Four goals in 45 games: Why has Phil Foden been unable to replicate his Man City performances and flopped for England?

Foden's failure to fire for England has been an unsolved conundrum for most of the five years since he made his senior debut for the Three Lions, although it was a problem that Thomas Tuchel could conveniently forget about for the last six months or so. Foden asked to not be selected for the June fixtures against Andorra and Senegal as he was suffering from burnout at the back end of last season while he was injured for the September World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.

He was returning to his usual self ahead of the October camp, but Tuchel opted against recalling him for the matches with Wales and Latvia as he wanted to capitalise on the good vibes of the previous camp, leading him to also discard Jude Bellingham in his most eye-catching squad list yet. But with Bellingham playing regularly for Real Madrid again after recovering from his shoulder surgery and Foden in unstoppable form for a resurgent City, the coach could no longer ignore the sound of the banging on his office door and recalled both players last Friday.

"Big names, big personalities, big, big talents," said Tuchel upon announcing his squad. "It’s excellent to see that both of them are in rhythm, both of them are in form, in shape, both contributing goals in important wins for their teams. It was a no-brainer. We will have central roles for both of them to bring out the very best. The contribution to their clubs lately was immense. They play regularly and a big part for City and Real. We are delighted they are in shape and in form."

And yet, both players returning to the squad at the same time means Tuchel is forced to confront the same problem Gareth Southgate faced: How to fit these two outstanding individuals into the same starting XI when they both want to play in similar areas and stamp their style on the play. 

As England crawled their way to the Euro 2024 final by playing uninspiring football and sneaking through each match via a combination of extra-time, penalty shootouts and stoppage-time goals, many pundits and fans were wondering whether Southgate would have been better off dropping one of Bellingham or Foden rather than play them together in all seven matches. And with Bellingham having scored twice, including his overhead kick which ensured England avoided a humiliating last-16 defeat to Slovakia, many were pointing at Foden to be left out.

Foden was predominantly deployed on the left of England's 4-2-3-1 formation during the tournament, though he also fell flat playing as a No.10 alongside Bellingham in a rejigged 3-4-3 against Switzerland. After that game, Foden's dismal statistics went viral as it was revealed he had no shots on target, hadn't created a chance and had lost the ball on 19 occasions. 

Months later, Foden appeared to blame Southgate for playing him in a position he had ceased to play for City, even if it was the one where he first shone between 2019 and 2023.

"I feel frustrated I didn’t get out what I wanted to get out of it," he told the Manchester Evening News in January 2025. "The position I was put in on the left was very difficult to influence the game. Coming off last season being the best player in the Premier League and playing centre midfield, I do feel the position was quite difficult to get used to."

It is also worth mentioning that Foden had to leave the England camp during the Euros to attend the birth of his third child, returning in a flash to ensure he did not miss any matches. Leaving his family so soon after such a big event and not being able to see his newborns first weeks in the world first-hand could not have been easy.

In Tuchel's first game in charge against Albania, Foden was deployed on the right of the attack behind Harry Kane, with Bellingham again playing as No.10. However, a few days later against Latvia, Foden was dropped to the bench and subsequently brought on to replace Bellingham in the second half. The change worked a treat, too, as Foden set up Eberechi Eze's goal to round off the 3-0 win.

After bringing them both back in for this week's games, Tuchel wasted little time in outlining where he saw the Foden and Bellingham playing: "Jude comes back as a No.10. That is his best position. One of his key strengths is to score from this position. Phil, where he played lately for City, was where I see him the strongest. He is close to the opponents' box. The main thing with Phil is he gets a role in the central part of the pitch. I don’t see him as a winger. He will contribute as a nine and a half, a 10 and a half, very fluid."

The main thing for Tuchel, though, is to make sure he does not make the same mistake as Southgate and see both Foden and Bellingham as un-droppable, or the same error that both Sven-Goran-Eriksson and Fabio Capello made when they attempted to crowbar Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard into the same midfield. The fact that Tuchel left both players out of his previous squad is encouraging in that sense, although it is one thing to drop a star name for a World Cup qualifier and another to do so at a major tournament.

Tuchel emphasised last month, when he left Bellingham and Foden out, that great individuals do not necessarily make a great team. "The radical statement is that we don’t collect the most talented players," he said. "We collect the guys who have the glue and cohesion to be the best team, because we need to arrive as the best team."

Tuchel has this camp and two friendlies in March to see if he can get a tune out of Bellingham and Foden together. If he cannot, then he will need to remind himself of those words and leave one of them out of his starting line-up if he thinks it will serve his team best. 

Speaking after Foden's double against Borussia Dortmund and just before Tuchel was due to name his squad for November, Pep Guardiola backed the German to do what was best for his team while also laying down the gauntlet for Foden to keep on improving.

"Thomas is so smart and wise and knows exactly what the national team needs, and I think Thomas knows Phil perfectly," the City boss said. "England is so lucky to have a mountain of good players, so in this position there are a lot, and that's why Phil has to push himself to be better and better and better."

Foden has returned to being the player he was two seasons ago when he was named Premier League Player of the Season, but it does not mean he will necessarily be able to repeat his heroics for England this week or at the World Cup. The ball is in his court under a different manager and he is also in a different mindset to the one he was in during both Euro 2024 and last season given he is back playing with a smile on his face again. 

But he also is playing for a coach in Tuchel who has no loyalty to any particular individual (with the possible exception of Kane) and who will not hesitate to punish Foden if he does not perform. It is up to the Man City man to finally rise to the same heights with England as he has done so regularly for his club.