47 | Phil Foden - 2023/24

[FantasyIreland]

You don’t think we’ll see Akanji in the Stones role again?

The rags will win the PL before that happens.....

 

[FantasyIreland]

Not what I was implying, he is very much Phil Foden his own man but he needs to be taking games by the scruff far more often, he has the talent and the attitude to do so.

I recognised that,but players like Phil very rarely dominate.....they just impress! I get the need for more aggression and consistency though.

 

[schfc6]

I hope not, he is nowhere near the level to play that role, I’d rather have had a Lewis doing it from left back.

I tried to add the emoji laughing face, but i’m technologically useless.

 

[super_city_si]

Last night had zero bearing on anything,it was a makeshift 11 that will probably never play together again.

Yes its hard to get a rhythm in a team wiht a new midfield and add to that the shape is different. Foden isnt playing a left or right '8' he's almost playing on his own behind Haaland as Kovacic is a typically a lot deeper but was pushing forward more last night.

Time....

 

[ojeme]

I posted this on the match thread:

You can clearly see Foden working through two different attacking mentalities. Gets the ball in the middle and wants to turn and go go go, then realizes he needs to be more still and let things happen around him, and by then he’s got to move it on. He’ll get there, but he needs more minutes in the middle to change his brain. The longer he plays on the wing the harder the transition will be

Please let’s let the kid actually have a consistent run of games in the middle. Something that he’s never had as opposed to KDB, silva etc who’ve all been regular fixtures in midfield.

We can’t expect the guy to produce city level midfield performances straight away. Let him make mistakes, let him ghost matches, let him struggle, let him play poor. Allow him the opportunity to grow into this role.

Yesterdays match was frustrating but it’s early in the season. It’s like asking a lad who’s barely driven cars to drive as well as a pro driver, it’s never gonna happen unless you get time and consistency.

Very good point made but why the compulsion to play him in the middle if he is clearly strong playing out wide?

 

[oldius]

Every season we begin it looking a bit off peak sharpness. Phil is the same, though he normally is ahead of other players in this respect, players who seem to need a couple of months. He is a supreme talent and it is only a matter of weeks before he is absolutely on it.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Yes its hard to get a rhythm in a team wiht a new midfield and add to that the shape is different. Foden isnt playing a left or right '8' he's almost playing on his own behind Haaland as Kovacic is a typically a lot deeper but was pushing forward more last night.

Time....

3-Diamond-3, where he was the attacking point of the diamond. Not sure he knows what he’s doing in that role.

Much prefer to see him play LM, with the ability to interact in a Foden-Grealish-Haaland triangle, with Rodri-Kovacic-Gvardiol as low pressure outlets.

 

[Charlesfarsbar]

He’s got 4 months to really nail down the central role , there will be ups and downs but he’ll eventually make it work

if he doesn’t then we’ll need to find a KDB successor for the long term, which will be a mamouth task

 

[franksinatra]

Contrary to a lot of opinions I thought he had a good season last year but sadly it did not feel like that due to his injuries, and Pep playing a settled side, at the backend of the year, which is the part of the season, based on our success, which lasts longest in the memory.

I do understand some of the comments though. The bar is so high, with Phil's ability, he should not be second choice to anyone and were seeing players like Saka have a greater influence on their side than Phil has on ours.

Without Mahrez opportunity knocks to make that right wing position his own this year. Weds night was a tough game to judge. Seville left zero space out there and played very narrow and we never had the right player (Akanji) to play the ball and start the attack. Lets play him on the right or left where his balance and pace can be exploited and hope he stays injury free.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

It feels like foden is going to do something amazing this year and really grab the headlines.