Phil Foden

Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
I'm not so sure about two holding midfielders, I think one is enough if there's 4 defenders behind. We've had some decent midfield partnerships over the years but they've only had one to do the dirty work of the two.
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It depends how much license you give your full backs. If we encourage the full backs to bomb on then you really need two CMs to sit and cover full back areas if possession turns over quickly.

If we play a flatter back 4 with the full backs playing a bit more disciplined then I agree one holding midfielder is enough.
 
changingman said:
I'm not convinced Bellingham will start as far forward for England. Think he could sit in a two with Rice, certainly in the "easier" games.

That said, if Ancelotti thinks his best position is further forward, and considering the quality available to Real, it might be a brave decision to play him anywhere else.
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Early this season I found it inconceivable that Maddison would miss out. Then he had his injury and is just getting back now. If he recaptures that form, I'd consider having him in at 10 and pushing Bellingham back.

Otherwise, I'd probably leave Bellingham in the position in which he's been doing so well.
 
The Card Cheat said:
He has played as a 10 in his last few England games. Off the top of my head I know he played in that position against Italy and Scotland recently. He was probably the best player in both those games.
That's why it's not necessarily an entirely defensive decision to go with two sitting midfielders, as it will enable England to play with a true front 4 of hopefully Saka, Foden, Bellingham and Kane. They all started in our last two tournament games.
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Didn't realise that, was away for the last few games and missed them.

That front four is pretty formidable! I guess my thinking against "lesser" teams is that Bellingham can equally slot into the deep 2 and still pose a threat from deep (added bonus of an additional attacking player in the 10).

Equally it wouldn't surprise me to see a midfield three against better sides, with Jude as an 8 alongside two more defensive players.

As for Maddison, he's an excellent player but I've never quite had him at the level of Jude, Foden and probably Saka. Solid rotation option though.
 
Maddison is brilliant, but I don't think he's in the same bracket as Jude/Foden/Saka.

Maddison should definitely be on that plane and is one of the first subs off the bench if we needed to change a game or grab a goal.

But I can't see him in the first 11, when/if everyone is fit.

That front 4 of Kane, Saka, Jude, Foden picks itself at the moment.

Likes of Watkins, Grealish, Maddison, Bowen are very very good back up options.
 
Is 433 too radical, with Bellingham/Rice/Maddison in the midfield 3?

Just as an aside, how far has Mount fallen!
 
Starbuck said:
The missing place in midfield should go to Mainoo from Man Utd
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Yeah, I think he might be a good option. He's been great for Utd this season and there doesn't seem to be anyone putting their hand up for that slot next to Rice.

Kalvin Phillips isn't good enough. In fact he shouldn't be in the squad - but we know he will be.
Henderson is past it.
JWP isn't fancied, nor do I think he's good enough for high level KO football to be honest.

Unless you drop Jude back there (and if you did, you'd be losing out on such a powerful player further forward), then the options are limited.
 
Marvanelli said:
Maddison is brilliant, but I don't think he's in the same bracket as Jude/Foden/Saka.

Maddison should definitely be on that plane and is one of the first subs off the bench if we needed to change a game or grab a goal.

But I can't see him in the first 11, when/if everyone is fit.

That front 4 of Kane, Saka, Jude, Foden picks itself at the moment.

Likes of Watkins, Grealish, Maddison, Bowen are very very good back up options.
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Not forgetting Palmer either.
 
allied_assault said:
Quality and will be brilliant for England
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he's been hot and cold for England, only really played to his undoubted potential on 4 or 5 occasions. Pep was unsure too, he only started in 4 of the 12 champions league games that he was fit for last year. doing against Brentford is one thing, doing it against France or Brazil is an entirely different thing.....however, I see signs that maybe he is going to come good this summer and with Kane and Bellingham's Germany experiences, I think it's all setup for a victory.
 
parmoboy said:
It's frustrating to look back and think that Southgate was preferring Mount to Foden as a 10 at one point.
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At the time Mount was playing well and Foden was in and out the Man City side. He probably stayed loyal to Foden a little too long, but Foden hadn't done enough when he had the shirt. Foden does have 31 caps despite only being 23, and he's missed squads with injury as well, so he has had game time in 75% of games since he turned 19. He didn't really grasp his chance though. Starting to at last and played the last 4 england games at WC
 
Frozen Horse said:
Early this season I found it inconceivable that Maddison would miss out. Then he had his injury and is just getting back now. If he recaptures that form, I'd consider having him in at 10 and pushing Bellingham back.

Otherwise, I'd probably leave Bellingham in the position in which he's been doing so well.
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bellingham the best 10 in the world right now. It'd be like Argentina asking Messi to play CDM. We've been down thuis route of trying to shoe horn every technical player into the team and it doesn't work. Maddison will be a great backup, you need bench strength
 
BoroMart said:
At the time Mount was playing well and Foden was in and out the Man City side. He probably stayed loyal to Foden a little too long, but Foden hadn't done enough when he had the shirt. Foden does have 31 caps despite only being 23, and he's missed squads with injury as well, so he has had game time in 75% of games since he turned 19. He didn't really grasp his chance though. Starting to at last and played the last 4 england games at WC
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I can't really remember Foden playing many games as a 10 for England.

I seem to remember that Mount would start as a 10 and Foden often started out wide, if he did start. I could be wrong though.
 
parmoboy said:
It's frustrating to look back and think that Southgate was preferring Mount to Foden as a 10 at one point.
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The biggest frustration was Southgate not opting for Jude over Mount, during the Euro's.

It's was so blindly obvious. Mount was a passenger for the most of that tournament and we had someone on the bench (albeit who was young) who was putting teams to the sword in the Champions League.

I remember on here posting, hoping Southgate would see the wood for the trees and play Jude in that final.

Instead, he played Mount who did nothing, yet again.

How Chelsea got 50m+ for him is remarkable to be honest.
 
Marvanelli said:
The biggest frustration was Southgate not opting for Jude over Mount, during the Euro's.

It's was so blindly obvious. Mount was a passenger for the most of that tournament and we had someone on the bench (albeit who was young) who was putting teams to the sword in the Champions League.

I remember on here posting, hoping Southgate would see the wood for the trees and play Jude in that final.

Instead, he played Mount who did nothing, yet again.

How Chelsea got 50m+ for him is remarkable to be honest.
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Yeah I remember leading up to that tournament I was hoping that he'd play Bellingham alongside Rice, and Foden as a 10.

Southgate must have felt Bellingham needed protecting due to his age but as you said, Bellingham was ripping it up in the Champions League at the time.

Our own VDB is an example that if you're good enough you're old enough.
 
parmoboy said:
I can't really remember Foden playing many games as a 10 for England.

I seem to remember that Mount would start as a 10 and Foden often started out wide, if he did start. I could be wrong though.
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no that's correct, but he wasn't playing for City as a 10 very often either at that point
 
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