47 | Phil Foden - 2023/24

Benzino said:
Absolutely spot on. There’s been maybe only a small handful of players who were world class as a teenagers. 25-27, is the time the majority of top footballers come of age.

Paul Scholes is another good example. At 22 he’d played in 42 PL games and scored 15 league goals. He had played in 4 European matches and scored 1 goal. Foden has played in 130 league games and scored 35 league goals. Foden has played in 44 European matches and scored 10 goals. So he’s currently way ahead on appearances and goals.

Paul Scholes wouldn’t surpass Phil’s current numbers of league games and goals, until he was 26. He wouldn’t surpass Phil’s current European appearances or goal tally, until he was 27.

Hard to be patient, but we need to be. We need to be fully behind him. He could become one of, if not the best player, we’ve ever had. That’s how high his ceiling is.
Click to expand...

Here’s how Foden compares to some of the top PL greats and Messi, when they were under 23. In terms of appearances and goals. As you can see, it’s only Rooney and Messi who are clear. His stats are close to Ronaldo (although that year Ronaldo would become a world class player and begin scoring 30+ goals a season)

In order of total appearances (not including charity shield or friendlies)

ScholesHenryLampardGerrardGiggsMessiFodenRonaldoRooney
League Appearances67121148136148144131154224
Goals182324162888353880
Cup Appearances131329203719413240
Goals8011101010151314
European Appearances8241035944443547
Goals184322510416
Total Appearances88158187191194207216221311
Goals27313929401236055110
 
This could be a huge few months for Phil. A chance for him to grab the Kev role and give Pep a real problem when KDB is available again. He set a high standard against Newcastle.
 
Benzino said:
Here’s how Foden compares to some of the top PL greats and Messi, when they were under 23. In terms of appearances and goals. As you can see, it’s only Rooney and Messi who are clear. His stats are close to Ronaldo (although that year Ronaldo would become a world class player and begin scoring 30+ goals a season)

In order of total appearances (not including charity shield or friendlies)

ScholesHenryLampardGerrardGiggsMessiFodenRonaldoRooney
League Appearances67121148136148144131154224
Goals182324162888353880
Cup Appearances131329203719413240
Goals8011101010151314
European Appearances8241035944443547
Goals184322510416
Total Appearances88158187191194207216221311
Goals27313929401236055110
Click to expand...
I know Rooney never looked after himself, but fuck me the poor bastard wasn't ever going to have much of a career after 30 with those sorts of numbers. Everton and Ferguson ran him into the ground.
 
Brightwell Bros. said:
I know Rooney never looked after himself, but fuck me the poor bastard wasn't ever going to have much of a career after 30 with those sorts of numbers. Everton and Ferguson ran him into the ground.
Click to expand...
Rooney was only 18 when he signed for utd and with such a big squad did he need to play him so much? Although he was such a talent, why would you leave him out? Messi and Ronaldo have maintained their fitness and probably naturally fit to a degree and with Rooney having to work so hard to keep a certain level of fitness it was always going to be a battle.
 
Last edited:
Brightwell Bros. said:
I know Rooney never looked after himself, but fuck me the poor bastard wasn't ever going to have much of a career after 30 with those sorts of numbers. Everton and Ferguson ran him into the ground.
Click to expand...
Yeah, he didn’t look after himself but maybe not a coincidence the 2 most talented English strikers of the last 25 years were both teenage stars and both done before their time. In Owen’s case he was never same from about 23. He’d have obliterated the England goal scoring record if his hamstrings hadn’t snapped. Find him seriously hard work to listen to now but he was something else from 18-23
 
SWP's back said:
My only worry is that Pep doesn’t rate that performance as highly as the rest of us.

Very difficult to fault Pep during his time here but he does seem to hold Foden to a different standard.

Anyway, my worry is probably unfounded, Foden was excellent both offensively and defensively (something Pep usually mentions as a reason he doesn’t play in the middle more often).

I’m hoping last night’s performance is enough to make City not but another AM because I don’t think there are any in the world any better than Phil in that position.
Click to expand...

SebastianBlue said:
Pep holds Phil to a higher standard because he thinks Foden could genuinely get near Messi for both pure ability and ultimate impact on football.

I think Pep has to continue to treat Phil the way he has in order for Foden to have a chance at that — the same way Pep treated a young Messi.

If you are one of the best young players in the world, you are going to be treated like that, and I have no problems with it.

The sky is the limit for Phil. He could end up being the best English player in history.

And Pep certainly wants that to happen.
Click to expand...

SWP's back said:
I’ve no problem with Pep commenting certain things towards Phil, my worry is him not playing him. He started 22 games last season, I hope that centre attacking midfield/number 10 position is his now whilst KDB is out.

I just want him to play.
Click to expand...
As I was saying…
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.