Micah Richards accuses Southgate of 'playing Phil Foden out of position'

Micah Richards has hit out at England manager Gareth Southgate for misusing Phil Foden in his side's unconvincing 1-0 against Serbia on Sunday night.

England picked up a precious three points thanks to Jude Bellingham's 13th-minute header, but struggled to create clear-cut chances, with Foden unable to make an impact off the left wing.

Richards was frustrated to see Foden, who was named Premier League player of the year last month after winning the title with Manchester City, not operating in a central area.

He is adamant Southgate must move Foden into the No10 role for England's next game against Denmark, even if this means taking Bellingham out of his favoured position.

Opening up on his frustrations, Richards told The Rest is Football podcast: 'Phillip Foden. Phillip f-ing Foden. I'm not going to swear because he doesn't deserve it. What can you do? I told you it doesn't work.

'It works for Man City if he plays on the right or the left or the No10 because of the rotation.

'You know how Pep sets up his sides. There's going to be movement, rotation, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Grealish, Doku, whatever it may be alongside Haaland up front. I just think with England there's not enough of that and he's left, at times, isolated.

'Me and Cesc [Fabregas] had a really good debate afterwards. He said I was protecting [Foden], I wasn’t protecting Foden but it’s frustrating. I did feel for him. With Foden, it’s so disheartening to see a player of that quality being played out of position.

'Cesc was right, on the ball, he was moving into the No10 role but he still had to press on the left and when he got the ball, it was almost like he was a little bit lethargic. We’re talking about a player of Phil Foden’s ability, he’s best at receiving the ball on the half-turn.

'So he has to play No10, put [Jude] Bellingham further back alongside [Declan] Rice and play Foden in the 10. I said against Iceland, he didn’t have the best of games in the 10 but other players have had other chances to play in their favoured positions and if we persist with it, he can have an impact with this squad.'

Richards' take is one that is likely to spark plenty of debate given that Bellingham was widely seen as England's best player against Serbia.

The Real Madrid midfielder was at the heart of the action in the first half, with his goal capping off a fine display.

Richards is convinced Foden and Bellingham can play together in a midfield three, but Southgate has been reluctant to try the pair of them together alongside Declan Rice.

England have previously had issues with fitting all of their world-class midfielders into the same side, most notably when Sven-Goran Eriksson had Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes at his disposal at Euro 2004.

The Swede opted to play all three, but Scholes was shifted over to the left flank, and he retired from international football after the tournament following an underwhelming campaign.

Reflecting on Southgate's current dilemma, Gary Lineker admitted he had some sympathy for Foden, but hinted that he does expect more from the City star no matter what position he is playing in.

He also pondered whether Southgate could look to tweak things against Denmark by bringing in a more natural left winger such as Newcastle's Anthony Gordon.

'Phil Foden, I think, was caught between a rock and a hard place in the sense that he starts in that position, he's been told that he can come inside, but coming inside from a wide position is different to starting in the centre and being able to go either way,' Lineker said.

'At the same time, you think, "Come on Phil, you've got that much talent, you can work things out", but if you're uncomfortable...

'It'll be interesting to see how Gareth manages that situation on the left-hand side because you've got an obvious player that can play on the left-hand side in Gordon.'