Nottingham Forest hero Stuart Pearce has defended England boss Gareth Southgate over his reluctance to play Phil Foden in the World Cup.
Foden was an unused substitute against the USA with teammates Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford preferred off the bench ahead of him, although he did get some minutes off the bench against Iran.
The reluctance to play Foden has brought some fierce criticism Southgate's way, with many saying he is England's best player. While Stuart Pearce agrees Foden is a top player for Man City, he has defended the England boss' decision to leave him out thus far.
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"The Americans were the better team," Pearce said of Friday's game. "They were the team looking most likely to win the game, let's not beat about the bush," Pearce told
. "So Gareth's thinking to himself 'I don't need to lose this game'.
""I thought Mason Mount was our best player in the front three, because of what he was pressing with and the energy he gave us. So for me, it's a like-for-like. You're either putting Grealish on the pitch or you're putting Foden on the pitch.
"He's got the problem on the right-hand side with Saka, who I don't think had a great deal of impact in the game. But their left-back was arguably one of their best weapons - getting forward and supplementing everything Pulisic was doing just in front of him. So if (Southgate) put Foden on the right-hand side, is Phil ideally suited to tracking Robinson back?
"It's a real difficult conundrum for him. So I can understand why he's ended up not doing what he's doing. I can also understand people's frustration. Phil Foden, he's an interesting one. I love everything he does in a Manchester City shirt. There's so much more to come, and he is a young man, in an England shirt.
"None of us can sit here and say Phil Foden's been exactly the same player and had the same impact at international level and club level - as yet. He will do, that will come, but at the moment I don't think he has."
Do you agree with Stuart Pearce? Let us know in the comments section.
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