47 | Phil Foden - 2024/25

[eastmanc]

By mid way through the second half, I'd forgotten Phil was on the pitch. There's something not right and I hope he's OK

Same with Bernie, they are both in really poor form. At least Phil has shown flashes Bernie hasn't contributed an awful lot at all this season.

 

[K-Bo]

Foden feels more Eden hazard than Kev or David silva at the moment. Incredible talent that can lead to incredible highs but the lows are low. He looks fragile and not really a leader on the pitch.

 

[sir baconface]

Mediocre in an England shirt and lost his mojo in Manchester but I, for one, won’t be writing him off just yet.

 

[Blue_Lightsaber]

He's a system player, it's that simple, same as Sterling was. Brilliant if system is perfectly tailored to him, half the player if it isn't.

For years now excuses for poor performances have been because he's out of position. For England it's because nobody passes to him.
He's just not very adaptable.
Only time i remember him dictating a game was in cup vs League 1 team few years ago. He's weak and unwilling to get stuck in too.
What we saw from Maddison yesterday is how many of us hoped Phil would be playing for us by now, a Kev/Dave hybrid. But he just doesn't have it in the locker.

He has a superb shot and an amazing first touch which is why he scored so many last season outside of that he's very limited in what he offers.

So you're saying he's Cole Palmer v0.47

 

[GaudinoMotors]

He wasn't as poor as Gundo, Lewis or Bernie because he started really well, but I agree that the rest of the match, after their first goal, he wasn't at it at all.

When we needed him to be. Needs to realise he's not the "local lad done good" anymore. He's a senior player that should role his sleeves up when the going gets tougher.....instead of disappearing.

 

[Blue2202]

Good analysis at last - inconvenient truths that many won't stomach of "our Fil". Of course you'll get the comparisons about Maddison's trophy haul compared to Phil's, bizarrely failing to note teams played for, but your analysis about the system having to be spot on is so right.
The issue being that the system that suited him, has slowly been eroded and altered.

The difference is Foden has come through the academy, broke into the first team and cemented his place during the most successful period of the clubs history and under one of the best managers in the modern day. If youre suggesting that's easy to do go and ask cole palmer.

Maddison is at a club whos expectations and achievements are much lower for a reason... he was easily attainable for any of the other top clubs before he signed for spurs but none of them fancied him.

 

[M23 Citizen]

Agreed. There are some strange opinions on here. But hey everyone is entitled to one. He certainly isn't a limited player.

He’s limited in his creativity when playing centrally. He hasn’t really got much creativity in his locker when in the middle where it’s more crowded, where finding space is harder to thread passes through, he doesn’t have that little chip over the top, he struggles in the middle to find Haaland, he actually has little link-up play with Haaland centrally.

He scores more goals centrally but he’s a better team player, creates more chances, gets more assists, presses better and helps the full back better when he’s wide.

I know that a lot of Blues have this false notion that he’s wasted out wide and I know Foden himself has said he prefers playing centrally, but he’s better for the team when he’s wide.

 

[King Jay]

He has undoubtedly been poor so far this season, so has pretty much every other England player who was heavily involved at the Euros. This is by no means an excuse just an observation. He's in a spell of bad form along with the rest of the squad.

That sounds like an excuse for me because it’s false. Which players who were heavily involved are having a bad season. Especially as bad as Foden? As stated by another poster. Foden gets too many excuses. He is having a HORRIBLE season it’s not even bad it’s a horrible dropoff. He will never be a #10 in my eyes. At least not the #10 people think about. Not a KDB, not a Wirtz, not a David Silva,Sneijder or whatever other 10‘s existed. He is and will always be more of a goal scoring threat and even that is not working this season.

 

[Kippax Street 1880]

Just looks completely lightweight at the moment . Starting to get concerned. He has a good 10 minutes then just vanishes every week lately.

 

[Gingers Dad]

He's a system player, it's that simple, same as Sterling was. Brilliant if system is perfectly tailored to him, half the player if it isn't.

For years now excuses for poor performances have been because he's out of position. For England it's because nobody passes to him.
He's just not very adaptable.
Only time i remember him dictating a game was in cup vs League 1 team few years ago. He's weak and unwilling to get stuck in too.
What we saw from Maddison yesterday is how many of us hoped Phil would be playing for us by now, a Kev/Dave hybrid. But he just doesn't have it in the locker.

He has a superb shot and an amazing first touch which is why he scored so many last season outside of that he's very limited in what he offers.

He's a brilliant player who has dictated the play in many games. But you kick him while he's down if you want.