Southgate to unleash Foden
ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate insists Phil Foden still has a major part to play at the World Cup as the clamour for the forward to start against Wales intensifies.
Manchester City star Foden has made just one substitute appearance here in Qatar so far, coming on in the 6-2 win over Iran with the game effectively already won.
Southgate overlooked Foden in the 0-0 draw against the United States of America (USA), instead choosing to introduce Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford off the bench.
The decision drew criticism from some quarters with many onlookers believing Foden should be playing a more prominent role at the tournament.
And ahead of today’s game against Wales, Southgate has provided a major hint that he is ready to unleash Foden.
“We love Phil, he is a super player,”the England boss told ITV Sport.
“He was into the first game, we decided not to put him into the second. But he is going to play an important part in this tournament for us, there is no question about that.
“We haven’t got any issue with Phil. In September, he started both games for us and we put him into the game versus Iran.
“We decided to stick with that team and we felt the changes required something a little different for the USA.
“But we are intending to be here as long as we can. And he is a super player and we think the world of him. And he is going to play a big part.
“He can play off either wing. He can play as a false nine. He can play behind a striker, he doesn’t do that as often for his club. He works hard for the team and of course he has fabulous technical ability.” Southgate is not expected to make wholesale changes to the team that started against the USA — though he is considering refreshing his forward line. When asked about the prospect of making changes to his starting XI, Southgate replied: “We will see. We want to win football matches and we want to try to top the group if we can.
“So we’ve got to make sure there is some consistency in what we do and our performances are healthy.
“There is always a balance of finding game time for players. But the priority is to win games, we have to win football matches. We are going to play a team who are wounded. Who are going to have very high motivation to beat us. “We’ve got to be tactically correct and find our best level. We’ve got to make sure we are composed but also that we play with a real attacking vigour.”