47 | Phil Foden - 2025/26

Craig said:
Yeah, that’s true. Only difference was he was much quicker back then so didn’t have to always come inside. If he gets over his injuries that might come back but we’ll have to wait and see
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Four years is a long time. Injuries determine how you approach sports. Pace goes, other attributes come to the fore.

As I see it, Phil was trying to adapt his game last season but it just wasn't working for him. Hopefully, he'll come back from the summer break a more complete player.

25/26 could be a make or break season for Phil at City. The competition for places is tough.
 
Eric Hitchmough said:
People saying he was laughing on the bench after the 2nd goal - surely that’s been taken out of context
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Weren't we all laughing after that, though?

Was scared he had done his ankle when he came on, seemed to shake it off. We are realllly going to need him this season it would appear so hopefully he starts next week and kicks on
 
I do feel like he's been playing more assertively since the CWC and grabbing games by the balls. That was the one part of his game that's always been missing. So if he's stepped up, then he'll be a bigger positive than any new signing could be
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
We need him back. Thought he looked decent when he came on and you could see the clear difference in quality when him and Rodri were there
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Completely agree.
Why was it the 74th minute that both came on ?
Spurs played the game out with ease, without breaking sweat.
To put the 3rd and 4th subs that late, was very foolish of Pep.
His substitutions, or lack of or too late, is hurting us badly.
The game is getting quicker every season, with all 5 subs being part of the team, a necessity...
 
Platt Lane 59 said:
Completely agree.
Why was it the 74th minute that both came on ?
Spurs played the game out with ease, without breaking sweat.
To put the 3rd and 4th subs that late, was very foolish of Pep.
His substitutions, or lack of or too late, is hurting us badly.
The game is getting quicker every season, with all 5 subs being part of the team, a necessity...
Click to expand...
probably the physios said he only had 20 mins in him so we managed his minutes. Looked likely when he came on. Bit of drive about him. Hope he is on the way back .
 
Definitely looks more confident on the ball than last season. Last season he looked like he couldn't wait to get rid of the ball to the nearest teammate. He can be as good as he wants to be.

That said, if I was his captain or manager. I tell him not to be laughing and joking on the bench while we've just gone 2-0 down. And tell him to stop having craic with the opposing subs, laughing and joking with them while we are losing and struggling on the pitch. It's a bad look. It's not a photo taken out of context. It was visible a few times yesterday. Where's the anger and frustration? Where's the focus determination to get on and change it?

Say what you want about someome like Roy Keane, but as a captain he would've given his teammate a dressing down for that. I'd imagine some of our past players would too, like Kompany. I think we're missing some real sets of bollocks in the team.

Hopefully Bernado can do that as captain He seems pretty up front in interviews, I like that, so hopefully he will be that kind of captain.
 
My feeling with Phil is that he’ll have a bounceback season.

There’s been a lot of theories as to why his form dipped last season, but really it only comes down to two factors.

1- Confidence. The Euros broke him. He’s someone who goes on social media, and he’d see the reaction from fans. Obviously rival fans were after him because they feel he’s a threat to their own starboys (Saka, Palmer, Jude). His mediocre performances in an awkward position combined with England seemingly scoring whenever he was subbed off clearly impacted him. All those starboys had their moments in the Euro except for him. You could argue it was fine margins because if he scores against Netherlands instead of hitting the post, then people would sing a different tune. He was depressed and burnt out. Injuries didn’t help either.

2- Foden was so successful in 23/24 because the system was primed for him to succeed. He’d stand and wait for the ball in between the lines. He’d receive the ball on the half-turn, and then turn as quickly as anyone I’ve ever seen, and rifle the ball into the top corner. The only issue with that style is that you’re dependent on your teammates getting the ball to you in optimal positions. First, he needs Haaland to pin the defense to give him extra bit of space. After all, he’s playing in the most crowded area of the pitch. Second, he luckily had Rodri (sometimes Kovacic) to find him. Last year he had no one. Also Pep was so scared of transitions that players were under clear instructions not to attack centrally in small spaces. So most attacks came from the wings and Foden was quiet.

Now with Rodri back and the addition of Reijnders who is another player great at finding players between the lines, I expect Foden’s form to recover. I also think having Cherki next to him, will get Foden even more involved in the pockets.

Now it’s just a question of him building confidence. There are very few players better than Foden after he’s scored a goal. He just needs to learn to play with the confidence he gets after scoring, even when he doesn’t score!
 
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