47 | Phil Foden - 2025/26

dennishasdoneit said:
That's because he was following the managers Tactical orders.

If you don't do that ,you are dropped.its a no brainer.

Imo..a fully fit and committed Phil Foden could walk into any team on the planet and flourish in the so called No .10 role. I truly believe he has the ability to do this from what I've seen with my own eyes.He does have high level passing ability,he really does, but Pep has picked him in positions where it's hard to show his full range of passing..or to augment / blend in with other highly talented midfielders...his role isn't to dominate..it's to finish off in the attacking third.


But let's be quite clear here.Foden spent ,I imagine the whole of his youth team career dominating midfield showing his two footed ability and skills from central midfield. He was always a class above his youth peers.
But...that natural ability and skill ,rightly or wrongly.....is restricted,.for he is told to follow the game plan..and who can really argue with Pep and what those heavy regimented tactics have won ?

Just about every trophy in the top class game.

When I look back at my favourite central midfield game changers over the years( not the wide playing mazy dribbling talented wingers) I see Liam Brady at Arsenal whose control and composure was David Silva like.augmented by hard running tough tackling midfielders around him
It worked....

I look at Michel Platini for France at the top of his game given licence to get on the ball in central areas and naturally...cruise through centre mid, bringing life to the team,Tigana neatly dovetailing with almost equal silky skills,but a more industrious athletic work rate- it worked

Look at Eyal and Benarbia ...two incredibly gifted footballers who terrorized oppentemts with their flair and natural ability,leaving others to do the tracking and marking of the opposition

I digress

Return to the modern game....Phil has to fit into incredibly strict guidelines set by Pep..if he doesn't
He is not selected. So we just don't see the full range of his passing ability as others,not least Ederson,for one,.. have had that responsibility..Phil has been instructed to score goals and finish moves ..the exact opposite of Jack Grealish at City?

Let's see how Donna Summer s arrival affects our central midfield players passing range ,,lol.

I've argued myself into a mess here but I hope someone can see my train of thought : )
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No, his passing isn't elite. That's David Silva, KDB, Fabregas, Ozil, Bergkamp etc.

Foden lacks that ability. He's a decent passer but not good enough to play centrally for Peps teams. Intellectually, he's also lacking to be our playmaker. He doesn't have the IQ of players like KDB, Lahm, Iniesta etc. Lastly, he lacks the arrogance or confidence to consistently dominate games. Bellingham doesn't have Fodens ability but imposes himself more on games due to personality.

In his best season two years ago, he produced many goals and assists without being the fulcrum of our play. Once KDB returned from injury, Foden was playing mainly outwide again.

A good facilitating player but not technically or mentally good enough to be our main star imo.
 
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ZoneMCRR6 said:
No, his passing isn't elite. That's David Silva, KDB, Fabregas, Ozil, Bergkamp etc.

Foden lacks that ability. He's a decent passer but not good enough to play centrally for Peps teams. Intellectually, he's also lacking to be our playmaker attacks. He doesn't have the same IQ as players like KDB, Lahm, Iniesta etc. Lastly, he lacks the arrogance or confidence to consistently dominate games. I don't feel like Bellingham has Fodens ability but imposes himself more on games due to personality.

In his best season two years ago, he produced many goals and assists without being the fulcrum of our play. Once KDB returned from injury, Foden was playing mainly outwide again.

A good facilitating player but not technically or mentally good enough to be our main star imo.
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That's likely to be a very unpopular post on here, but sadly there's more than a grain of truth in every line.
 
I have no doubt of his ability, but I think waistcoat ruined his confidence in the World Cup. He had been player of the year but waistcoat played him out of position to accommodate Saint Jude Bellend, and Phil spent most of the tournament screaming for the ball. He had more shots on goal in the early stages than anyone, but then he gets pulled off and St Jude scores a wonder goal. No wonder Phil lost confidence. I don’t blame him for going fishing,.

i also think there are other issues, he seems to have a lot of mysterious, personal illness and injury issues. I hope he’s not going the same way as other young players who peaked too early.
 
A fully fit Foden has been a huge loss for this team. I hope he can overcome whatever is troubling him and return to being a star in a team of stars.

320 games and 100 goals at the age of 25, this is what we have been missing.
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
Can we see him back in the ten position. That’s where is was amazing in the league winning season. It seems like he gets pushed out wide too much
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He had more seasoned players around him that season. Not sure he's made the leap to being able to do it all by himself....but I guess there's only one way to find out
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
Can we see him back in the ten position. That’s where is was amazing in the league winning season. It seems like he gets pushed out wide too much
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Think he actually spent more time on the right that season. Had a spell where everything he hit when cutting inside flew in. Would be hard to maintain that. Problem is for the ability he undoubtedly has his game hasn’t developed as much as most of us expected. Then come the excuses that it’s Pep, Southgate or Bellingham’s fault.

Time for the lad to step consistently. Obviously injuries have been a big problem. We desperately need a performance of class from Phil today.
 
If that’s the Foden we’re getting back when his ankle injury clears up then we’ll be fine this season.

Best game in absolutely ages. Just looked fit and sharp again, snapping into tackles, knew what he was doing with the ball before it got to him, great header and created the second.
 
Very, very good. We desperately need him to keep that form if we want to win things this season.
 
domalino said:
If that’s the Foden we’re getting back when his ankle injury clears up then we’ll be fine this season.

Best game in absolutely ages. Just looked fit and sharp again, snapping into tackles, knew what he was doing with the ball before it got to him, great header and created the second.
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Agreed. His coordination of the forward press was excellent too. We turned the ball over high up the pitch way more than we managed in most games last season
 
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