47 | Phil Foden - 2023/24

[red 2 hats]

Phil was poor last night, no argument there. However, I thought the players were reluctant to pass to him, he made himself available but Bellingham was always the first option for most ( reminded me of the film There's only one Jimmy Grimble, give it to Gordon )
I feel Phil will be the sacrificial lamb, just like the last Euros when the waistcoat benched him for getting booked against the jocks, that was his reasoning for bringing the then golden boy Saka into the team.
Phil is by far the most natural talented player in the squad, but we've got a manager who picks his team based on journalist and pundits opinion, Saka over Phil on the right, do me a favour, Twunt in midfield, England will get out of the group, but I feel Phil will now get equal minutes to what Philips got for City.

 

[Craig]

If Southgate wants to continue with a similar midfield set up and playing Bellingham how he is doing too, then I wouldn’t play Foden.

I agree. The team would be better balanced with Gordon.

 

[willipp]

Good for city. Couldn’t care less about international football.

I don't understand this logic at all. Nothing could be better for Foden and City than Foden playing, playing well and hopefully playing a big part in a successful tournament for England. That's the absolute best thing that can happen for City and Foden. Foden being benched and playing no part will do no good at all for him.

 

[Akira]

I don't get why every attacker gets to play in their best positions while Foden doesn't. Clearly on club form, Foden played his best in the middle or coming in from the right. Back then when Pep pushed him on the left, even us City fans occasionally had some question marks over Foden's performance.

I don't understand why there's no call to try Saka on the left and Foden on the right - Saka started as a left back after all. Foden can played more naturally inverting from the right, while Saka can continue putting crosses from the left as he does on the right.

Unfortunately, the chance to experiment is over, because Waistcoat pissed it away in the friendlies, not even sure what his goal in friendlies are. That said, I doubt Waistcoat even has the ability to think outside the box.

 

[BerkshireBlue]

just drop Alexander Arnold who did fuck all and almost cost England a draw. Move Foden central and put Gordon on left wing. It's not rocket science is it

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

Good for city. Couldn’t care less about international football.

How is that good for city? We want our players playing in the biggest tournaments and doing well.

We could also end up with a player down after being dropped for England. Playing for your country means the world to our players.

 

[Akira]

Foden was poor last night, he kept asking for the ball when most of the time he wasn't in a position where he could be found easily.....and to be fair to Southgate ( who I don't rate ) it looked as though Foden was given the freedom to cut inside, in the way he played the last few league games of last season, although he was never in a position where he could hurt Serbia.

Seems like Waistcoats' instructions for him were to drift in and be another body in the box. Unfortunately, it ended up with him competing with Bellingham for space and passes.

A better coach would've made 3 attacking midfielders work, let alone 2. Don't even have to look far because Nagelsmann had Musiala, Wirtz and Gundogan playing at the same time, and none of them look like stepping over each others' toes. He even had Havertz, a false 9, theoretically competing for the same space as well.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

I agree. The team would be better balanced with Gordon.

But then you’re leaving out the player of the season, which I think is ridiculous. Can we not move foden to the middle and move Bellingham back slightly

 

[Craig]

But then you’re leaving out the player of the season, which I think is ridiculous. Can we not move foden to the middle and move Bellingham back slightly

100% that’s what should happen mate. The fact he’s not tried it before the tournament or during the first game just shows it’s not what he is going to do though.

 

[supercity88]

I don't get why every attacker gets to play in their best positions while Foden doesn't. Clearly on club form, Foden played his best in the middle or coming in from the right. Back then when Pep pushed him on the left, even us City fans occasionally had some question marks over Foden's performance.

I don't understand why there's no call to try Saka on the left and Foden on the right - Saka started as a left back after all. Foden can played more naturally inverting from the right, while Saka can continue putting crosses from the left as he does on the right.

Unfortunately, the chance to experiment is over, because Waistcoat pissed it away in the friendlies, not even sure what his goal in friendlies are. That said, I doubt Waistcoat even has the ability to think outside the box.

Because Southgate has always believed Phil couldn't play in the middle, based on Pep not trusting them there until this season. He doesn't seem to care that Klopp doesn't play TAA in midfield or that Bellingham has played a box to box role and deeper role quite regularly from Birmingham-Dortmund and even at Real.

We don't need to shift Saka. The biggest issue last night was that we dropped off and then played it long whenever we had the ball. Bellingham would be much better playing alongside Rice, picking it up from deep where he's unlikely to lose it because of his strength on the ball. He can still time his runs into the box, with Rice covering the space, but he's also there to ensure we can play out from the back. Foden's also intelligent enough to drop in and rotate, and it enables him to have an option left (Gordon/Eze) and right (Saka) as well as Kane to play off.