#47 | Phil Foden - 2021/22 Performances

[Radiohead1981]

Paul Gascoigne was prob the best English player I saw play football live.
I remember going to The City ground notts to watch England u21 v s Scotland u21s,..mainly because 4 or 5 City players were in the squad.
Also Paul Gascoigne...he did not disappoint.whilst I cannot remember anything that our lads did, I do recall Gazza receiving a high ball in central midfield,he immediately drew the attention of 4 opponents all seeking to pick up the loose ball...
There was no loose ball..
Gascoigne simply stuck his chest out and ran past the lot of them with the ball seemingly glued to his chest.It was absolutely incredible to watch.
Briliant player,who incidently,turned up for his team home and away...in those days there were any number of players who could turn it on in front of their own fans,but shrunk away from home in a hostile atmosphere. Intimidated,or not up for it today sort of thing.

That's why I think even some City fans should look at what Bernardo Silva is doing week in week out for us ,and start shouting his name ,as quite possibly the best player in the world right now.
You don't have to score a stack of goals to be the best player.

That's why Tony Book(right full back) and Dave McKay ( scottish centre back) were joint Player of the Season winners in 1969 or 70.
Two committed strong men,professional,hard,.and ....consistent.week in week out.
It's not just about goals.

I think a lot of people have a misconception about Gazza that he was just moments of magic . He was far more than that he was able to dictate games from midfield as well . When he played in serie a for Lazio against the might of AC Milan Capello had to put a man on him to try and shut him down.

Unfortunately for Gaza he rarely finished matches for Lazio because he was rarely match fit , but when he was he destroyed the might of Juventus and a lot of other teams in the serie a as well.

As well as that in the world cup 90 . He was the only midfielder in the tournament that was able to put Lothar Matthaeus in his place . Normally Matthaeus use to put his opposing midfielder in his pocket .

But Bobby Robson gave Gazza instructions to shut down Matthaeus which he did and not only that he caused the Germans such a headache that Beckenbauer had to put a man on him to try and shut him down .

I think it was Gazza's insane stamina and mobility that allowed him to dominate Matthaeus . He had such an engine that nobody could keep up with him .

He was probably the most complete midfielder England ever produced . His defensive game and game intelligence are way underrated.

 

[domalino]

Phil isn't a striker he isn't clinical enough . To me it should be clear by now that his best position is as a no 8 or central midfielder . His passing range is insane . I never knew he had it in his locker .

No one said he's a striker. They said he could be a great false 9.

It's not the same thing, and if you didn't know Foden had that passing range you might find yourself surprised at how good a finisher he is.

 

[mccity]

I feel like until very recently Foden was an exceptional finisher. I'd need some stats though to back that up in case I'm just letting some selection bias cloud my judgement.

 

[domalino]

I feel like until very recently Foden was an exceptional finisher. I'd need some stats though to back that up in case I'm just letting some selection bias cloud my judgement.

He's one of the best finishers in the league, he just had a bit of a bad patch in the CL around February/March.

If he could improve his timing of getting into the 6 yard box, he'd score another 10-15 a season, but it's a type of run he didn't need to make as an 8 or wide player in the academy so it'll take time.

In the Bruge game he arrived a second too late to 3 or 4 golden chances and when he starts seeing those runs earlier, he'll get there.

 

[Project]

He has a wonderful and accurate shot on him. The chances he has been missing are one on ones or half chances right in front of goal - strikers chances. In the academy as a midfielder he wouldn’t really be in those positions so it will need to be something he learns as they’re about much more than just striking a ball well. Body orientation, strength to shrug off a challenging defender, being off balance, tighter angles, less goal to aim for, composure etc.

 

[Agueroooo9320]

Phil isn't a striker he isn't clinical enough . To me it should be clear by now that his best position is as a no 8 or central midfielder . His passing range is insane . I never knew he had it in his locker .

lol is that a joke? he is one of the most clinical players in our team. as a false 9 he he also act as a mid and use his passing range as was seen last game.

 

[WallyA]

lol is that a joke? he is one of the most clinical players in our team. as a false 9 he he also act as a mid and use his passing range as was seen last game.

False 9 is theoretically perfect for Phil.

But also the hardest position to master, you need to:

1) Learn to get on the end of a pass to score
2) Be a great finisher overall
3) Link up with the other midfielder and wingers , 360 spatial ability
4) The freedom to drift on the wings means you need to be a great winger
5) The freedom to drop deep means you need to be a great midfielder
6) Have the stamina to press all over the pitch

Phil’s only weak point is 1), as stated above, he could have had a hat trick in a game he got no goals and and he was still praised.

If he can reach his full potential as a F9, which admittedly will be harder than mid or winger, then he will be better than Haaland in that position or any striker.

Messi showed the dominance you can get with a godly F9.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

I would politely disagree. I may not be your age, but I've seen plenty of the first two at least. Best was often up against players that would be lucky to be league one in terms of quality right now. Drop him in the game now and he'd be shocked by the pace of it. Maybe he would get up to speed eventually, but there's no guarantee. Played on a crap pitch or not, most of those players were heavy smokers and drinkers. Sports science wasn't a thing, they didn't train or practice with anywhere near the same intensity. Of course they wouldn't be up to the same level as today's game where you have to do everything better, quicker and more precisely. Brentford would probably beat the Brazil 1970 team IMO. The game is *vastly* better now. I'm not saying it's more entertaining, but the overall average technical ability, the fitness, the organisation etc is world's apart from even 20 years ago.

EDIT - this Best video just proves my point. The standard of defending is fucking dreadful. Genuinely amateurish at times. All throwing themselves in, all look so unsharp and lacking physicality. There is zero discipline. You couldn't do that today. They're just too strong, too organised, too fast.

It’s unfair to compare modern football to 70/80/90’s football. It’s a completely different game. Players now could run a couple of marathons a week and play a game at the weekend. They’re freaks. It isn’t a fair argument comparing past great players to the modern day greats. Send a modern day world best eleven back in time to play against a 70/80/90’s era best eleven and it would be a cricket score.

Another thing you have to consider about the modern day game is multi cultural nature of football now. How many Brazilians, Spanish, French, Argentinians we’re playing in English football in the 70’s? Same goes for other leagues in Europe.

It’s going to be interesting to see how football evolves in the next ten years. Todays football compared to even mid 00’s is different. My prediction is the prem will have plenty of managers who have been influenced by Pep and Klopp and it will be an even harder league with better coached players.

 

[WNRH]

I would politely disagree. I may not be your age, but I've seen plenty of the first two at least. Best was often up against players that would be lucky to be league one in terms of quality right now. Drop him in the game now and he'd be shocked by the pace of it. Maybe he would get up to speed eventually, but there's no guarantee. Played on a crap pitch or not, most of those players were heavy smokers and drinkers. Sports science wasn't a thing, they didn't train or practice with anywhere near the same intensity. Of course they wouldn't be up to the same level as today's game where you have to do everything better, quicker and more precisely. Brentford would probably beat the Brazil 1970 team IMO. The game is *vastly* better now. I'm not saying it's more entertaining, but the overall average technical ability, the fitness, the organisation etc is world's apart from even 20 years ago.

EDIT - this Best video just proves my point. The standard of defending is fucking dreadful. Genuinely amateurish at times. All throwing themselves in, all look so unsharp and lacking physicality. There is zero discipline. You couldn't do that today. They're just too strong, too organised, too fast.

But flip it round the other way, Brentford wouldn’t beat Brazil 1970 in Brazil 1970 conditions.

It’s so pointless to compare things from different eras. There is nothing in this world that would beat or overcome something else in two separate eras.

 

[Agueroooo9320]

False 9 is theoretically perfect for Phil.

But also the hardest position to master, you need to:

1) Learn to get on the end of a pass to score
2) Be a great finisher overall
3) Link up with the other midfielder and wingers , 360 spatial ability
4) The freedom to drift on the wings means you need to be a great winger
5) The freedom to drop deep means you need to be a great midfielder
6) Have the stamina to press all over the pitch

Phil’s only weak point is 1), as stated above, he could have had a hat trick in a game he got no goals and and he was still praised.

If he can reach his full potential as a F9, which admittedly will be harder than mid or winger, then he will be better than Haaland in that position or any striker.

Messi showed the dominance you can get with a godly F9.

I looked closely into this and researched how messi evolved his game into an F9. at 2007 when he was 19-20years, he showed no signs of being a F9. in 2008 in some games he played like a false winger who first starts in the wing and then drops into the middle while the striker eto interchanging between the wing and striker. in 2009 he was still a false winger but this time alves was like a winger and ibra was the forward. it was not until the 2010 season at the age of 23 did he actually become a F9 where he both was able to play-make and get at the end of things as a striker. so it took him a good 2 years to learn the role fully. I have linked videos of messi showing his evolution in that role.










I predict and expect it will take foden the whole year to learn the role and make movements like a striker like you indicate. last game he made the perfect move where he played in Jack and almost got on the end of the cross.