#47 | Phil Foden - 2019/20 Performances

[dennishasdoneit]

so you’d rather Phil was playing in his thirties, then play now.???

I have never understood that argument. Let’s not play Mbappe, Rooney or sancho when they are 19 so they can play when they are 34

Rooney in particular played as a youngster and had one of the best careers in the game - still playing in his thirties aswel

Correct.And the history of tne beautiful game is littered with young debutants who managed to carve out long industrious careers;
Francis Henry Lee made his debut for Bolton at 16,still playing well into his 30s at Derby County,energetic enough at that time to give Leeds Norman Hunter
a pasting too ;) Trevor Francis played alongside big Bob Latchford at Brum aged 16,and his 4 goals against ipswich as a 16 yr old is legendary for any St Andrews fan old enough to remember it.Colin Bell 18; debut at 18,captain of Bury at 19....Pele..world cup player and winner as a teenager,Maradona( his performance as an 18 yr old at wembley against England was breathtaking) ...Stanley Matthews played from age 15 until he was 50
Tommy Hutch started young and was atill playing at 38.Yes we ve all witnessed others who have suffered burn out..but from a personal point of view,the career of my fav ever City player,Paul Lake was cut short way way too early..i still feel robbed now of not seeing him reach his full potential at City..therefore i,m grateful i saw most of his games as a youngster before injury struck.Home grown youngsters as talented as Lake and Foden dont come along every year
Its no wonder there is a clamour to see Foden perform,imagine the buzz around the ground and,indeed country wise if he shows his talent on a regular basis.
Its interesting,in this ,the most popular of player threads,that fans of other teams are entering into the debate..that in itself says an awful lot...and they obviously dont care if the lad is a City fan from Stockport; they are just curious as to when he will be played,clearly impressed with what they have seen or heard about thus far.

Some folk are saying,and to a point i agree with them,he didnt play that well against whoever...Surely they can understand it takes time to find form after sitting on the bench for so long.Mahrez was poor for nearly a whole season early on at City..took him a while to deliver the goods,but,possibly due to the £60M transfer fee ,was afforded the time to settle in.And any of us who observed David Silvas relatively quiet first few months after he joined will acknowledge,yes,the premier league takes some getting used to.
Well you ll never get used to anything if your not given the opportunities.
And for those who dont want him "burned out" playing for England this summer...ffs he s barely played for 3 years !

 

[kaz7]

There was an article by Jonathan Northcroft in this week's Sunday Times making the point that Pep may be getting a reputation as a manager who blocks the progress of emerging talent.

It was obviously a bit of a dig at Pep, but his main point was that there's no reason why Foden shouldn't start most of our Premier League games between now and the end of the season; the title has gone, David Silva is going, we are virtually guaranteed a top four finish.

I can't see any reason (other than injury or suspension) why Foden doesn't start every Premier League game from now on in. If he doesn't he needs to consider a loan, this is a crucial period in his development and he needs to be playing. Pep needs to back up his glowing assessment of Foden with game time.

A hack is telling the great pep what to do,i'm sure he'll take notice

 

[kinkladze10]

How fast is Foden?

 

[kaz7]

And we're still having the same arguments as when he was 17.

Who'd have thought that when Pep told everyone that he was now 100% a member of the first team squad, he'd only have started 5 league games in the following 3 season.

What about all of his minutes,every min counts for his development and we go for 4 competitions so he has played an important part

 

[Saddleworth2]

Nobody is saying that because he supports city he should play. Ive certainly never ventured that over the 3 years ive been suggesting he should get game time in our 1st team.If your good enough your old enough.thats the mantra.Too many folk on here are riled over any suggestion of criticism of Peps decisions.
Our manager and his decisions are open to debate and constructive criticisms just as any player...in fact,if reports are to be believed our players suggested to Pep after the Spurs game he has tinkered with the side too much.We are,at this rate,going to end up 30 pts behind the champions this season...why not play the most naturally gifted young player at ths club and make the transition to regular first teamer next season( if Pep is to be believed...)less of an ardous task for Foden.

Its absolute rubbish to suggest Foden isnt good enough in training .to be picked for the first team.Why promote him to the 1st team squad? Why wait till the end of the season when Silva leaves to play the person who is gonna take his place? We need goals,energy ..a new spark from our midfield.now.
If Pep is such an intense manager,why has he not acted upon rhe lack of intensity in some games from our captain,and others.

I believe Foden will leave City within 18 months.Any gifted player knows his worth and will want to be progressing on the full international stage too,where players not fit to lace his boots will be performing,..he will not sit on the side lines indefinitely.

Quite a few posters routinely enter this thread simply to close down any discussion on Fodens career path,by saying rammel like Pep knows best..and leave it to Pep...Others,and the numbers are growing fast,...like what they have seen from the academy graduate and are encouraged to debate why he is not being selected.The 'pep knows best' one line answers are at complete odds with the most popular 'Player performances'thread on this site...The movement is growing and folk arent really interested in Pep knows best anymore...it could be said that the players arent either.
The biggest flaw in Peps assertion that Foden will take Silvas place next season is when Silva isnt playing..and Foden remains on the bench.

absolutely 100% correct. I really don't understand why he and Garcia are not first on the team sheet for the remaining PL games. That at least would give us all the evidence we need to know if they are good enough. Who knows, if it works it starts a winning run. If it doesn't then so what we finish 3rd instead of 2nd and we know better what we have to do in the summer.

 

[kaz7]

Foden hasn't got nearly enough minutes under his belt, he should comfortably have double, Pep consistently over looks him, for what reason I don't know and can't fathom out, Silva has been a dream for City but his legs have gone, Gundo is a mystery that I can't solve, Fern has been pushed into the back four, Rodri not consistent enough and too slow, yet both Foden n Bernardo can't get a game in the middle with there energy, legs, ability n enthusiasm.
Foden will be looking at players of similar standing, Mount, Grealish, Madison who will more than likely be involved in the Euros and think it maybe time to move on, I hope he stays coz he potentially looks a star but I do think Pep hasn't helped his cause, he can keep saying he's the greatest talent he's ever seen, but his trust in him says different.

Grealish is nearly 25,why do people keep mentioning him

 

[kaz7]

You might not like the comparison but Wayne Rooney is a good case to look at. He too was in a team of stars and once let off the leqsh didn't look back. In my opinion true development comes by chalking up the minutes. But with youngsters come up and down performances and at the bottom of the table managers don't play youngsters unless they have courage and accept mistakes will happen. And in a team like City, having world class players around him means the team wouldnt hurt should he have below par games (which I doubt he would be worse than Sterling this season at least).

The bigger question is whether his development is being slowed down current or whether it is on track, behind where it should be or ahead.

Rooney fell off a cliff in his late 20's so he is really not a good example,started too soon,got fat,smoking,cheating,coasting

 

[kaz7]

absolutely 100% correct. I really don't understand why he and Garcia are not first on the team sheet for the remaining PL games. That at least would give us all the evidence we need to know if they are good enough. Who knows, if it works it starts a winning run. If it doesn't then so what we finish 3rd instead of 2nd and we know better what we have to do in the summer.

Might be because garcia is 18,starting every game in a difficult position in a team that plays high up is too soon,i think he is really promising though
The team still have targets,3 things up for grabs plus 2nd place

 

[Saddleworth2]

Might be because garcia is 18,starting everywhere in a difficult position in a team that plays high up,i think he is really promising though

Well if he doesn't rate him higher than Nico just now he isn't the player we think he is. He is young but bloody mature mentally and might save us a great deal of money but only if he is given the opportunity.

 

[kaz7]

so you’d rather Phil was playing in his thirties, then play now.???

I have never understood that argument. Let’s not play Mbappe, Rooney or sancho when they are 19 so they can play when they are 34

Rooney in particular played as a youngster and had one of the best careers in the game - still playing in his thirties aswel

There is playing and there is playing,he hasn't played well for a long long time,ended up at everton,in the states and much lower down