Micah Richards has questioned England manager Gareth Southgate after he played Manchester City star Phil Foden wide on the right against Brazil.
The Three Lions lost 1-0 at Wembley on Saturday night, after producing a pretty tepid performance.
England struggled to create chances, against a side with an unfamiliar backline and a new manager in Dorival Junior.
There were starts for City trio Kyle Walker, John Stones and Foden, but the former only lasted 20 minutes before being replaced after picking up an injury.
Stones and Foden were not their usual impactful selves, and Richards believes Foden was misused…
Micah Richards suggests Gareth Southgate misused Manchester City star Phil Foden for England against Brazil
Saturday’s game was a tough watch at times.
England had a very hard time breaching Brazil’s backline. In fairness to Dorival Junior, he set his team up really well in his first game as manager.
But England were undoubtedly disappointing, and it was a shame to see Foden having trouble getting into the game.
He was playing wide on the right, and Richards did not feel this was the best tactic. He said on the Rest Is Football podcast: “I just feel sometimes it can be a little bit safe. I mean, Foden on that right side. We’ve talked about this so man times. When the game is like that and he’s isolated on the right side, it just doesn’t work. There was a little bit of a link-up with Bellingham at times that looked creative.
“But I just thought in this game against Brazil, a team that are known for attacking, it could have been more of an end-to-end affair, where we could have showcased more what we could do attacking-wise.”
Foden needs central role
Foden – branded ‘unbelievable’ by Shaun Wright-Phillips recently – lacked influence against Brazil but Richards is right, him playing out on the right for England just doesn’t seem to work.
He can do it more effectively at City because he is surrounded by better players.
Against Brazil, he should have been in the middle instead of Conor Gallagher, alongside Jude Bellingham. It was frankly baffling that Southgate selected the Chelsea man to play as an eight, and a total waste of an opportunity to see Foden and Bellingham together against good opposition.
We know how much Foden loves to play in the middle, because of how much more freedom he has.
Brazil were compact and defended well and Foden is known for being one of the best in the world between the lines. He should have been central.
