THOMAS TUCHEL has cast huge doubt over whether Phil Foden will make England’s World Cup squad.
Foden looks increasingly likely to miss out on this summer’s tournament after two unconvincing performances for the Three Lions despite starting in both the 1-1 draw with Uruguay and 1-0 loss to Japan.
The attacking midfielder has also been struggling with his form at Manchester City and asked if Foden could miss out, Tuchel said: “Well, it’s not a guarantee that he will come.
“He (Foden) tried everything. I would say he was excellent in camp but yes, he struggles to show it on the pitch.
“Obviously he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently. Then he came to camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training and I thought he will just surprise us and will play with the same verve and excitement but, yes, he struggles to have the full impact.”
Asked if he could take a struggling player to the World Cup, Tuchel laughed: “I can, I can – the question would be if we will.”
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Foden, who is on a reported £225,000-a-week at City, was the FWA and PFA player of the year two seasons ago, but has suffered an alarming dip in form.
Although he has played 44 times for England, he has rarely been at his best for the Three Lions and has scored just four times.
Foden is competing for a place with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Morgan Rogers, Marcus Rashford and Eberechi Eze.
He started Friday’s clash with Uruguay as a No10 and against Japan on Tuesday, played as a false nine due to the absence of the injured Harry Kane, whose foot injury is not believed to be serious.
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England player ratings: Palmer, Foden and Rogers fail World Cup audition as Tuchel’s No10 dilemma is answered
ENGLAND’s final friendly on home soil before heading to the States didn’t exactly go to plan, as they were beaten 1-0 by an impressive Japan team.
The Three Lions got off to a horror start at Wembley when Cole Palmer, auditioning for his World Cup spot, gave the ball away to Karou Mitoma, who started AND finished a brilliant Japan move to open the scoring.
Elliot Anderson rattled the crossbar from range, before Eredivisie top scorer Ayase Ueda shook the frame of Pickford’s goal too before the first 45 minutes were up.
The second half was more of the same…
England were struggling to create any real chances, with the visitors hitting them on the break, their attacks coming close as they skinned home defenders for fun.
Tuchel’s side will need to massively improve on that if they want any chance of glory in the summer.
Find out how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the England players here…
Yet Foden struggled to impose himself and it looks as though he will miss out on the World Cup.
Tuchel will name his squad for the World Cup a few days before the FIFA May 30 deadline.
England will head to Florida on June 1 for a training camp and the World Cup opener is against Croatia in Dallas on June 17.
Asked if he learned anything from the two Wembley matches, Tuchel said: “I learn all the time. I learn from every training session and I learn from how the squad is together and I learn from how the players react to the gameplan and how they adapt.”
