Phil Foden - 2017/18 performances

[ws01]

He is gonna be a star but he's no where near ready to be a first team regular.

Loan spell will do him plenty of good

 

[scousemanc]

I like the way he is always asking for the ball. He constantly makes himself available. At 17! Bags of confidence and good ball skills. Lots to learn, but where better in the world to learn it.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Agree that he has no end product....yet. In the 18s though he was a 20 goal a season player from midfield! Scored plenty of worldies where he beat 2/3 or smacked them in from distance. That'll come with age, increased strength and confidence. At the moment he's still growing and feeling his way into the team and i thought tonight was a perfectly competent and comfortable performance with some nice hints at what could come, and given how fucking young is, and he really is exceptionally young, that's amazing.

True , he is only 17 but it seems we have been talking about him for years , he will grow and get stronger and he has got all the technical ability in abundance , was absolutely gutted when Paul lake's career was cut short , hopefully Foden making the grade as a local lad and becoming a star in the team ,will be some recompense for missing out on Lakey's prime years.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Is he from one of the civilised parts of Stockport, like one of the two nice Heatons, or somewhere like Brinnington?

 

[citytilllidie]

If I was this lad's Dad, I would have real concerns about him playing top level senior football at this age.
Physically, he is nowhere near. He suffered an ankle injury recently, from a robust, but fair challenge by the Leicester centre half, who was 3 times the size of him.
He has all the skill and brain etc. but he will never win a 50/50 ball and will more likely get hurt.
Let him train with the first team, but he Needs to play competitively with his own age group for at least 2 years.
It just doesn't look fair or right.
Diaz's stocky build makes him look more robust and able to ride the challenges, but both look to be needing 5-6" more height

 

[twosips]

If I was this lad's Dad, I would have real concerns about him playing top level senior football at this age.
Physically, he is nowhere near. He suffered an ankle injury recently, from a robust, but fair challenge by the Leicester centre half, who was 3 times the size of him.
He has all the skill and brain etc. but he will never win a 50/50 ball and will more likely get hurt.
Let him train with the first team, but he Needs to play competitively with his own age group for at least 2 years.
It just doesn't look fair or right.
Diaz's stocky build makes him look more robust and able to ride the challenges, but both look to be needing 5-6" more height

Well, Foden's the same height as Silva, and Brahim about an inch shorter. Neither of them will ever be big. But both will fill out and get stronger, and that'll probs be fine. Foden will be fine and it's nowhere near as painful to watch as you're making it out to be. How do you think Brahim got stronger in the past year? He actually played as a number 9 for the EDS against big fucking bruising centre-halves who kick just as hard as anyone at first team level. It's the only way to learn and Pep is no idiot. If he didn't show he could handle it, he wouldn't be there.

He's weak, yep, but he's getting these minutes now selectively in moments where he's at low risk but will increase his confidence. It's totally the right thing to do. He'll get notably stronger over the summer. At that age you grow loads, and quickly. And then when he's stronger next season we won't have to do the confidence minutes thing that we're doing now, so he'll be further along the line.

 

[kun]

If I was this lad's Dad, I would have real concerns about him playing top level senior football at this age.
Physically, he is nowhere near. He suffered an ankle injury recently, from a robust, but fair challenge by the Leicester centre half, who was 3 times the size of him.
He has all the skill and brain etc. but he will never win a 50/50 ball and will more likely get hurt.
Let him train with the first team, but he Needs to play competitively with his own age group for at least 2 years.
It just doesn't look fair or right.
Diaz's stocky build makes him look more robust and able to ride the challenges, but both look to be needing 5-6" more height

I agree he needs to develop and grow in to the Professional game physically, however height is a completely false equivalency. I mean which midfield would you rather have - Modric-Verratti-Silva or Fellaini-Huddlestone-Kouyaté?

Also, may be they will grow a couple of inches but why do they need to grow 5-6 inches?? Foden is an inch shorter than Silva and an inch taller than Xavi. Brahim Díaz is around the same height as Sterling and taller than Shaun Wright-Phillips. He's also around the same height as Fred, who will seemingly be signing for City for between £40m-£50m.

 

[Mad_fer_it]

If I was this lad's Dad, I would have real concerns about him playing top level senior football at this age.
Physically, he is nowhere near. He suffered an ankle injury recently, from a robust, but fair challenge by the Leicester centre half, who was 3 times the size of him.
He has all the skill and brain etc. but he will never win a 50/50 ball and will more likely get hurt.
Let him train with the first team, but he Needs to play competitively with his own age group for at least 2 years.
It just doesn't look fair or right.
Diaz's stocky build makes him look more robust and able to ride the challenges, but both look to be needing 5-6" more height

Good job you're not his Dad Negative Nigel! Bit of well guided S&C work and he'll aclimitise physically. Great low centre of gravity, agility and speed, he'll be fine. He's no smaller height wise than Aguero, who is strong as shit given his size. No reason why he won't develop in the same way. Chill out Dad.

 

[pudge]

He makes Sterling's running style seem normal

 

[ChicagoBlue]

If I was this lad's Dad, I would have real concerns about him playing top level senior football at this age.
Physically, he is nowhere near. He suffered an ankle injury recently, from a robust, but fair challenge by the Leicester centre half, who was 3 times the size of him.
He has all the skill and brain etc. but he will never win a 50/50 ball and will more likely get hurt.
Let him train with the first team, but he Needs to play competitively with his own age group for at least 2 years.
It just doesn't look fair or right.
Diaz's stocky build makes him look more robust and able to ride the challenges, but both look to be needing 5-6" more height

You can’t put a player’s technical development on hold while he grows into his adult self, otherwise you lose out on the potential he has. Rather, as Pep has done, you give him consistent tasters of what life is like in the very top flight...and all that that means, including a good thump every now and then.

He will either grow 4 inches or he won’t, but we know for a fact that at his current height, he can be world class. From here, it is all about development of his technical ability (which is stellar), his mental attitude (which appears to match his technical ability) and his physical maturation (which cannot not be rushed, only nurtured).

I don’t think Foden is complaining about the opportunities he is being given, nor do I think Pep is unhappy with the cameos he has played. That’s a win-win for Man City Football Club and Man City fans. I can see him as a regular substitute and an almost certain Cup team player next season. When you think about the age of the team that finished that game, it is unreal. Putting Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko, Bernardo, Foden, Diaz, Sané, Jesus into the CL team is incredible. Throw in the experience of KDB, Silva, Aguero and the youth of Ederson and Sterling, and you have a world class team of average age about 23-24!! Bring in a couple or three players this summer in the 22-25 age range and we will have a young squad that could really do a number on all fronts for years to come. The Project is coming to fruition, and ththe results so far are outstanding!