TalkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino believes England should drop Manchester City attacking midfielder Phil Foden in order to get the best out of Cole Palmer.
Interim head coach Lee Carsley has a plethora of No.10s available to him, but Cascarino says he would play Palmer in his favoured position:
“I think Palmer plays his best football as a 10, I think Foden’s a fabulous talent, but you’ve got to make a choice. My choice is being brave and saying: Palmer’s now my first-choice No.10.”
“Could I use him on the right? Of course, I could. But I want to play him where I know he makes a difference. If I’m choosing Palmer over Foden, I’m going to play him in the 10.”
Cascarino doesn’t exactly have an unbiased opinion
As an ex-Chelsea striker, it is not exactly a surprise that the pundit would favour Palmer over Foden, based on his former allegiances.
There is no denying the fact, though, that the pair do struggle to play together in the same team and, when you factor in that Jude Bellingham also favours the No.10 role, it makes selection very difficult.
Could Guardiola soon be in charge of Foden at international level?
Reports in recent days have suggested that City manager Pep Guardiola has been contacted by the FA. The Spaniard is out of contract at the end of the season and he is yet to give a response to the approach.
If the Cityzens boss does take the England job, you would bet on him favouring Foden over Palmer.
Even though the sale of Palmer to Chelsea was done reluctantly, it’s clear that Guardiola rates Foden extremely highly and he would try to get the best out of him at international level too.
Find out who is in Manchester City’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here