Phil Foden is back at the centre of the calendar argument after England left him out of the World Cup squad. Maheta Molango says the wider problem is football’s schedule, not just one selection call, and he has framed Phil Foden as a player caught in it after an underwhelming season. Foden was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2024, which is why the drop-off has prompted so much noise.
Why Molango has made Foden the example
Molango did not hide his view. He said: “Unfortunately, he is one of the victims of this crazy calendar that only makes sense for those who pursue commercial gain to the detriment of the quality of the show, and to the detriment of the protection of those who should be football heritage.” He also said: “The number of games that he's been available for has dropped and, when he has been available, it has not been the version of Phil Foden we saw two years ago.”
Those comments matter because they push the debate beyond a simple form discussion. The World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams, yet Molango’s point is that more places do not solve the workload problem if players arrive drained.
The data in the brief supports the concern, even if it does not prove cause. Foden made 33 Premier League appearances in 2025, and his Premier League rating was 7.02. He was a little better in the Champions League, where his rating was 7.19, but that still sits below the standard he set when he won that PFA award.
Why the broader workload debate is hard to ignore
Molango’s warning was not limited to Foden. He said: “You cannot go into a competition having already played 60, or close to 60, games.” That is where the discussion widens to other elite players the brief flags, especially Declan Rice and Virgil van Dijk.
Rice featured in 36 Premier League games for Arsenal, while Van Dijk played in all 38 of Liverpool's Premier League matches. Those are the kind of totals that make the workload argument feel less like theory and more like a live issue heading into another tournament cycle.
The point is not that Foden’s omission was caused by fixture congestion alone. Thomas Tuchel still overlooked him after an underwhelming season. But Molango’s intervention is a fair reminder that form and fatigue are now tangled together, and the game keeps asking top players to prove themselves after heavier seasons than the calendar should probably allow.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
