Phil Foden - 2017/18 performances

[almir]

looks top talent for his age, to play like that at 17 against some top players is not something you often see in english clubs

 

[SebastianBlue]

looks top talent for his age, to play like that at 17 against some top players is not something you often see in english clubs

Worth a repost from the Post-Match thread as I think it is important to point out:

I watched the match (one of the few benefits of living over here now... still haven't completely warmed to the place) and thought he was extremely impressive but, until I watched the "scouting" video I posted a little while ago, I hadn't really realised what really set him apart from other young academy debuts of the past few years.

If you watch the video closely, and note his position relative to City players and United players when he receives the ball, you notice how comfortable every single City player (including the likes of De Bruyne, Sane, and Yaya) are passing the ball to him while they or he is under pressure. Sometimes it is "anticipated" pressure because of his position but sometimes he is basically surrounded by red shirts and they have no qualms pinging the ball to his feet. Some of the passes were near shots in his direction and, with nary an exception, he took the ball down, looked around, and played the best pass available to keep things moving. He also took the ball off players who really should have been driving us forward, looked around, saw that nothing was happening, and took it upon himself to get us going (he nearly caught out the entire United defence with a couple of shots, one forcing a fairly decent save from De Gea... not to mention was very unlucky with his lobbed attempt on goal from outside the box).

Without exaggeration, he looked the most comfortable player on the pitch... at 17. That is madness, but the good sort.

 

[twosips]

I'm so, so glad you're all seeing what the regular u18s watchers have been seeing all year. He's not the only one either. We really don't realise that we're sat on a gold mine of talent here.

This is what many have been saying for ages that you simply don't know who will step up until you try them. You could try a few certs, like Foden, Brahim and Sancho and realise that only one immediately adapts, say for example Foden and Sancho and Brahim could like a tiny bit raw. You could also then try a few very good prospects, but not stars compared to others, like Smith, Duhaney, Muric, Nmecha, Dele-Bashiru, Bolton - whoever - and then be surprised when a relatively unfancied one like Smith takes that same level of consistent unruffled excellence along with him and looks totally at home, while a more dead cert could look overawed. You simply NEVER know until you try them. I hope Foden unlocks the door, so to speak, and we finally have the confidence to take a nice calculated gamble every now and then. Some could just rocket just like *that* which would be amazing.

 

[Charlesfarsbar]

This is the kid I have been waiting to break through for the past few years

He was the one that was being whispered about as being very special

He looks like he's got the lot to succeed in a Pep Guardiola team, he is very good technically and has the awareness of others around him that separates the good from the great

You can tell that Dave is his idol as they are very similar in style , although Phil seems to have a better dig on him. Imagine if we have a 17 year old David Silva on our books , one of the greatest play makers of his generation

Hopefully he stays with the fist team all of this season, he will get minutes over the course of the year and get to learn from the maestro on a day to day basis

He's also a blue and from Manchester, he will be the poster boy for the academy for years to come if he makes it

 

[twosips]

If the FA were serious about getting teams to bring through players then they'd add a couple of extra bench spots for club grown players under 21. Then you could comfortable have people like Foden on the bench in case the game situation allows them to get a chance, without it being a gamble.

This is the one thing I've wanted for ages. If they were club trained and HG, and id arguably go younger. U19 or sumat. But i think its definitely a good idea that would make a tangible difference.

 

[Le Havre Oswald]

Hopefully he'll be the one.

 

[TheBlueDune]

Hopefully he'll be the first one.

Edit for optimisation

 

[Hungarian blue]

This is the one thing I've wanted for ages. If they were club trained and HG, and id arguably go younger. U19 or sumat. But i think its definitely a good idea that would make a tangible difference.

Most teams (inc. City probably) would just abuse this system and those poor kids would be sitting on benches instead of actually playing for their respective U teams. It's never really a good idea when those top to bottom ideas are artifically implemented, even though they sound nice on paper. And this exact case is actually happening in other footballing countries, or even in other sports.

 

[PJM1891]

Pep about Phil.

 

[Ghandi's Flip Flops]

He's even got his own thread on Sadcafe with the OP as follows:

'So for half the game I thought I was watching Bernardo Silva's debut or David Silva, and then awoke from my slumber to see that this guys name is Phil Foden.. who?'