Southgate plays it cool as Foden thrills
HE was ‘only’ facing Andorra, of course, but Phil Foden’s display was still so outstanding that England boss Gareth Southgate later asked excited observers not to get too carried away. The 21-year-old Manchester City star swaggered around the 3G pitch at the Estadi Nacional like he owned the place, running the show from start to finish in a central midfield role that suits him down to the ground. If there was a pass to be hit, sure enough Foden found it. Ping, ping, ping — they all found their targets. Southgate won’t have learned too much he already didn’t know about Foden against a side ranked 156th in the world. But, as the old saying goes, you can only deal with what’s in front of you — and, boy, did Foden deal with Andorra. ‘The only thing I’m loath to do is put any pressure on him,’ said Southgate. ‘We’ve known since (he was) 15, 16 what might be possible of and we are seeing that. His evolution at his club has been perfect, really. ‘The fascinating part is what that role might be and it could be any one of a number, frankly, because he’s got the ability to play in many different positions. ‘For lots of us, we were probably waiting for him to get established in that Manchester City team, you have to say Pep [Guardiola] has managed that really well. He is flourishing. We know what is possible.’ Foden will be 22 by the time the World Cup in Qatar comes around and won’t even be at the peak of his powers, so his potential is unquestionable. ‘We’ve got to allow him to progress at the right stage. He’s played a certain opponent tonight (against Andorra),’ said Southgate, who saw Ben Chilwell open the scoring for the visitors before Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse and Jack Grealish added to the tally to complete an easy evening’s work.
‘I am not trying to diminish what he’s shown and what’s possible. But I don’t want to create too much for him,’ added the England boss. ‘I felt there was a lot ahead of us of this summer (during the Euros), and the danger is we create too much which is then too much to live up to. ‘Let us just enjoy him, he is a special player without a doubt. Let him grow into the team.’ There’s a case to say that, as he looks to go one better than this summer’s defeat in the Euro 2020 final against Italy, Southgate should really be building his
team round his prodigiously-talented midfielder. Yet there are no guarantees Foden will even start against Hungary at Wembley tomorrow as England edge towards the formality that is World Cup qualification for them. Indeed, Foden isn’t the only player under 25 that Southgate is trying to harness as he builds for the future. Jadon Sancho’s two assists against Andorra should provide him with some encouragement following a difficult start to life at Manchester United. Saka’s goal against Andorra, his third for England, was further indication of his growing influence at this level. And Abraham’s goalscoring return to international football will offer Southgate some hope that there are goals outwith the rested Harry Kane within his centre-forward options. Mason Mount and Declan Rice, both 22, are already fixtures in Southgate’s first-choice starting XI. And we tend to forget that Marcus Rashford is still only 23. Yes, there are areas of Southgate’s team that are ageing. Right-backs Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier will both be 32 — as will vice-captain Jordan Henderson — by the time the World Cup comes around. But in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James, the right-back position should be in safe hands for the best part of a decade, while in Jude Bellingham England have the natural heir to Henderson’s box-to-box midfield role.