Foden experiment must work or England career is ‘over’ – is that why ‘five-yard pass to Eze’ was praised? | OneFootball

The way Phil Foden’s five-yard pass for Eberechi Eze’s stunning finish was spoken up was bizarre but also proof that some players benefit from ‘blind bias’.

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PF#9

As I was apparantly the only person in the world who was saying Foden should play #9 in the last Euros, it’s good to see TT dipping his toe in the PF #9 puddle.

The logic behind PF#9 is this:

1. He’s very good at football, especially in tight spaces (like…um…the penalty area), has an amazing 1st touch, quite good vision, is a fast thinker under pressure and scores goals (especially in the CL).

2. He’s sh*t for England as a #10 (5th choice) and as a winger (even behind 0 end product Madueke). So the only position he can possibly play now for England is #9.

The reason Foden is sh*t for England is that whenever he gets the ball he looks up and thinks ‘WTF are these idiots doing?’ No one is where he wants them to be or doing what he wants them to do. Its the opposite of Man City’s glory days.

As a midfielder PF is a system player. The big advantage of PF at #9 is that he is the one getting on the end of chances and the ball and players are more likely to move where he wants it/them to be in and around the box (less variables than in midfield).

If anyone can make this work its TT. If it fails Foden’s international career is essentially over and he won’t go to the world cup. We have to trust our eyes. PF is sh*t for England as a winger and #10. Only TT can save him now.

In my opinion TT should tell PF to: ‘F the system’. His only job should be to press, score and assist’. Everyone else plays in the TT system but PF needs to play like a lone wolf/mad dog in and around the box. The anti-system within the system. He needs to stop thinkjng about where he should be and just follow and trust his instincts in and around the box. Feel the force. Ben

Hend of the line

Dear Ed,

Henderson is probably there because he’s got a legendary Bleep Test level score. Dan McG LFC

Polly hits a cracker

Oi Spurs,

Rather than spending time and money faffing about with Toney, who will inevitably be a disaster..that Parrot lad looks tasty.

Sign him up….well I never. TGWolf(the youth project is real)THFC

Just when I thought I was out… They pull me back in. Ste, BFC Dublin

I know Lee Dixon took some heat for his Eliot Anderson gaffe in one of the previous England games but last night I think he may have topped it. The way he waxed lyrical over Foden’s 5 yard pass to Eze before Eze bent it first time in the top corner from 25 yards was insane.

It wasn’t just Dixon though. ITV’s reporter interviewing Eze after the game, ‘was the key to your goal Phil’s pass?’

England’s own Twitter feed said that Foden ‘put it on a plate’ for Eze.

I think it’s proven beyond any doubt that certain players will always get an easy ride in the media, always ready to focus on the positives and conversely others will always be portrayed negatively.  Foden definitely sits in the former camp. And this isn’t me having a go at Foden because he is obviously a talented player and doesn’t write the reports himself, it’s having a go at those who are seemingly so blind or bias when they report on him. The weeks and months of not turning up are instantly erased with one good pass.

I think Jack Grealish is the same, he’s generally reported as a cheeky chappy who can light up a game (rarely does) and who has been unlucky, the media are desperate for Grealish to do well,  rather than one of the biggest £100m flops who has regularly been pictured drunk and falling out of bars. Again, not having a go directly at Grealish as he comes across as a likeable guy (the positive reporting helps this) and one who has lots of time for kids and disabled fans. But what would the reporting be like if Rashford or Sancho had Grealish’s career? I’ll leave others to draw conclusions as to why this happens.

To England, I think it’s great that we have a manager who is finally going to block out the noise and pick a team to prioritise balance rather than simply pick the ‘best’ players and shoe horn them in to unfamiliar positions. I saw Alan Pardew saying his England midfield would be Rice, Rodgers, Bellingham with Palmer on the left wing! For my money the England team has a number of players now who should be nailed on: Pickford, Guehi, Stones, Anderson, Rice, Saka, Kane. James is also getting in to that category as the right back.

You have various options at left back depending how you want to play (O’Reilly, Hall, Lewis-Skelly, Spence) then at left wing you have to have either Rashford or Gordon – we must have that pace to run in behind Kane. Then in the 10 it can be ONE of Bellingham, Foden or Palmer. That creates the right balance in the team. Rich, AFC

Go with the Flo

I can only hope that Slot will spend the International break looking for solutions that don’t involve Szobo at RB or such because I have and thus come up with the uncomfortable realization that Florian and Salah can’t play in the same team, at least not yet.

So far we’ve been ridiculed for spending a lot of money and somehow getting worse but as an article here revealed, Slot’s magic has been fading for quite some time now. Over the second part of last season teams figured him out especially his use of Salah and I don’t think Salah’s decrease in output is a coincidence.

We saw how City had success stopping him on Sunday. Last season we beat them twice in the same way with Trent releasing him early leaving him isolated against a defenders but this time it was different. With Trent gone City knew that only VVD was capable of releasing him and Haaland was tasked with giving him no time on the ball whereas Konate had all the time in the world. Infact the only time the switch worked was Szobo managed to find him which I believe led to the corner and the disallowed goal. Otherwise Salah was nullified and City set about to exploit his lack of defensive contribution with Bradley given a torrid time.

That brings me back to Florian. With our defense still shaky, a midfielder role is out of the question. Left wing especially when playing at home where we typically dominate might work but away from home like in the last game meant we had no outlet especially given the ease Salah is being handled this season. Gakpo might be our most threatening attacker at the moment and will have to be restored.

Playing Florian as some sort of false 9 like he did for a few minutes is not a good look when we just spent about 200m on two strikers.

That means there’s no place in the team for him in the team unless Slot decides to bench Salah which he won’t. Incidentally his most productive game for Liverpool came when Salah was benched. The quality of the opponents will be questioned but I actually think he would have had a respectable G/A if Salah wasn’t so greedy and wasteful.

I guess Flo will have to wait until Salah leaves for AFCON for his opportunity to flourish in this team. Philip Correa

Rich tapestry

Lets’ just nip in the bud any praise of Richarlison, please.

He is pony. Slow, weak and whiny. Once Spurs signed him I was genuinely stunned. He runs a lot. Like a headless chicken. His passing ability is woeful, and he’s got the feet of a man who’s wearing shoes two sizes too big. On the wrong feet.

He is good at making a mockery of himself. And he can, at times, be quite good in the air, but as the saying goes; even a f*cked clock tells the right time twice a day.

The sooner he leaves Spurs the better. If only for my own sanity. Dan

Standards

Hello,

I’ve been a regular peruser of and sometime contributor to this site since I first noticed it as a product placement in FM07 (marketing money well spent).

One of the things I always enjoyed was the way the mailbox was largely left to its own devices. Comments from the editor were normally reserved for corrections and the odd witty put down if the mailer was being a complete prat.

I’ve noticed a bit of creep recently, with a few more editor comments, a little more acid in the replies, including a rather lengthy one yesterday. This is all probably a bit “old man yells at cloud based media” but it’s something I find a bit jarring. Perhaps a lot to be said for a dignified silence like the site editors of old.

On a side note, bought my first FM instalment in ten years last week and it’s complete balls. Steve (I’ve set you up nicely for an editor comment here) Belfast 

Shear class

Shearer threw a blatant elbow, blatantly! Matt Carr, Spurs, Wilmington, NC

And finally…

I think Darren should seek medication……that is all Paul, Manchester