Football
Phil Foden says players ‘need to take some blame’ and he ‘feels sorry’ for England boss Gareth Southgate – BBC Sport
England forward Phil Foden has said the players “need to take some of the blame” for the team’s performances at Euro 2024 and that he “feels sorry” for under-pressure manager Gareth Southgate.
Southgate’s side reached the knockout stages of the tournament by finishing top of their group before beating Slovakia after extra time in the last 16.
However, the manner of their play has been criticised with questions asked about team selection and tactics.
“The players have got to take some of the blame,” said Foden.
“There has to be some leaders to get together and find out a solution to why it is not working.
“There is only so much the manager can do. He sets you up in a system and tells you how to press. If it is not going like that, you have to [work it out].”
When asked about the pressure on Southgate during the tournament and going into Saturday’s quarter-final against Switzerland (17:00 BST), the Manchester City player added: “I feel sorry for Gareth.
“In training, he has been telling us to press and be high up on the pitch and I feel like sometimes, it has to come from the players.
“We have to be leaders. In games we could have got together a little bit more and worked out a solution.
“So yes, we have spoken about it more. If it happens again in a game, we can get together and find a solution, see where it is going wrong and adapt our press.”
Foden was the Premier League’s Player of the Season and was voted the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year for the 2023-24 campaign as he helped City win the top-flight title.
However, he has yet to score at Euro 2024 and has struggled to replicate his Premier League form in Germany.
“I’ve not been the best player in the Premier League to come here and not show it,” the 24-year-old said.
“[But] every game I’m moving little steps forward and, hopefully, I can put in good performances for England. That’s always been my aim to show it for the national team.
“The first game was very quiet, in terms of how the game went I didn’t have much going forward for myself.
“The next games after that I grew. I came close a few times and I was offside [when seeming to score] in the last game [against Slovakia]. Against Denmark I hit the post.
“My performances have improved a lot and if [the efforts] go in no-one’s saying anything.”
Foden also rejected the view that when he drifts inside from the left he occupies too similar a position to midfielder Jude Bellingham.
“I don’t agree with that, I feel we do work good together,” he said.
“It’s just the way the games have gone sometimes and the way football works, [but] I feel like in the last game we did build on it really well, in terms of keeping the ball.
“We piled pressure on at the end and it can hopefully click together.”
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