented at Wembley on We d n e s d a y night.
Foden and Grealish bring a fresh styl e and in genuity to thi s England set-up.
Their showy brilliance was highlighted by two outrageous touches – Grealish in Belgium, Foden late on at Wembl e y – but they have an incisiveness and awareness that is frighteningly sharp.
The Covid delay of a year means Southgate will take a squad to the Euros next June that will look very little like the one he probably would have taken last summer.
It will be stacked with youthful hful excellence. Don’t forget Jadon Sancho cho is only 20, Marcus Rashford 23. Don’t on’t b e t a ga i n st 1 9 - ye a r - o l d Mas son o n Greenwood making a charge.
Are we getting carried away on the back of a win against a pretty hopeeless Iceland team who were down to 10 men for most of the second half ? Yes, probably. But if we cannot get carried away by talents as stellar r as Foden and Grealish – particularly rly in these times – then something g is wrong.
No one dares utter the phrase any more, understandably. But here we go.
The exciting, young footballers lers available to this particular England and manager have all the hallmarks of a golden generation.