
If you had to guess how many appearances Phil Foden has made this season, nobody would put forward a figure anywhere close to 48. The usually dazzling midfielder has been anonymous for both club and country - but you can't pin the blame on him.
Foden has asked to sit out of Thomas Tuchel's next England squad and no wonder with the amount of miles his engine has on the clock. He's had no time to deal with issues away from football and one of our nation's brightest talents risks being burnt out at the age of just 24.
On the way to winning the PFA Player of the Year award and helping England to the Euro final last season, he racked up 69 appearances. He's played over 50 matches in each of the four seasons prior to this one.
With an ankle injury he can't shake and the mental fatigue piling up, Foden's crying out for a proper pit stop. England should be building around him - not breaking him.

F1 like chess
SPEAKING of pit stops, the Monaco Grand Prix has an 'exciting' new rule introduced for this weekend with every team forced to make two stops instead of one.
It's only exciting if you're a big fan of chess.
With overtaking opportunities extremely limited at this iconic F1 track, they have resorted to turning the race into a chess match to keep it on the schedule, while other iconic circuits fall at an alarming rate.
Emma should pull out
EMMA Raducanu is carrying an injury into the French Open, with "long and intense" back spasms causing her discomfort.
The Brit cannot risk missing Wimbledon so pulling out early may be the obvious solution. She's not going to win the clay Slam, so why play two matches just to aggravate the issue further?
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