47 | Phil Foden - 2025/26

I think Phil will transition to be more of an 8 this season, is my guess.

That goal he scored from Cherki's cross shows he can develop that chemistry to make those runs and score, we saw KdB and Gundogan have this similar connection.

I just think Cherki will probably be better suited as a 10, and it's a way to play both.

Now Reijnders is also an 8, and the Gundogan replacement in a sense, but how do you play all 3, along with Marmoush and Haaland?

I was watching Real Madrid's last game, and the 442 diamond with wide fullbacks is definitely something I think we can do.

1751919113951.png

Xabi used this in his last game, and the advantage this formation has is in breaking low blocks.

Most formations rely on 3 man triangles, but very often, that isn't enough to beat a low block.

What the 442 diamond does, is by default, you have 3 on either side, and you use the #10 (Cherki here) to move over and make the 4th player.

You can also easily tilt the diamond midfield into a box to make 4222, which suits Foden.

Or even a 316 as well that Pep did by having the CDM (Rodri) drop, and having the more defensive 8 (Reijnders or Nico G) become the 1 in front.

I'm curious to see how Pep uses Phil, I hope its more like an 8.
 
WallyA said:
I think Phil will transition to be more of an 8 this season, is my guess.

That goal he scored from Cherki's cross shows he can develop that chemistry to make those runs and score, we saw KdB and Gundogan have this similar connection.

I just think Cherki will probably be better suited as a 10, and it's a way to play both.

Now Reijnders is also an 8, and the Gundogan replacement in a sense, but how do you play all 3, along with Marmoush and Haaland?

I was watching Real Madrid's last game, and the 442 diamond with wide fullbacks is definitely something I think we can do.

View attachment 162269

Xabi used this in his last game, and the advantage this formation has is in breaking low blocks.

Most formations rely on 3 man triangles, but very often, that isn't enough to beat a low block.

What the 442 diamond does, is by default, you have 3 on either side, and you use the #10 (Cherki here) to move over and make the 4th player.

You can also easily tilt the diamond midfield into a box to make 4222, which suits Foden.

Or even a 316 as well that Pep did by having the CDM (Rodri) drop, and having the more defensive 8 (Reijnders or Nico G) become the 1 in front.

I'm curious to see how Pep uses Phil, I hope its more like an 8.
Click to expand...

Where does Doku and Savinho fit in this system? They need game time in order to develop.

Foden is almost 25 and has had long enough now
 
ZoneMCRR6 said:
Where does Doku and Savinho fit in this system? They need game time in order to develop.

Foden is almost 25 and has had long enough now
Click to expand...
I made what I think is our strongest starting 11.

I didn't make an 11 of "Who needs minutes to develop".

Doku and Savinho could possibly fit this 442 diamond as one of the strikers playing it more in a wider role.

Or more likely, we don't use 2 wide fullbacks, and instead play 1 fullback wide and 1 winger wide in a different system to let them do that.

This was my suggestion on a system to fit our strongest 11, inspired by watching Xabi's Real Madrid most recently, combined with how we played 4222 last season.
 
A half decent Foden is our starting right winger. Savinho and Doku will have to figure out between them who is first sub

I think carrying both is 1 too many but we’ll see

Even if Foden isn’t player-of-the-year Foden, he’s better than all other options and one of the first names on the team sheet - crucially, he’s one of the few players we have who know where the net is
 
ZoneMCRR6 said:
Where does Doku and Savinho fit in this system? They need game time in order to develop.

Foden is almost 25 and has had long enough now
Click to expand...
Foden is two or three times the player of both of them so it's a non starter. Regardless, I think Foden will rotate between inside right and number 10 rather than in the 8.
 
FUT995v.jpg
 
Last edited:
it’s like Foden’s cycle

Good season at club -> arrives at England camp -> demoralized -> bad season with the club -> motivated (current) -> good season with the club….
 
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