Hugo Viana | Director of Football

[CC1]

Of course we support him but some cant take the fact he was poor last season and has acknowledged himself he had mental issues and other things in his life that had affected him? He possibly imo won so much so young playing with the likes of Silva, Aguero, Yaya, Sterling etc that he peaked early and wont progress any further?

Nobody is denying he’s not been at his best but some poster on here extended his “bad spell” for the last TWO seasons which is ridiculous. He has also had injuries but - of course - this has been overlooked in favour of “personal issues”

as I said - short memories & vivid imaginations on here

 

[CC1]

in your opinion but some of just blinkered and cant accept criticism of Foden at times dickhead

I think it’s the level of criticism combined with opinions presented as facts that “some of us blinkered” fans can’t accept. And perhaps it causes us to defend him - when WE SHOULDN’T HAVE TO

 

[oldius]

in your opinion but some of just blinkered and cant accept criticism of Foden at times dickhead

The poster did accept criticism of Foden last year. We are seven years into his first-team promotion and we are talking about someone widely recognised as one of the best young players in world football. He is already the holder of 6 Premier Leagues, multiple trophies, and the PL POTY, as well as a host of other awards.

There was a psychological issue for some in the squad last season. I suspect it was the achievement of so many lifetime goals. To do a treble, and then a four-peat, on the back of winning the CL, is the pinnacle of football. I think many found it hard to rise again and we were decimated by injury and illness. Surely such a talented young player who has given us so many great performances has earned a bit of leeway and the hope that he can return to his best.

As for the comment about lots of personal issues, if they are true, I hope he manages to find peace. Elite sport is an unforgiving place requiring immense mental strength and focus. Personal issues detract from that.

 

[TShed]

Those 3 players aren’t fit to lace Phil’s boots. You have a VERY short memory

Quite the contrary I have a very long memory who said they were fit to lace his boots
Having said that I’d take the first couple of seasons of Peter Barnes over Phil’s

 

[BillyShears]

He possibly imo won so much so young playing with the likes of Silva, Aguero, Yaya, Sterling etc that he peaked early and wont progress any further?

And what do you base this off? One injury disrupted season? Sounds fair and like support ...

 

[mexico1970]

Quite the contrary I have a very long memory who said they were fit to lace his boots
Having said that I’d take the first couple of seasons of Peter Barnes over Phil’s

Peter Barnes was incredible and Phil will come good again once he gets a run going.

 

[blueparrot]

We all wish Foden well but he himself has acknowledged a struggle (albeit in the Daily Fail).

"Sometimes there are things in life that are bigger than football. I've struggled a little bit. Hopefully next year I can get my head mentally right and get back to where I left off the season before because I know what I'm capable of doing and the quality I have."

Yes he did, whats that got to do with this season?

 

[TShed]

Peter Barnes was incredible and Phil will come good again once he gets a run going.

Hope your right
My fear is too much noise going on around Phil for nearly 2 years now, not a good sign hence my analogy to the careers of Ireland and Johnson.
The Peter Barnes one was more a parallel if we are talking pure football and form not withstanding Allison and Swales fucking things up but Peter Barnes once he’d lost that early form never repeated what he did in those first 2 or 3 seasons

 

[CΛL]

Foden literally dragged us to a title the year before last, he’s had ONE bad season and he looked on form at the CWC, let’s just see what happens instead of making a load of shit up about him, Christ.

 

[CC1]

Quite the contrary I have a very long memory who said they were fit to lace his boots
Having said that I’d take the first couple of seasons of Peter Barnes over Phil’s

Ah well. Each to their own. There are too many comparisons to be made in terms of your last sentence

 

[eversince 76]

Is this the new Phil Foden topic?

 

[Eccles Blue]

You know what they say about sarcasm.

Nice for him to have good support from fans when he has been at the club for his whole career.

And has always said he doesn't want to leave us. :-)

 

[decmancity]

in your opinion but some of just blinkered and cant accept criticism of Foden at times dickhead

No need to get personal is there.

 

[BillyShears]

Is this the new Phil Foden topic?

Almost as bad as the old one ;)

 

[AndyP68]

Was, currently not close.

form is temporary...hopefully

 

[TShed]

Trust in Pep and the team. Blimey with all this negativity you'd think we'd gone down a couple of divisions!!
The Boys in Blue never give in, they fight to the end. It's a shame some of the fans allegedly in Blue can't do the same. IMHO

It’s the other lads that have come to take Kevs and Gundogs place ….. can they carry on the glory …… keeping city in first place

 

[CΛL]

Of course we support him but some cant take the fact he was poor last season and has acknowledged himself he had mental issues and other things in his life that had affected him? He possibly imo won so much so young playing with the likes of Silva, Aguero, Yaya, Sterling etc that he peaked early and wont progress any further?

You’ve come to that conclusion based entirely on your own biases rather than any semblance of fact or reality.

Hazard once went 392 days without scoring for Chelsea, having been electric for years, and then the season after he was back to scoring 16 league goals.

These things happen, Fodens issues last year were more physical than mental. He’ll be back.

 

[bluemoon32]

Foden will come good again, i'm 100% certain of that

 

[Damanino]

he is a good DoF but has immense task ahead of him. first of all the team needs to be successful and that aint easy.
also new DoFs at rivals too Edwards at Liverpool and Berta at Arsenal also joined not too long ago to their clubs, Viana is in direct competition with them. if Viana does well but those another two does great thats not good enough for us really.

its sort of luck that lets say various DoFs of rags spent shitload on likes of Antony, Van Beek, Sancho, Hojlund and many other flops for large fees which directly affected their on the field success to be limited. and also choosing rubbish managers which is usually also DoF decision partially.

Viana needs to deal with Txiki's lack of planning, somehow the old Txiki stopped working and the work he did since the treble was nowhere near as high quality as his earlier years. getting to the allow that despite heavy recruitment was needed and refreshing the squad they agreed with Pep to completely delay it. its complacency at the highest order.

I prefer Viana to buld the squad as he sees fit with consulation of Pep or whoever thee next manager but the manager needs to work with the players and get the best out of them. annd if we need to get rid of a 29 yo players while there is good fee ppossible for him we need to do it rather then watch him deteriorate ven more and lose value big time.

we did wonderfully when we let Sterling go for 40m on huge salary, instead holding onto him and let him go down in performance like he did since he left us. should we done it with Bernardo too maybe last summer?
of course not sure having Grealish here already after overpaying for him was the best business, especially he gave us about 1.5 good seasons only so far overall. if you spend 100m for someone you want so much more than that. for 100m I would want KDb, D. Silva type of legacy almost.

but this is what Viana left to deal with.

that RB position is tho a big dark cloud above him. he better hopes we arent losing lots of games due to RB errors-issues as it will just put even more spotlight on this position while drive up the price of whoever our target will be there later windows.

 

[StillBluessinceHydeRoad]

Foden will come good again, i'm 100% certain of that

Phil is a great example of the saying that form is temporary but class is permanent.