Phil Foden - What Is His Potential?

BobbyManc said:
There's not many people Foden's age playing regular first-team football at Premier League level. What team do you think he'd be certain to play for regularly that would benefit him more than sporadic games with City, training with Silva, de Bruyne etc and being coached by Pep? Especially seen as he's going to be replacing Silva from next season, and City's style of football is likely to be fairly similar even after Pep, I'm not convinced a loan spell would have been better for him. I think people underestimate the risks of a loan-spell too.
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I haven’t seen enough of him to form an opinion on where he’d get regular playing time. But if he’s supposed to replace Silva in the summer, then surely he’d be a starter at almost every other club?

In any case, I think it’s almost always better for a young player to get as many minutes as possible. Even if he gets to train with de Bruyne and Aguero.
 
BobbyManc said:
This is a bizarre line of questioning which you know full well does not have an answer. You have watched a teenage footballer play 'several times' and feel that has informed you enough to say he is 'very overrated'. I dispute that view. That does not mean I have some magic formula to tell you exactly how much you have to watch him, only that 'several times' is manifestly not enough to be able to confidently deliver such an unconditional view.
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That's what he is and I feel informed about him. You can disagree with it but you can't say I'm not informed enough about it. After all, it's a matter of personnal appreciation and rating. I'd never tell you that you know feck all about a player even if I completely think your rating of him is wrong.
You challenge me that I haven't watched him enough when you don't actually know how I've watched him.
 
I haven't seen too much of him so I don't have an informed opinion of him, but all the hype Pep is giving him and then not playing him regularly is odd, especially as he is being touted as Silva's replacement for next season. If that were truly the case would he not be getting minutes every week to make sure he is capable of taking on such a role?

All the talk of him for the Euros seems premature on the basis that he hasn't had much game time, and Southgate stated he would pick players in form and not based on their name alone. Picking him for a friendly or something seems more sensible so they can have a look at him, but being selected for a major tournament with such limited game time and therefore performances of any note seems madness.
 
kouroux said:
That's what he is and I feel informed about him. You can disagree with it but you can't say I'm not informed enough about it. After all, it's a matter of personnal appreciation and rating. I'd never tell you that you know feck all about a player even if I completely think your rating of him is wrong.
You challenge me that I haven't watched him enough when you don't actually know how I've watched him.
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You admitted you had not. You said you'd watched him several times. Maybe this is a semantic issue but typically several means a low amount, like 3/4/5 times. You can believe Foden is very overrated, but I dispute that watching him play several times gives you an adequate basis on which to reach that judgement.
 
BobbyManc said:
You admitted you had not. You said you'd watched him several times. Maybe this is a semantic issue but typically several means a low amount, like 3/4/5 times. You can believe Foden is very overrated, but I dispute that watching him play several times gives you an adequate basis on which to reach that judgement.
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I didn't really or at least I didn't mean it, I've watched him enough to make my assessment.
 
BobbyManc said:
You admitted you had not. You said you'd watched him several times. Maybe this is a semantic issue but typically several means a low amount, like 3/4/5 times. You can believe Foden is very overrated, but I dispute that watching him play several times gives you an adequate basis on which to reach that judgement.
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To be fair the term several is an unspecified amount that generally means more then 4, so let's assume @kouroux has actually watched him seven times, that's actually a fair amount considering Foden has only played circa 30 first team games? You can't expect a United fan to watch every City game on the off chance Foden gets an outing to be able to have an opinion, he's just watched enough to form his opinion.
 
I'm not 100% sure how good he actually is because he has never started any amount of games in a row . Peps comments on him are ridiculous and probably made to keep him happy while he sits on the bench most weeks
 
He’s not that good really, but he’s only a kid. Right now he’s below the level to get consistent game time for a top 6 club.
 
Inigo Montoya said:
So you’ve seen him as often as Pep then :smirk:
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Pep is overly enthusiastic and a tad bit biased :wenger:

yumtum said:
To be fair the term several is an unspecified amount that generally means more then 4, so let's assume @kouroux has actually watched him seven times, that's actually a fair amount considering Foden has only played circa 30 first team games? You can't expect a United fan to watch every City game on the off chance Foden gets an outing to be able to have an opinion, he's just watched enough to form his opinion.
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Thank you, this is a very good post. I'm not arrogant enough to think my opinion trumps others, I just simply shared it.
 
For someone who plays so little he always seems to score when he does, guess that's one of the reasons he's so highly rated
 
charlenefan said:
For someone who plays so little he always seems to score when he does, guess that's one of the reasons he's so highly rated
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One day he might actually get a run in the team but until he does there's just no knowing if he's good or not. He has a direct reference point in Sancho now - of seeing how important first team football is (I mean regular first team football) - and he's hardly that young by football standards now. Maybe we'll see him much more now in the PL, albeit in non pressure games, when Pep throws everything at the CL.
 
If he's still not getting minutes next season he eneeds to think about leaving, at least on loan.
 
I reckon he'll dethrone Bernado as the David Silva heir. Just has much more about his game.
 
Exceptional talent.

England have a bright future with how them recent winning youth teams are starting to flourish.
 
RooneyLegend said:
I reckon he'll dethrone Bernado as the David Silva heir. Just has much more about his game.
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He has the strength and physicality that those two players didn't have, especially at their respective age that Foden is now. He's a really, really good talent and his technical skills and ability are very clear.
 
What a player. Obviously don't want City to do well in the grand scheme of things but hopefully he gets good minutes till the end of the season and becomes a serious starter next year. His technique and weight of pass are just ridiculous for his age.

Think Foden, Greenwood, and Saka all have very good chances to go to the Euros next summer. Reece James too, although he plays in a stacked position. I'm far from the biggest fan of the English national team, but this generation has the ability to play some lovely football (though against better teams I personally think Southgate isn't the right man for that).
 
edcunited1878 said:
He has the strength and physicality that those two players didn't have, especially at their respective age that Foden is now. He's a really, really good talent and his technical skills and ability are very clear.
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He also has better ball striking than Bernando and Bernado doesn't have the level of vision David Silva had to compensate for that.
 
TrustInOle said:
Exceptional talent.

England have a bright future with how them recent winning youth teams are starting to flourish.
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They need a boost in their midfield talent (not attacking midfielders). A player who can run the show will be vital. If you go back and watch the 2000 generation in underage tournaments/friendlies, they were loaded with attacking midfielders and wingers. It was in midfield where there wasn't a standout talent. In that sense I think 2001 had Garner and Doyle.

Bellingham could be an answer in terms of talents as the 2003 generation is considered almost as good as the 2000 generation.
 
In Rainbows said:
They need a boost in their midfield talent (not attacking midfielders). A player who can run the show will be vital. If you go back and watch the 2000 generation in underage tournaments/friendlies, they were loaded with attacking midfielders and wingers. It was in midfield where there wasn't a standout talent. In that sense I think 2001 had Garner and Doyle.

Bellingham could be an answer in terms of talents as the 2003 generation is considered almost as good as the 2000 generation.
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Yeah Garner needs a loan next year to get some regular minutes.

Garner and Bellingham could be what England has been crying out for, but it'll be 4-5 years until they're at the level you'd need to be challenging at the serious ends of a tournament.
 
dbs235 said:
If he's still not getting minutes next season he eneeds to think about leaving, at least on loan.
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He's played over 1100 mins so far this season, not bad for a player who has just turned 20 a few weeks ago in a squad that is stacked with talent.

Every year he play more mins, I think he's been handled extremely well by guardiola, not many players his age getting serious mins in midfield in a top team in Europe that I can think of off hand.
 
You can’t really argue with how city are bringing him along. It’s slow progress when you’re looking at week by week but in general he’s coming along nicely in a difficult position to play at a top club. If he didn’t have it City would have just gone out and signed someone else but they are clearly backing him to succeed. He looks like a fairly safe bet to be a big player for England over the next few years.
 
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RooneyLegend said:
I reckon he'll dethrone Bernado as the David Silva heir. Just has much more about his game.
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Different players. Bernardo has never played the David Silva role in a City shirt. They’re not in direct competition to replace Silva, it will be Foden or someone else, not Bernardo.
 
Thunderhead said:
He's played over 1100 mins so far this season, not bad for a player who has just turned 20 a few weeks ago in a squad that is stacked with talent.

Every year he play more mins, I think he's been handled extremely well by guardiola, not many players his age getting serious mins in midfield in a top team in Europe that I can think of off hand.
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Thats terrible!
 
BobbyManc said:
Different players. Bernardo has never played the David Silva role in a City shirt. They’re not in direct competition to replace Silva, it will be Foden or someone else, not Bernardo.
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They are as KDB is what he is. Neither is all that comfortable wide.
 
Also Bernardo rarely plays alongside KDB in midfield. When De Bruyne's on the pitch Bernardo's usually used as RW.
 
In Rainbows said:
They need a boost in their midfield talent (not attacking midfielders). A player who can run the show will be vital. If you go back and watch the 2000 generation in underage tournaments/friendlies, they were loaded with attacking midfielders and wingers. It was in midfield where there wasn't a standout talent. In that sense I think 2001 had Garner and Doyle.

Bellingham could be an answer in terms of talents as the 2003 generation is considered almost as good as the 2000 generation.
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Agreed. I still have high hopes Garner will come good if he can get some regular minutes at a decent level next year and as you say, Bellingham looks a talent out of this latest generation, which if the last few years are anything to go by, seems we are improving technically as a nation.
 
In Rainbows said:
They need a boost in their midfield talent (not attacking midfielders). A player who can run the show will be vital. If you go back and watch the 2000 generation in underage tournaments/friendlies, they were loaded with attacking midfielders and wingers. It was in midfield where there wasn't a standout talent. In that sense I think 2001 had Garner and Doyle.

Bellingham could be an answer in terms of talents as the 2003 generation is considered almost as good as the 2000 generation.
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TAA?
 
BobbyManc said:
Bernardo won City’s Player of the Year in 2019 in a season where he played almost exclusively as a right-winger
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Not really though, he played a lot in the midfield alongside David Silva. Only played RW when KDB was available, which wasn't often last season. I think he also works very well with KDB in the midfield.

As for Foden, i don't think he's in direct competition with Bernardo Silva, and Pep seems to want to use Foden more as a WF (probably to replace Sané) and sometimes in the midfield since he's also versatile.

Talking about versatility, City really has quite a few players that can play at least 2 positions very well : KDB, Bernardo, Gundogan, Foden, Jesus, Fernandinho, and Zinchenko
 
footballistic orgasm said:
Not really though, he played a lot in the midfield alongside David Silva. Only played RW when KDB was available, which wasn't often last season. I think he also works very well with KDB in the midfield.

As for Foden, i don't think he's in direct competition with Bernardo Silva, and Pep seems to want to use Foden more as a WF (probably to replace Sané) and sometimes in the midfield since he's also versatile.

Talking about versatility, City really has quite a few players that can play at least 2 positions very well : KDB, Bernardo, Gundogan, Foden, Jesus, Fernandinho, and Zinchenko
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He might have played a bit more centrally last season than I suggested but throughout his time at City he has mostly been used as a RW (and often hugging the touchline to stretch the pitch as much as possible). He even said last season that’s his preferred position.

This site breaks his appearances down by position and you can see he plays the majority of his games on the right-hand side https://understat.com/player/3635
 
BobbyManc said:
He might have played a bit more centrally last season than I suggested but throughout his time at City he has mostly been used as a RW (and often hugging the touchline to stretch the pitch as much as possible). He even said last season that’s his preferred position.

This site breaks his appearances down by position and you can see he plays the majority of his games on the right-hand side https://understat.com/player/3635
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I was mostly referring to last season. Yeah in general (including at Monaco), he's often played as a RW playmaker.
 
Thought he looked class last night.

what’s the potential England midfield for 2021?

Henderson seems a lock.. however the other two spots are up for grabs. Foden really needs to push city for minutes next season as he has a real chance.
 
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