Most opening ceremonies take place a couple of hours before a major tournament kicks off. In England, we like to do things a little differently - our opening ceremony begins around six months before the tournament begins, with months of hysteria, panic and stress.
Whether it’s injured players or worry about travelling fans, the build-up to a major tournament never runs smooth if you’re an England fan.
With Euro 2020 on the horizon, it seemed followers of the Three Lions had already been prescribed their dose of stress with the long-term injury to captain and talisman Harry Kane. However, it’s your lucky year England fans! It’s buy one get one free year - England do not have a central midfield…
With Jordan Henderson struggling with injury and Eric Dier, erm… struggling, the centre of England’s midfield is suddenly looking bare. As panic sets in, many England fans are beginning to kid themselves into thinking Trent Alexander-Arnold could become Andreas Iniesta in the next six months, or that the previously unmentioned Kalvin Phillips of Leeds could suddenly become an international footballer (having never played at a higher level than the Championship).
Declan Rice and Harry Winks now look like shoo-ins for the final 23 this summer without either really excelling at all.
But panic not England fans, in Manchester City’s Phil Foden, Gareth Southgate has got a hidden gem capable of playing in any midfield in the world.
Heir to the David Silva throne at City, Foden has been nurtured by Pep Guardiola since the former Barcelona manager's arrival at the club in 2016. The 19-year-old – I’ll repeat that – THE 19-YEAR-OLD produced a sublime performance in City’s League Cup triumph over Aston Villa, grabbing himself an assist as well as the Man of the Match award. A performance full of class, poise, discipline and maturity, Foden proved that he is much more than a sideways passing merchant.
His assist for Sergio Aguero to open the scoring in the final showed you everything you needed to know about the youngster’s development. An intelligent run, checking to ensure he stayed onside, then once in the position to cut back he didn’t hesitate or thrash at the ball as could be expected of a teenager playing in a major final for his hometown club. Instead, he calmly picked out Aguero and the Argentinian did the rest.
The one criticism that could be levelled at Foden is his lack of game time, but the youngster already has over 30 Premier League appearances to his name, not to mention 11 appearances in the Champions League. At 19, he’s featured more in the City first team than Paul Scholes had at Manchester United at the same age.
Beyond the playing time, Foden trains day-in-day-out with some of the best midfielders in Europe. David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, the experience he gains from watching these magicians every day is absolutely invaluable. And let’s not forget that all of the aforementioned players were on the pitch against Villa, yet it was Foden who walked away with the man of the match gong.
Anyone who wants to argue that the FA Cup winner, two-time Premier League winner and three-time League Cup winner doesn’t have the experience to play in a major competition is quite frankly out of their mind. The Stockport born midfielder has played for every possible England age group from the Under-16s up to the Under-21s, including being named player of the tournament at the Under-17 World Cup, a competition which he scored in the final of and lead England to glory in.
One thing which Foden does lack (and even I’m not going to argue this) is physical stature, but as has been proven in the past, if you’re intelligent enough and sharp enough, you don’t need to be a 15-stone unit to succeed in international football. *Exhales deeply as he successfully manages not to use the words Xavi or Iniesta*.
Foden may not get the credit he deserves because his club aren’t in the position to have to thrust their greatest academy prospects into the limelight at the earliest possible opportunity.
However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t developing as a footballer. The League Cup final proved exactly that, and in the youngster, Gareth Southgate has the perfect midfielder to solve England’s midfield crisis.
Source : 90min