Friday gossip

First up, we start with Foden after the teenager stepped up to make his debut for the England U21s as the Young Lions took on Andorra.

Foden and his team mates smashed seven past Andorra to qualify for next year’s Euro’s in style, and our very own Foden impressed the media playing a pivotal role in the clash, providing two assists in the process.

U21 boss Aidy Boothroyd praised “team player" Foden in his post-match interview.

"Phil is a real team player," Boothroyd told Sky Sports. "When he gets the ball in difficult positions, he wriggles out of it like a little eel.

"Considering he hasn't played a game with this group of players, I thought he took to it really well.

"Whatever the tournament we want to get to the latter stages and we want to win things.

"This group have won with the junior teams and it has been a little while since Stuart's (Pearce) team got to the final (in 2009).

"We've qualified for Italy which is the biggest thing, to play in the European Championships and getting the boys tournament experience is what we're about."


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Next, we turn our attention to Bernardo Silva, who scored the winner in Portugal’s 3-2 victory over Poland in their UEFA Nations League meeting.

On the game, the Daily Mail’s Brian Homewood wrote: “Portugal's Bernardo Silva scored a typical individual goal as their new-look side recovered to win 3-2 away to Poland in the Nations League with an impressive performance on Thursday.

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“Andre Silva's strike and a Kamil Glik own goal put the European champions ahead by half-time, after Krzysztof Piatek had given Poland an early lead, and Bernardo Silva then got in the act early in the second half of the League A Group 3 game.

“Poland substitute Jakub Blaszczykowski, making his 103rd appearance as he became his country's most capped player, pulled a goal back but it was not enough for the hosts."

Away from his international endeavours, an article in the Manchester Evening News outlines a new role Bernardo could play within Pep Guardiola’s squad following our Anfield draw.

“Think of the great defensive midfielders, and they tend to be physical, often to the point of brutish, and often huge," Stuart Brennan writes. “Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Edgar Davids, Diego Simeone and, closer to home for Manchester City fans, Nigel De Jong – all were solid specimens who could mix it and play a bit, as well.


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“After his Anfield revelation, you can add to that list Bernardo Mota Veiga de Carvalho e Silva, ten stone wet through, and possibly the nicest footballer on the planet.

“The Portugal international was asked to do a new job by Pep Guardiola, as he sought to plug the alarming gaps which caused his team’s first league defeat, and their Champions League demise, last season.

“Heat maps of his role at Anfield show he spent most of the time in his own half, unusual for a player blessed with such a creative spark around the box.

“The fact that he was so important in plugging the gaps through which three league points, and City’s Champions League dreams, drained last season, revealed two aspects of his game which are not often recognised – his tenacity and work rate.

“Bernardo has now played in five different roles for City, taking on each of the front three berths, being shifted to central midfield with great success this season, and now this."

That’s all for today’s media round-up but we will be back tomorrow with all the latest news from the back pages…