‘Not a Guarantee’—Man City Star Sent Brutal World Cup Warning by England Manager

Thomas Tuchel was clearly not impressed during the international break.

Phil Foden faces a real battle to earn a spot at the World Cup. | Vince Mignott/DeFodi Images/Getty Images

England manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted Manchester City’s Phil Foden is at risk of missing out on a spot in his World Cup squad after an underwhelming showing during the international break.

On what was essentially his final chance to impress Tuchel in person, Foden started both friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, but was hooked at the hour mark of each game after failing to make an impact.

“He tried everything,” Tuchel insisted about Foden’s attitude. “I would say he was excellent in camp but, yeah, he struggles to show it on the pitch.

“Obviously, he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently. Then he came to camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training and I thought he will just surprise us and will play with the same verve and excitement but, yeah, he struggles to have the full impact.”

Asked whether he would take an underperforming player to the World Cup, Tuchel bluntly responded: “I can, but the question would be if we will. It’s not a guarantee that he will come.”

---

Foden’s Competition for England Minutes

Foden has some serious competition in attacking midfield. | Joe Prior/Visionhaus/Getty Images

As Foden approaches his 26th birthday, there are still questions over his best position on the pitch.

When he was named the 2023–24 Premier League Player of the Season, he spent time operating all across City’s forward line. Pep Guardiola turned to the Englishman as a right winger, a left winger and an attacking midfielder, but this year, most of Foden’s minutes have come in a central role.

That is the position in which Tuchel has tried to fit Foden into his plans but, for whatever reason, it simply has not worked.

Unfortunately for Foden, not only is there increasingly little time to prove himself in an England shirt, but the significant competition with other players trying to do the exact same thing means the margins for error are perilously thin.

In attacking midfield, Tuchel can also call upon Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White. Arsenal youngsters Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman are both being touted for places in the near future after making tangible impacts at club level.

If Tuchel cannot find a way to get the right tune out of Foden, he cannot afford to give one of his limited plane tickets to the City midfielder as doing so would require snubbing another of the aforementioned group, almost half of whom are likely to miss out because of a lack of space anyway.

---

Underwhelming England Record Adds to Doubts

Sir Gareth Southgate (right) found similar struggles with Foden. | Michael Regan/UEFA/Getty Images

The initial response may be to point a finger at Tuchel, who has admitted he cannot find a way to maximize a six-time Premier League champion who was hailed as the best player in the country just a few years ago.

In reality, Tuchel is not the first manager to see limited output from Foden, whose 49 England caps have yielded just four goals to date.

Sir Gareth Southgate, Tuchel’s predecessor, found himself publicly challenged on Foden on a number of occasions. He spoke with Pep Guardiola, Foden’s manager at club level, for advice on his best position, but was still blamed by the player himself for an underwhelming Euro 2024 campaign which revealed the perils of commiting to someone without any real plan.

Foden started every game for England at Euro 2024, from the group stage to the final. Five of those came as a left winger, with two in a central role. After failing to either score or assist during the tournament, Foden claimed he was a victim of his own versatility.

“Coming off last season being the best player in the Premier League and playing centre midfield, I do feel the position was quite difficult to get used to,” Foden told the Manchester Evening News.

Tuchel is clearly keen to avoid a similar situation. If Foden cannot prove he deserves to be named in the squad ahead of those fighting for his place, he simply will not be.

---