England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Phil Foden’s place in the upcoming FIFA World Cup is not guaranteed. The Manchester City midfielder played as a number 10 in 1-1 draw against Uruguay whereas he played as a false nine in a 0-1 loss against Japan.
In both the matches, Foden failed to impress the German manager. The 25-year-old hasn’t been in the best of forms in the ongoing Premier League for the Cityzens. Foden has scored seven goals and has provided three assists in the 26 Premier League matches for Manchester City.
Tuchel said when asked about Foden’s performance, “He tried everything. 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.”
Meanwhile, Foden hasn’t been able to carry his City form to the International stage in the past. Tuchel was asked if he can add someone to the squad who is not in the greatest of forms.
“I can, I can,” he said with a laugh. “The question would be if we will.”
Put to Tuchel if it places doubts against Foden, he added: “Well, it’s not a guarantee that he will come.”
The German manager said he is learning all the time and he has some time before he announces the final squad.
“I learn all the time,” Tuchel said. “I learn from every training session, and I learn from how the squad is together and I learn from how the players react to the gameplan and how they adapt.
“How quick they can learn and how quick they can adapt and how they can put it on the pitch. Everything is a learning.”
Since Tuchel has taken over, England has not been able to beat a top 20 team in the FIFA rankings.
“We will not let go of our dream, we will not let go of the question ‘why not?’” added Tuchel, who has previously said they will be World Cup “underdogs.”
“Now the most important thing is that the players reintegrate with their clubs, have a good end of the season, and then we have them in pre-camp and prepare them properly and take steps from there.”
England will face New Zealand and Costa Rica in friendlies before the World Cup.
