Is Phil Foden too Man City and Pep Guardiola-coded to truly thrive for England?

Foden shrinking when putting on an England shirt is nothing new. He has played 35 games since making his Three Lions debut in 2020, scoring four goals while setting up eight. That's an average of 0.34 goal involvements every game. By contrast, he has played 270 games for City and contributed to 140 goals, an average of 0.52 per match. And in the last season, he contributed to 39 goals in 54 games, an average of 0.72.

Even considering the big difference in overall quality between City and England and the gulf in coaching ability between Guardiola and Southgate, it's a significant drop-off. Especially when putting Foden's numbers next to those of his fellow midfielders at City, who tend to replicate their club form at international level.

Kevin De Bruyne has an average of 0.75 goal involvements per game for Belgium compared to 0.71 for City; Bernardo Silva's average is 0.44 for Portugal and 0.37 for City; Rodri's is 0.1 for Spain and 0.22 for City; Erling Haaland's average is 1.1 for both Norway and City; Jack Grealish's England average is 0.28, for City it's 0.26.

Julian Alvarez is 0.52 for City but 0.25 for Argentina, also a big drop-off, with the important caveat that he starred at the 2022 World Cup and was his team's second-top scorer behind Lionel Messi.

Foden's former City team-mates also had similar trajectories at club and international level. Ilkay Gundogan's average for City was 0.32, for Germany it's 0.33. Raheem Sterling's was 0.6 for City, only marginally higher than his 0.57 for England.

A lot has been made of the fact that Foden tends to play out on the left wing for England while last season with City he enjoyed more freedom, operating as a No.10 when De Bruyne was unavailable or playing off the right. In a number of games, he also started out on the left, the position he used to play in his first four seasons after breaking into the first team.

Indeed, Southgate gave a sarcastic response when asked last year why he didn't play Foden more centrally for England. "He doesn't play there for his club, so presumably there's a reason for that," he said. "It depends on the level of the game really. You'd have to speak with Pep Guardiola, the best coach in the world, who plays him from wide."

The big difference between City and England, however, is Guardiola encourages his players to move all over the pitch and rotate with their team-mates, confusing the opposition and opening up more space for each other. Positions are much more rigid in Southgate's side, even if the manager would not like to admit it.

Southgate said a month before the tournament "the key with Phil is where he ends up, not his starting position." He added: "It's where these players arrive and where they are allowed to drift to. We never pin these forwards to the touchline. There is this freedom."

But that freedom was not on display in Gelsenkirchen. With Luke Shaw still not fit and Kieran Trippier forced to play at left-back on his weaker foot, England did nearly all of their attacking down the right flank.

Bukayo Saka mostly stuck to that, while Kyle Walker, who is encouraged to come into midfield more at City, stayed close behind him, doubling England's threat down that side.

That combination provided the only goal of the game for Jude Bellingham, but it also meant that Foden could not get into the space in which he thrives the most, coming off the right wing on the half-turn and cutting onto his deadly left foot.

Of the 27 goals Foden scored in all competitions last season for City, just three came while attacking from the left. Ten came while attacking from the right, with 13 coming from attacks through the middle or arriving in the middle of the box. It is unsurprising, therefore, that he was not able to cause as much damage operating in a different sphere.

Foden's capacity to drift inside was further reduced due to a lack of support from Trippier, who was not able to get forward with the same regularity as Josko Gvardiol did for City in his spectacular end to the season.

The absence of Shaw, the only natural left-back in the squad Southgate took to Germany, has badly affected Foden, and the Manchester United defender looks unlikely to start against Denmark on Thursday, which does not bode well for Foden's prospects against Kasper Hjulmand's side.

There was another factor that worked against Foden: Jordan Pickford's tendency to launch the ball forward every time he got hold of it. The tactic has led to goals previously, but against Serbia it frequently led to England surrendering the ball and then having to work hard to recover it rather than playing out from the back, as Foden is used to Ederson or Stefan Ortega doing at City.

In Marc Guehi and John Stones, England have two centre-backs who have the ability and confidence to play the ball into midfield. The short-passing game is where Foden thrives as he knows what type of pass to expect and can think several moves ahead.

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards was dismayed watching Foden struggle against Serbia and has called on Southgate to play him centrally against Denmark, rather than persist with him on the left.

"It doesn't work. It works at City if he plays off the right or left or as the 10 because of rotation, you know how Pep sets up his sides. I just think there's not enough of that and he's left isolated. I did feel for him. His game is isolated," Richards said on 'The Rest Is Football' podcast with Gary Lineker.

"With Foden it's so disheartening to see a player of that quality being played out of position. On the ball he was moving into the No.10 role, but he still had to press on the left, and when he got the ball he was lethargic, he didn't have the one-two. He's best at receiving the ball on half-turn. Put Bellingham further back alongside [Declan] Rice and play Foden as No.10."

Lineker added: "Foden is caught between a rock and a hard place. He starts in that position but is told he can come inside from a wide position, but that's different to starting in the centre and being able to drift either side. I don't think it suits him on the left, he's better on the right, but Saka plays on the right."

Foden has little prospect of taking the place of Saka or Bellingham as they were among England's best performers against Serbia. And it should be said that he was deployed as the No.10 in the friendly against Iceland while Bellingham was absent and Saka only started on the bench and also performed badly.

Saka and Bellingham also have no problem turning it on when they put on an England shirt. Saka has contributed to 19 goals for England in the same number of games as Foden, while Bellingham has nine goal involvements in 30 matches and is the leader of Southgate's team in all but name. While Foden has fully earned his status with City, he has some way to go before he can start calling the shots for England.

"A player of this class, of this level, of this talent, he doesn't even need to be told by the coach what he needs to do," said Cesc Fabregas on the BBC's coverage of England's opening game. "He needs to want it more than the rest and for me today, it showed that Jude is a little bit above him in this regard."

In the many debates about Foden in the aftermath of the Serbia match, one crucial factor tended to be ignored: England won the match. If the Three Lions do lose to Denmark then there might be a case to give Foden the role and importance he craves. But for now he has to accept the position he has and adapt to it. It matters little that he was the player of the season in the Premier League; this is international football and he still needs to master it.