#47 | Phil Foden - 2019/20 Performances

[ADegenerate]

I know who he is but not the quality of the players he has to work with or whether they are good enough to play the way he wants them to or if it's a good enough team to send phil to

Running joke around my crew for a few years has been that if we won the mega millions and 500m we'd buy Leeds. They picked up Bielsa (obviously Pep's a huge fan so I've put research into him) so last season we bought a subscription access to the championship and halfheartedly picked up Leeds as a second 'team'.

He's everything Guardiola said he is. He's 10x more eccentric than Guardiola too and he usually quickly outstays his welcome. His teams press like crazy, they play out from the back, and they probably create even more chances than we do. The knock on him is that he's not easy to work with and that he runs his teams into the ground and they fade. I probably watched 15 or so games and they played exactly like you'd expect. They should have been promoted but they faded towards the end just like his history suggested. To answer your question though, yes Leeds is a good enough team to send Phil to and if the parameters were right it would be ideal but their midfield and ambitions to get promoted wouldn't make Phil a priority there unless some sort of sell/buyback was mentioned should they get promoted like there is with Jack Harrison.

 

[OB1]

Never mind Pep, he needs to get in Gareth’s team - (which is a lower level than the first XI at City ;-)

I agree. At City he has to get past Merlin and the Ginger Prince, possibly the two best attacking midfielders in the world.

 

[ADegenerate]

I've been doing some thinking on this one over the past week or so and the situation is a lot more dicey that I initially thought it would be. Obviously being as to close to City as I am and having Pep for three years now makes pre-season projections pretty easy to do with fairly high confidence. I took this one for granted though and assumed a jump from 1100 to 2000 would be ideal and doable. After thinking it over and looking back at some of the data and how we rotate I'm not sure that will be possible even under some of the better conditions /scenarios for the campaign.

For one, KDB missed about 2,000 minutes last season. Two, Gundogan will probably be getting more minutes as a 8 rather than as a 6. Three, if Mahrez warrants more minutes out wide that will push Bernardo centrally and we're assuming that will happen anyway. Four, Pep really only uses a 3 player rotation for the two free 8's. One of Kevin/Dave seemingly always plays and Gundogan/Bernardo are the ones that rotate in.

Honestly, I'm not really sure what we're going to do. I'm sure Gundogan will be looking to hit peak form all season because he'll want the role as starter next season with Kevin. I'm sure he signed because he liked the vision the club had for him.... Bernardo is another issue relating to Phil. If the plan is to move him centrally on effectively a more permanent basis then there won't be much room anyway?

Can we get him 1500 minutes? Sure, easily. How we get to 2,000 or even more if he does take his chances well that I'm not sure of for this season and/or next...

I trust the club and Pep regardless of how this plays out so I really don't have a dog in this fight so for me this is going to be a really interesting subplot to watch play out. Ideally, Phil is given plenty of chances and takes them but I'm not sure that's the most likely outcome.

 

[give it to gordon]

Never mind Pep, he needs to get in Gareth’s team - (which is a lower level than the first XI at City ;-)

Thats a good point but sadly Phil seems to be the only youngster that "he must play more club game rule " seems to apply to....he doesnt need more club games he is better than England midfield already.......would any of England midfield get into City first 11 or squad.........NO

 

[Pete Campbell]

I'd like to see him get some minutes on the left wing to give Sterling a rest now what Sane is injured.

Would solve a lot of problems I think.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Can he play left back? Rotate him with Zin and Bendy.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I've been doing some thinking on this one over the past week or so and the situation is a lot more dicey that I initially thought it would be. Obviously being as to close to City as I am and having Pep for three years now makes pre-season projections pretty easy to do with fairly high confidence. I took this one for granted though and assumed a jump from 1100 to 2000 would be ideal and doable. After thinking it over and looking back at some of the data and how we rotate I'm not sure that will be possible even under some of the better conditions /scenarios for the campaign.

For one, KDB missed about 2,000 minutes last season. Two, Gundogan will probably be getting more minutes as a 8 rather than as a 6. Three, if Mahrez warrants more minutes out wide that will push Bernardo centrally and we're assuming that will happen anyway. Four, Pep really only uses a 3 player rotation for the two free 8's. One of Kevin/Dave seemingly always plays and Gundogan/Bernardo are the ones that rotate in.

Honestly, I'm not really sure what we're going to do. I'm sure Gundogan will be looking to hit peak form all season because he'll want the role as starter next season with Kevin. I'm sure he signed because he liked the vision the club had for him.... Bernardo is another issue relating to Phil. If the plan is to move him centrally on effectively a more permanent basis then there won't be much room anyway?

Can we get him 1500 minutes? Sure, easily. How we get to 2,000 or even more if he does take his chances well that I'm not sure of for this season and/or next...

I trust the club and Pep regardless of how this plays out so I really don't have a dog in this fight so for me this is going to be a really interesting subplot to watch play out. Ideally, Phil is given plenty of chances and takes them but I'm not sure that's the most likely outcome.

The reality of this assessment is that we don't need him when everyone is fit.

That said with 1 or 2 injuries he could be playing every other week - maybe not first choice but off the bench and starting against weaker Opo when we have 2 games a week. We just need to see how it goes this year. Next year when DS leaves its a different story.

The only thing I would like to see is a change in the subs we make when we are bossing games. If we are 2 or 3 nil up with 10 mins to go then we should look to get PF on every time. That way if we do come to rely on him he will have had the minutes on the pitch to get comfortable.

 

[ADegenerate]

The reality of this assessment is that we don't need him when everyone is fit.

That said with 1 or 2 injuries he could be playing every other week - maybe not first choice but off the bench and starting against weaker Opo when we have 2 games a week. We just need to see how it goes this year. Next year when DS leaves its a different story.

The only thing I would like to see is a change in the subs we make when we are bossing games. If we are 2 or 3 nil up with 10 mins to go then we should look to get PF on every time. That way if we do come to rely on him he will have had the minutes on the pitch to get comfortable.

I agree with you pretty much entirely. Pep's substitution's might be considered one of the only 'weaknesses' in his game and that's probably debatable. From what I can gather they are determined pre-match and at a specific time. We don't have a so called best 11 but we do have a clear pecking order. By seasons end pretty much the entire main squad end up on almost identical appearances so I think maybe this is the way he feels is best for squad harmony and rotation.

I guess what you're suggesting and why it hasn't been done already is maybe for the reasons mentioned.

 

[Sir Joe Aguero]

Start him in all cup games unless against the top 6. If he's the 'most talented player' he's ever seen, he should be starting cup games at least. I know we've got arguably the hardest midfield in the world to break into, but he's ready.

 

[domalino]

sadly Phil seems to be the only youngster that "he must play more club game rule " seems to apply to.

Remind us which English youngster is getting in the senior team without playing regularly for their club?