Cesc Fabregas does not believe that Phil Foden is on the same level as Jude Bellingham after England scraped past Serbia in their opening game of Euro 2024.
The Manchester City attacker was a peripheral figure for much of the game, while Bellingham dominated the centre of the pitch with a masterful performance from the 10 position.
The Real Madrid star picked up the Player of the Match award after scoring the only goal of the game, meeting Bukayo Saka’s cross with a header in the 13th minute.
Despite the early lead, the Three Lions laboured to victory, raising questions over how Gareth Southgate should set up his team ahead of the Denmark match on Thursday. Micah Richards believes that the manager needs to get Foden more involved in play.
“I think in the first 20 minutes he got into some really good positions. We need to find a way to get the best out of him,” Richards said the BBC’s post match coverage of the game. “It makes me sad when I see a player of this quality in and out of games
Fabregas insisted that Foden, who won the Premier League Player of the Season award for 2023/24, needs to take it upon himself to dictate the game in the same way Bellingham does.
“I totally agree, but the same way you see Jude imposing himself, wanting the ball, getting face to face with the opponent, [Foden] owes us this class. He needs to do that himself as well,” the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder said.
Richards argued that Foden’s ability to impact the game was affected by having to defend out wide while coming infield while England were in possession, but Fabregas wasn’t buying it.
“I love that you try to defend him,” he said. “I get your point totally, but a player of this class, of this level, of this talent sometimes doesn’t even need to be told by the coach what he needs to do. He needs to want it more than the rest.
“It showed me today that Jude is a little bit above him in this regard and he needs to get this personality back to do what he does in matches.”
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