47 | Phil Foden - 2025/26

Jonas.shaffer said:
We've scored the most goals in the league by A LOT with Foden as the 10. Scoring more goals/creating chances is the least of our issues.

I know you hate Phil as a player, but stop being so reactionary and at least back up your criticism with some critical thinking.
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Critical thinking or logic from @King Jay ? That made me laugh.
 
Foden really seems to struggle when he comes up against this type of opposition in an away fixture.

He loves to shy away from challenges and when the opposition sense that they can smell blood. That's not only Phil though, we have a fair few in the side that don't like to fight the fight at times.

His technical ability is unbelievable, he will always be dangerous in and around the final third, when he's on the ball you think something can happen.

Personally I think he needs to toughen up a bit off the ball, he can put more effort into his press and alpt more effort in a challenge. I don't know if he has that side to his game.
 
SWPISHOME said:
Foden really seems to struggle when he comes up against this type of opposition in an away fixture.

He loves to shy away from challenges and when the opposition sense that they can smell blood. That's not only Phil though, we have a fair few in the side that don't like to fight the fight at times.

His technical ability is unbelievable, he will always be dangerous in and around the final third, when he's on the ball you think something can happen.

Personally I think he needs to toughen up a bit off the ball, he can put more effort into his press and alpt more effort in a challenge. I don't know if he has that side to his game.
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It's the one thing stopping him from being world class. As you say, against a more physical midfield he can go missing and struggle to influence the game. It was similar against Palace for long periods, but he managed to find space and get his goal to help us on our way to 3pts. He often drops deeper to make things happen, but he needs to get a bit stronger on the ball so he can have the same impact when he comes up against an opposition who will get stuck into him.
 
Thought the tackle by Adingra towards the end of the 1st half was intentional and out of order. Didn’t even get booked?
Adingra also did 2 poor tackles in the Leeds match and then minutes later went into open the scoring
 
roy.or.r said:
At one point I actually thought he was or could be better than Iniesta.
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Whats changed?

I really hope you dont think Iniesta was 10/10 every game. Foden should have walked away with at least 1 assist last night (potentially game winner) if not for shite finishing. He didnt dig us out of the shit like he did v Everton but nobody is perfect every game.
 


Of course, Haaland misses chances; everyone does. He's the best striker in the world, but it's funny how many he misses from Foden in particular. Quite the streak of missed opportunities from beautiful passes.
 
roy.or.r said:
At one point I actually thought he was or could be better than Iniesta.
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That’s a big shout. Iniesta was always the third best player during Messi+CRonaldo’s freakshows of careers in Europe.

I’d argue no English midfielder has ever been as good a footballer as Iniesta.
 
.db. said:
That’s a big shout. Iniesta was always the third best player during Messi+CRonaldo’s freakshows of careers in Europe.

I’d argue no English midfielder has ever been as good a footballer as Iniesta.
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Iniesta is one of the all time great midfielders. Foden has barely played as a midfielder so far in his career.

Foden is better than Iniesta at scoring goals, although Iniesta like Zidane scored vital goals in huge games for club and country. But if scoring goals was the main factor in determining class, then Lampard was superior to Iniesta and Zidane, which he clearly wasn't.

Foden's main problems this season are two.

First, he's been average creativity wise, which isn't great for a genuine No 10. He has as many assists as Gvardiol, and fewer assists to Haaland than Gvardiol. But Foden has sort of compensated it with goals. 7 league goals in the 1st half of the season is really good. He's been like a very good forward playing in midfield

Foden's second problem is that he has been anonymous in the big games, especially away from home. He worked hard but wasn't really in the game against Arsenal and Real. You must be involved if you are a midfielder. Old Bernie has been more helpful in midfield than him.

So, he has to improve creativity wise and be more involved in big games (away from home). Cherki has been here a few months and looks better in tough games.
 
alexmcity said:
Iniesta is one of the all time great midfielders. Foden has barely played as a midfielder so far in his career.

Foden is better than Iniesta at scoring goals, although Iniesta like Zidane scored vital goals in huge games for club and country. But if scoring goals was the main factor in determining class, then Lampard was superior to Iniesta and Zidane, which he clearly wasn't.

Foden's main problems this season are two.

First, he's been average creativity wise, which isn't great for a genuine No 10. He has as many assists as Gvardiol, and fewer assists to Haaland than Gvardiol. But Foden has sort of compensated it with goals. 7 league goals in the 1st half of the season is really good. He's been like a very good forward playing in midfield

Foden's second problem is that he has been anonymous in the big games, especially away from home. He worked hard but wasn't really in the game against Arsenal and Real. You must be involved if you are a midfielder. Old Bernie has been more helpful in midfield than him.

So, he has to improve creativity wise and be more involved in big games (away from home). Cherki has been here a few months and looks better in tough games.
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Good post. Although to be fair on the assist bit he does do a lot of good passes to Haaland that Haaland never seems to finish as seen up thread. There might be a reason for that, maybe there chemistry just isn’t there.
 
tackeds said:
Good post. Although to be fair on the assist bit he does do a lot of good passes to Haaland that Haaland never seems to finish as seen up thread. There might be a reason for that, maybe there chemistry just isn’t there.
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Yes, he was probably a bit unlucky. But his position requires a higher level of creativity.
 
alexmcity said:
Iniesta is one of the all time great midfielders. Foden has barely played as a midfielder so far in his career.

Foden is better than Iniesta at scoring goals, although Iniesta like Zidane scored vital goals in huge games for club and country. But if scoring goals was the main factor in determining class, then Lampard was superior to Iniesta and Zidane, which he clearly wasn't.

Foden's main problems this season are two.

First, he's been average creativity wise, which isn't great for a genuine No 10. He has as many assists as Gvardiol, and fewer assists to Haaland than Gvardiol. But Foden has sort of compensated it with goals. 7 league goals in the 1st half of the season is really good. He's been like a very good forward playing in midfield

Foden's second problem is that he has been anonymous in the big games, especially away from home. He worked hard but wasn't really in the game against Arsenal and Real. You must be involved if you are a midfielder. Old Bernie has been more helpful in midfield than him.

So, he has to improve creativity wise and be more involved in big games (away from home). Cherki has been here a few months and looks better in tough games.
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*scratches head*

Foden has never been a league leading assist man.

When he was POTY 19 players were ahead of him in the league in assists.

Lets not even talk of the off year last year.

So expecting assists from him.. is not realistic..

The problem that creates though is.. then how do you get through balls to Haaland who is the top scorer in the league and could be even higher if we manage to thread balls to him.

On the flip side, he likes to score from distance -- something he does better than anyone else in the league.
 
Blue_Lightsaber said:
*scratches head*

Foden has never been a league leading assist man.

When he was POTY 19 players were ahead of him in the league in assists.

Lets not even talk of the off year last year.

So expecting assists from him.. is not realistic..

The problem that creates though is.. then how do you get through balls to Haaland who is the top scorer in the league and could be even higher if we manage to thread balls to him.

On the flip side, he likes to score from distance -- something he does better than anyone else in the league.
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Different roles in 23/24 (forward) and 25/26 (midfielder). He's supposed to grow as a midfielder this season (Pep expects him to get midfield play).
 
He had at least three, more like five situations where I can't even remember them all, where he just had to play the simple ball to put our lad one-on-one with the keeper. Every single time he fluffed the pass. Unbelievable
 
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