Phil Foden makes 'difficult' England admission in response to Euro 2024 critics

England are through into the semi finals despite making a slow start to the tournament which has seen Gareth Southgate singled out for criticism over the performances

By: irishmirror.ie

Jul 08 2024
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Phil Foden makes 'difficult' E

Phil Foden insists England are “not scared” to admit they can play better - but insists they will have to ignore criticism if they want to win the Euros.‌

England are through into the semi finals despite making a slow start to the tournament which has seen Gareth Southgate singled out for criticism over the performances.

But England boss Southgate enjoyed the win over Switzerland and now they are into the third major semi-final of his reign which is more than any other previous manager.

England star Foden told talkSPORT: “It’s not just him (Southgate). Everyone's getting a bit of criticism. It's just part of the game, as long as you don't read too much into it and believe in what we're doing on the training field.

“Sometimes you have to block out that noise if we're ever going to achieve anything. Obviously, it's difficult and it doesn't help if there's a lot of criticism but you have to keep believing in what we're doing. We keep getting results so at the moment we're proving people wrong.

“We're not scared to say we can do better sometimes. Maybe we started the tournament a bit slow but there were a lot of positives to take out of the last game. We want to try and play exciting football for everyone.

“Sometimes people say we have the best team on paper and we should be able to beat teams easily but it's not like that, it's not straightforward. Sometimes it's difficult and that's the way football is.”

Foden insists the performance against Switzerland was much improved and he relished the chance to play alongside Jude Bellingham in midfield in a new-look England formation.

Phil Foden is preparing for the Euro 2024 semi-finals with England (Image: Getty Images)

Foden told the BBC : “I enjoyed it a lot. I felt like it suited me a bit more, being more central. It's the best we've probably played in this tournament as well. We want to keep improving and take that into the semi now.

“Me and Jude had to stay a bit patient in the pockets and hopefully the lads can find us in between the lines. We spoke about that, staying patient in our positions.

"I felt like last game was a lot of improvement, me and Jude linking up well and changing positions. Gareth doesn't want us to just stick to one position, he gives us freedom, which helps a lot.”

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