In the early throes of every major tournament there is without fail a player overlooked by an England manager who the public and press clamour to be included.
This led to a wag on social media recently highlighting that it’s an amazing coincidence that England’s best player is always the one sitting on the bench.
At the Euros in 2021 it was Jack Grealish and typically it is a talent of his ilk, his individuality making him a fan favourite, but who is somewhat distrusted by a national boss with the hopes of a nation on his shoulders.
On this occasion, in Qatar ’22, it is Phil Foden who has become the latest cause célèbre, the 22-year-old making a late cameo in England’s opening-day thrashing of Iran but then dropped entirely for their disappointing draw with USMNT.
🎙 "Phil Foden is a generational talent"
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 26, 2022
Gareth Southgate's decision not bring on Phil Foden has drawn criticism, Gary Neville believes the midfielder should have featured in England's 0-0 draw with the USA 👇 pic.twitter.com/BvC1PaJmrd
Brought in as a starter against Wales, the two-time PFA Young Player of the Year put in a goal-scoring, energetic display but the suspicion is that Gareth Southgate’s preferred options across the tournament will remain Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount, both hardly pulling up trees for Chelsea this term.
Only there is a crucial difference here between Foden’s omissions and spurned players who went before him. Coincidence or not, the Manchester City star literally and actually is England’s best player, and by some distance too.
Indeed, he is a generational talent that any other country in the world would build their teams around. You name them and this statement applies. France. Brazil. Spain. Argentina.
Furthermore, this is not a maverick-type we’re talking about, capable of magic and ineffectiveness in equal measure. See Jack Grealish.
Foden is reliably and consistently impactful, hard-working, forever looking to make something happen and possessing the rare traits to influence and dictate games.
Is any of this really a surprise given his ridiculous ceiling of ability, a complete package of speed, touch, vision, and skill that has been schooled to near-perfection by Pep Guardiola since he was a boy.
Unquestionably then, Foden is the most technically gifted of all of Southgate’s young stars, which makes his bit-part role in Qatar feel like such a waste. A substantial, potentially costly, and utterly exasperating waste.
It is an exasperation only heightened when his club form is factored in, with City once again short-priced in the Premier League odds to win the title this term.
A good night's work for @PhilFoden! 👍 pic.twitter.com/mLN5JhN7OL
— England (@England) November 29, 2022
At the age of 22, the brilliant midfielder has already won four league crowns, not to mention four League Cups, and has lit up a Champions League final.
Amidst one of the greatest club sides of any era, he is a pivotal and valued component, a superstar no less.
Add in that he is already a World Cup winner with England, lifting the Under 17s trophy in 2017 - grabbing the player of the tournament merit in the process - and that he has 64 direct goal involvements in the top flight and Champions League at an age when most players are just breaking through, and its clear that Philip Walter Foden is a level above the norm, a phenomenon in waiting.
As Premier League predictions go, it’s a shoo-in to announce that he’s set to become a stonewall legend for his club. He could be for England too. In the name of St George, play him Southgate.
