Phil Foden makes Jude Bellingham admission after failing to shine in England win

Phil Foden has admitted his link-up play with Jude Bellingham “can get better.”‌

Real Madrid superstar Bellingham stole the show against Serbia in England’s opening Group fixture as he scored and was man of the match. It put Foden in the shade, but the Manchester City forward also struggled to find his usual space and opportunities in the game.

‌Foden has just enjoyed the season of his life with City, winning a fourth consecutive title and being crowned the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year. But Gareth Southgate faces a big challenge in getting the best out of two of his biggest talents and Foden admits the pair of them must work on improving their understanding.

Foden said: “Jude’s obviously an exceptional talent. He carries himself really well. He’s a leader now, I think he’s turning into a leader. ‌I think our link up play is good at times and I think it’s improving as well and can keep getting better. So he’s an exciting talent and I enjoy playing with him.”‌

England got past Serbia with a narrow win and face a tougher game against Denmark on Thursday night as they look to build momentum.

But Foden insisted the most important thing from any opening game is the win because it sets up the rest of the campaign as he also claimed it showed they can dig deep and see out games.

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He added: “I think the first game of a major tournament is always the most difficult. I think it’s important to get off to a win and, yeah, we did that.

“It was difficult at times. Obviously, we had to defend at times and dig deep, but I think that shows a different side to us and if we’re going to win something I think that we have to do that.”

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