Breaking News: Fans and other players left stunned by what Gareth Southgate said and did with Phil Foden
Manchester City’s Phil Foden has been a prominent figure in the England side throughout the 2024 European Championship.
With six games played in the tournament, the 24-year-old has started all of them, making him one of the eight players in the England squad to do so.
In their latest game, Gareth Southgate’s side beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the semi-final to set up Sunday’s final against Spain.
With Foden featuring once again in this game, one former City manager was left stunned by something that happened to the midfielder in the match.
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Stuart Pearce couldn’t believe what Gareth Southgate did with Phil Foden in latest England match
While reflecting on England’s win over Ronald Koeman’s side in a recent edition of talkSPORT’s Euros All Access podcast, Stuart Pearce had this to say about Southgate’s decision to replace Foden with Cole Palmer in the second half.
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He said: “I, for one, was astounded when Foden came off because I thought he was certainly our best player in the first half.
“Second half I think he would’ve benefited from Palmer coming on and combining with him.”
Southgate’s decision paid off
During his 80 minutes on the pitch, the City star, who Darren Bent said earlier this month had been ineffective for England, completed all 40 passes he attempted and had three shots at goal in total, one of which hit the woodwork.
With Palmer setting up Ollie Watkins, who replaced Harry Kane at the same time Foden went off, to score the winning goal of the game for the Three Lions, this shows that despite Pearce’s astonishment, it was the right decision for Southgate to make these two substitutes.
Moving forward, looking ahead to Sunday’s final, while it seems likely to us that Foden will remain in the starting XI, it will be interesting to see if Southgate keeps him on for the entire game or subs him depending on his performance.
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Manchester City have shown in the past that they aren’t shy when it comes to signing players from clubs across Europe.
For example, the Blues have landed deals for the likes of Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku in recent memory, who both came from two of Europe’s five biggest leagues.
In this current summer transfer window, Pep Guardiola’s side have been linked with numerous players from different clubs in England and abroad.
One of those players is Joshua Kimmich, who talkSPORT reported earlier this year that City have got on their radar amid some behind-the-scenes uncertainty about his future at Bayern Munich.
Now though, a journalist has shared what the latest is concerning the German international and what the future could hold for him.
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Journalist shares latest Joshua Kimmich details
Speaking in a recent edition of FC Bayern Insider, journalist Christian Falk had this to say about Kimmich and his current situation as he heads into the final year of his contract at Bayern.
He said: “We heard from the team that Kimmich must have said that he can really imagine leaving Bayern now. He didn’t always really admit it in the mixed zone, but it came out in the documentary.
“He’s a bit disappointed with the way he’s been treated at the club.
“At the moment, he can’t find a club that will pay his salary, but he’s sitting on one cheek for this one year. And he will also play and can then negotiate to leave on a free transfer. And then his salary, reportedly estimated at €20m (£16m), can be realised by others because if he costs nothing, they save the transfer fee.”
Kimmich could be a smart move for City
During his time at the German club, the 29-year-old, who journalist Florian Plettenberg said last month Bayern are willing to sell, has made 390 appearances across all competitions, 36 of which came under Guardiola, scoring 42 goals and providing 104 assists in the process.
Given his experience at the top level, the fact that he knows what it takes to play under Guardiola, the fact that he is open to leaving Bayern this summer and the versatility he has in terms of being able to play in multiple defensive and midfield positions across the pitch, we feel a move for Kimmich this summer could be a smart one for City to make.
Manchester City have established themselves as the top dogs in English football in recent years.
With Pep Guardiola’s side now being the first team to win four consecutive Premier League trophies, this showcases how strong City’s squad is.
Taking into account how the Manchester club had more players from their senior squad (14) selected to feature for their countries for the 2024 European Championship than any other top-flight side, this further highlights how much quality they have in their ranks.
Now that a handful of those players are preparing to feature in this weekend’s final between England and Spain, a pundit has highlighted one of those players as being particularly impressive.
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Simon Jordan says Rodri is in a class of his own
Speaking about this Sunday’s big final on talkSPORT, Simon Jordan had this to say about Rodri.
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He said: “England have the ability with players to match the Spanish. Not Rodri, Rodri is in a world of his own. He’s the best player in that position, he can fit into any international framework, into any domestic side, he’s a masterclass.
“I think a lot of what Spain do goes through him. He is the orchestrator of the calibre and the thinking of the side, the quality of the side.
“He’s a player that I think when we talk about world-class players, we throw that expression around like confetti, and I think he is an embodiment of what a world-class player looks like because I think he’d play in any international side, in any domestic side anywhere in the world.”
England will have to contain Rodri in the final
Having ended the previous Premier League campaign with an overall performance rating of 7.62/10 from WhoScored, the second-highest in the entire division, there’s no doubt that Rodri is one of the best midfielders in Europe.
In fact, Micah Richards said earlier this week that the Spaniard is the best defensive-midfielder in the world right now.
With Rodri completing more passes (379) and making more successful tackles in the midfield third of the pitch than any other Spanish player in the Euros, it’s clear that England will have to make sure they do their best to contain the City star on Sunday and make sure he has as little an impact on the game as possible.
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