By Sean Walsh
England were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw with the United States in the group stage of the World Cup on Friday night, with fans confused as to why Phil Foden was just an unused substitute.
Foden was used regularly by Gareth Southgate at Euro 2020 before picking up a tournament-ending injury and was expected to be a regular in Qatar.
The Manchester City star came off the bench in Monday’s 6-2 draw against Iran but was not used by Southgate against the United States, despite positional rival Mason Mount playing poorly.
Southgate instead chose to throw in Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford, and explained ITV after the match because Foden wasn’t brought into the fold.
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“Well we thought it was the right thing to keep the team from the start, and then wide players we went with Jack and Marcus instead of Phil on the subs,” said Southgate.
“We thought Jack was going to hold the ball for us and take us up the field and Marcus’ speed we thought was going to be a threat to the latter part of the game.”
England will qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup on Tuesday with a point against Wales, while a win will see them top Group B.
This article was originally posted on 90min.com as Why didn’t Phil Foden play for England against the USA?.
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