For Phil Foden, more than any other England player, this camp feels like a World Cup trial.
It was during Thomas Tuchel’s first squad get-together in March that the new boss watched the Manchester City playmaker and Morgan Rogers trade darts at Tottenham Hotspur’s Myddelton Lodge. He liked what he heard and saw from Foden – good darts, good vibe, here was a happy camper.
But when Foden swapped arrows for studs, he left his smile at the oche. The head coach was alarmed and did not pick him again, until now. Had the 25-year-old not rediscovered his spark at club level – Tuchel was particularly taken by his two goals versus Borussia Dortmund last week – he would not have been recalled on reputation alone.
That is why everything Foden does over these few days in London and this weekend in Albania will be under the microscope, especially with so much competition in his position. That position, it should be noted, is not out wide – Tuchel is clear on that. Rather, Foden is a No 10 or, perhaps, a false nine when Harry Kane is not there.
To win a place in England’s starting XI he has to be better than Rogers and Jude Bellingham. To keep his place in the squad he has to be better than Eberechi Eze, Morgan Gibbs-White and, once fit, Cole Palmer.
The idea of Foden not going to the World Cup would have been unthinkable as recently as last year, when the best players were picked first and systems worked out later. Tuchel, rather, will pick his best team, with or without star names such as Foden, Bellingham and Palmer. Creating that culture of equal fear and motivation has been the biggest triumph of his 10-month reign.
Phil Foden has plenty to smile about after being recalled to the England squad for their games
Thomas Tuchel’s task now this camp is to see where the Man City star best fits in his system
But here is an achievement that would rival that – making Foden the England player he should be but never has been.
Since debuting just over five years ago and earning 45 caps, his performances have got worse, not better.
He scored twice on his first start at Wembley against Iceland and, in five years since, has added only two more, against Wales and Scotland. In 14 appearances at major finals, there has been one goal and two assists.
Tuchel knows his numbers are skinny but it is the absence of a big fat grin that concerns him more than the stats. He looks at Foden and sees what he calls a ‘childish joy’ to play football. Except, that is, for his country.
The German wants to figure out this week whether that is because of squad dynamic and environment or a more technical reason with regards position and instruction. Playing Foden centrally, Tuchel believes, will clarify his duty.
At the European Championship last year, he and Bellingham felt like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard revisited – leading men sharing a stage but not a script. Tuchel will not repeat Gareth Southgate’s mistake.
In a strongest XI, assuming Kane is available, it will be Foden or Bellingham, but not both. It could be neither, if Rogers keeps the jersey of which he is in possession.
If it is not Foden – the odds are certainly against him starting the World Cup in the team – he will have to prove himself an engaged and happy team-mate around camp.
Foden impressed Tuchel with a Man City Champions League brace against Dortmund last week
At Euro 2024 it felt like Foden and Bellingham were shoehorned in at the detriment of the team
In Tuchel’s best XI, assuming Harry Kane is available, it will be Foden or Bellingham, not both
Tuchel likes Foden, there is no issue over personality in the way that some of Bellingham’s traits have disturbed him. Nice boy or not, though, Tuchel wants lions and not kittens both on and off the pitch.
The boss got his claws out on Wednesday when, during his media briefing ahead of Serbia, it was suggested he had experimented with some things in the September and October camps. That was wrong he said, and he wasn’t about to start experimenting now.
Except, when it comes to Foden, this does look like an experiment, both social and practical.
The aim, between them, is for manager and player to find a way to hit the bullseye – the target, this time, being inside the penalty box, not the games room.
