In his first game he hit the post and the second game he came close, then Saka gets the nod and then Sancho! Neither have done more than him and if they play to his strengths he would be undroppable, I’m afraid with a Southgate he won’t get anymore game time unless we are 2-0 with 10 mins to go.I too was pissed off and would have played him (and Grealish).
However I’m a Blue and quite an admirer of Foden. In the cold light of day, he’s not shown himself head and shoulders above any of that group when playing for England. Not yet. So, if I had no particular allegiance, maybe I’d rotate until one or two of them really come to the fore.
I’ll certainly back him as a future England star though.
Define EXACTLY a succesful dribble then...because i see sterling run the ball into dead ends more often than i hear "its comin ome" down town.You’ve just made a stat up, have you not? Sterling’s dribble success is around 55%. For comparison, Messi’s is 65%.
Define EXACTLY a succesful dribble then...because i see sterling run the ball into dead ends more often than i hear "its comin ome" down town.
Interesting. Then a successful dribble can be classed as a pass in an advantageous position where you would be exapcted to get past a player given you are in your stride, to the side of the player already, in a generally advantageous position etc. For me personally i see successful dribbling as a player in front of the defender with the ball at his feet with no running start making something happen for himself. This is why sterling confounds imo...he's often good at running with the ball, which as per above techincally is classed as dribbling by the sqwawka definition, but when he gets to his man 1v1 he often doesnt have the close control of the other superior technicians. His first touch is also seriously bad at times. Thats where messi is untouchable...and bernado/mahrez etc are excellent. Fodens first touch is unreal too.To define our terms upfront: a successful dribble in this context is when a player with possession of the ball takes it past an opponent. This is the definition that Opta uses, as well as sites like Squawka and Whoscored that present Opta’s data.
@Tricky_Trev is right. Sterling's success rate was 55% in the PL last season. To be more accurate he had 66 successful dribbles out of 125 attempts.
List of City players:
Sterling was 69/125 55%
Foden was 43/71 60%
Mahrez was 36/74 48%
Cancelo was 50/87 57%
KDB was 40/69 58%
All a bit of a muchness really without digging deeper. You need the context of where they took place and the outcome of the action ie dribble leading to a shot or dribble culminating in a pass and shot, or dribble leading to a foul and shot etc... Bottom line Sterling does v well on those metrics.
Meanwhile you saw him fail 56 dribbles and that messes with your head.
And this is the Foden thread who also messes up but looks sexier when he does.
He can’t play central midfield, Gary fucking Neville said he would get bullied. What a cock he is.CM easily but he's soo good he can play LW/RW at a high level. Pep hasn't been playing him at his original position since there are a few things he needs to work on such as pausa because he is still playing very quickly and franticly which is not good in the middle where you need to be calm and composed. Once he grasps that he will go back into midfield. He's only 21 so he can continue playing out wide deputising Gundogan for another season or two. By the way, talking about pausa, I did see the Rio interview before the CL final and he interviewed Foden telling him that Pep told him he needs to play slower and Foden said that "he's starting to understand" what Pep has been saying so I guess that's a good sign.
Plus, Foden got to start the first two games. Ahead of Saka, Sancho, Rashford, Grealish and whoever else not even in the squad. So you know Southgate rates him somewhat at least.I love Phil, but some of what I read about how outrageous it is he's been dropped strikes me as very odd:
Might any of these have SOMETHING to do with Foden being dropped?
1) Did Foden have good, or poor performances against Scotland and Croatia (from my observation as he was taken off)? He was good in moments against Scotland but the team was overall poor. His showing against Croatia was hard to remember because he seemed not present.
2) Is Foden an experienced, highly relied upon senior player that the players in the team (especially those behind him in the squad) would be as unlikely to openly question Southgate compared to respected leaders in the team like Kane or even Raz?
3) The competition for places in attack: Raz performing well in the tournament and Kane being clearly undroppable whilst Foden is not exactly a senior player in the team with multiple years experience can easily mean his place was MOST up for grabs in attack.
4) On competition again: The reality that someone of Sancho's level didn't play 1 single minute before the last game whilst Foden started 2 and others were crying for he OR Grealish to start as well. How can that work with Kane and Sterling in the team and remain responsible defensively? Someone won't start.
5) On competition again: Grealish's form and the team's play improving after he came on against Scotland and then his performance next game against Czech Republic next game compared to Foden.
6) On how competition and tactical decisions based on opponent are at play: Even after Grealish had 2 strong performances in a row HE WAS DROPPED against Germany. Sancho also didn't play.
7) On competition again: Who else has more game time than Sancho? This lad called Saka, considered ANOTHER top attacking talent (I wonder if some of our fans even realise how good he is) started against Germany after a good performance against the Czech Republic. Dropped after a poor showing against Germany.
lnteresting to see how mount would play stuck out on the right wing with no service.It’s all fair comment mate.
I suppose it just boils down to the fact (for me) that I’ve not been this excited over a player for many many years and I want to see him as many times as possible over the next decade.