What next for Foden & Diaz?

I'd rather them be 17 and playing here than 18 and playing elsewhere. We have a shit record of bringing through talent and that needs to change if we want to keep our talent.
Lucky it’s not that binary choice then.
 
I'd rather them be 17 and playing here than 18 and playing elsewhere. We have a shit record of bringing through talent and that needs to change if we want to keep our talent.
Pep said last week they both would have played v wolves if they were here and available,pep is well placed to handle them correctly
 
If im correct, the under 19 CL squad have won their 3 games so going well but i think they should stick with them to support their campaign.
 
They are 17 yrs old,their time will come
It will come when Guardiola thinks they are ready but with the World Cup U-17s and the bits and pieces we have seen of them, I can't help but wonder when that will be. Cup games seem the obvious route, and in the past other clubs have used the latter games in the CL groups as opportunities for younger players.
 
They are 17 yrs old,their time will come

Brahim is 18 and there is literally no precedent to suggest their time will come other than blind faith at the moment. It may indeed come, but recent history suggests it won't and instead a loan to NAC will come instead to be fair.
 
Brahim is 18 and there is literally no precedent to suggest their time will come other than blind faith at the moment. It may indeed come, but recent history suggests it won't and instead a loan to NAC will come instead to be fair.

Sam Lee reported that they planned Brahim would be used in the first team out wide after the Sanchez deal fell through...1/4 way through the season and he's yet to even make the bench which isn't a promising sign.

With Bernardo getting all his games out wide, and Foden being preferred, I'd say Brahim's chances of anything other than a NAC loan are diminishing by the day.
 
Like to see Foden come on as a sub against Arsenal. In fact I wish Pep would be bold and put him on from the start. Crazy talk? If you're good enough you're old enough.
 
Like to see Foden come on as a sub against Arsenal. In fact I wish Pep would be bold and put him on from the start. Crazy talk? If you're good enough you're old enough.

Instead of who? Silva? De Bruyne? Sterling? Sané? Foden is promising but do you really think it's fair to expect him to do as well as any of those four players?

Right now we have a 24-man senior squad.
Two are goalkeepers, that leaves 22.
Four (including Delph) are fullbacks, that leaves 18
Five are centerbacks, that leaves 13
Two are out-and-out strikers, leaving 11
Two are defensive-minded midfielders in a role Foden and Diaz can't play- that leaves 9

Sané, Sterling, Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernardo, Zinchenko, Foden, Diaz

In the average City line-up there's room for four of these players in the starting XI and maybe two in the bench. So three must miss out. Zinchenko, Foden and Diaz are the obvious choices.

It's not that Pep doesn't want to give them a go- it's that he can't do so without dropping one of the other six, who are all talented and deserving. It's not like we're playing Sam Clucas and Charlie Adam instead of giving youth a chance, these are world-class players.

So when will their time come? That depends on three things: how many dead rubber games we get, cup draws and injuries.

- They will get a chance if we wrap up the league or UCL group stage/tie with games to spare (not saying I expect that to happen)
-They are more likely to get a go against Rochdale than Chelsea in the cup, or Basel than Real Madrid in the Champions League
- If two of the aforementioned six get injured there is room on the bench for Foden or Diaz.

Diaz can play as a striker but I don't think he'll do that for a while under Pep.
 

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