“Not playing in there?” – Rio Ferdinand thinks this Chelsea player should be dropped from England

Rio has had his say via his latest Podcast episode, and he’s not pleased that Gareth Southgate is ignoring Phil Foden for a central role in England’s starting lineup.

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He believes that Foden should be starting ahead of Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher, who has been playing in the central role and started against Brazil there at the weekend.

Gallagher was inconsistent even if not poor. But he’s been a regular feature for Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea this season, making 38 appearances in all competitions. He’s certainly been heavily relied on by Pochettino and is seen as pretty indispensable by him right now.

Rio though, says he does rate Gallagher and he deserves to be in the squad, yet says Foden should be starting over him for England.

‘Gareth Southgate said once that he isn’t playing central for his club so he can’t pick him. But he’s played central for his club this season and been arguably one of the best players in the league,’ said Ferdinand on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube show.

‘Foden, in the central areas, for the best team in Europe, this season, has been playing centrally and been the guy they’ve looked to for inspirational moments to get them results and unlock things.

‘And I’m sitting there thinking… I like Conor Gallagher, I think he’s got a place in that squad right now, but I think that Phil Foden – just on performance only, forget about what you think of him as a talent – why’s he not playing in there?

‘If Gareth has been to those games and seen the way Phil Foden has played in central areas, how is he not thinking that he just has to get him in the team and play him in there [centrally].

‘Because the kid is doing it at the best team in Europe. Phil Foden is a player that can play left, can play right, can play centre, he’ll adapt, but only to a certain level that the team will allow him to in the right position.

‘If he was playing centrally for England, that would be the strongest part of that team. Him playing alongside someone like Bellingham, they would find a way to make that work – them and Declan Rice

‘Putting him out on the left, on his own, isolated half the time – or the right – he’s not going to get into the feel of the game. What we’ve been seeing this year, at City, has been him in central areas where he’s involved in the heartbeat of the game constantly.

‘I’m just thinking as a manager, if you’re seeing that, how does that not translate to your England team? I don’t understand.’

He added: ‘Foden is a player, as talented as he is, if you isolate him out on the wing, he needs other team-mates around him to then produce the magic.

‘He needs an overlap, he needs someone running an inside channel to create some kind of overload where he can use decoys and then play to other people or run past people. He’s not the guy that’s going to get it and just beat people all day long on his own as an out-and-out winger.

‘That’s when you look at the team and think: well is the team going to support this guy’s talent? Or is it all just going to be dependent on him in an area where he’s isolated?’