Gareth Southgate Explains Why He Didn’t Play Phil Foden In England’s Flat Draw With USA. England was held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by the United States in the World Cup in Qatar, with Gareth Southgate explaining his decision.

After defeating Iran 6-2 on Monday, England approached their second World Cup game in 2022 feeling confident. However, they were unable to overcome the United States, as they frequently trailed during the game in Qatar.

In the second half, Southgate introduced three players—Jack Grealish, Jordan Henderson, and Marcus Rashford—in an effort to alter the course of the match. Gary Neville on ITV Sport challenged the decision to keep Phil Foden on the bench, which generated a lot of discussions.

Asked by ITV about his decisions at full-time, Southgate said: “Well we thought it was the right thing to keep the team from the start and then the wide players, we went with Jack and Marcus ahead of Phil on the changes.

“We thought Jack would keep the ball for us and take us up the pitch and we thought Marcus’s speed, we thought, would also be a threat going into that last part of the game.”

Phil Foden created as many chances against the USA as Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Harry Kane.

Phil Foden did not play…#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/IvIOzRq63G

— Squawka (@Squawka) November 25, 2022

He addressed the attack’s shortcomings by saying; “I think a little bit of zip. We didn’t quite have that same zip but that’s going to happen, this is tournament football.”