Phil Foden - What Is His Potential?

Don Alfredo said:
How about Jadon Sancho? He should have promised him enough first team chances. If you are good enough for starting at Borussia Dortmund, then you are certainly good enough to be the sub for the last 10 mins instead of 50m Bernardo Silva. He keeps stockpiling 50m players for the RW (he has three now), yet he had Sancho and Brahim Diaz, two very highly rated youngsters.

That is not to only criticize Pep on that matter, many top clubs are too afraid to play their youth at an early age. When did the last Juventus academy graduate earn a first team spot? What players did Barcelona, Bayern, Chelsea etc. pull up into the first team from their academy in the last decade? I can only think of Sergi Roberto at Barca and Alaba at Bayern. One first team player in a decade is such a poor record. No excuses for that.
Click to expand...

Well, Sancho isn't an established player already. He still needs to prove himself although he looked exceptional for Dortmund. However, he left so early you can't really say Guardiola didn't give him the chance to show his talent, do you?

Besides that I think the fluctuation of youth players is a general problem for top clubs right now. We never had such an insane concentration of top players as currently. The big teams just buy so many players for their first and second row and also the most promising youngsters. Yet there isn't a single top club which produced a note worthy amount of first team players in recent years. Of course they occasionally trust young players but those are usually exceptionally talented externs like Sane, Mbappe, Dembele, Kimmich, Asensio, Dybala and so forth.

With that in mind, it is hard to blame Guardiola for not trusting youth players "anymore". You could do it if there would be different cases but there honestly aren't any role models. Maybe Atletico but then again they do it because they have no choice.
 
Don Alfredo said:
Kroos, Muller and Badstuber left the Bayern academy in 2009. That is not part of this decade, it means they have only pulled up one first team player in 9 years.

I stand by David Alaba being the only succesful youth product in a long time, and even he joined the team 7 years ago. I don't know why Bayern is lacking the talent in their academy. One decade is around 5 generations of U18 players, and there hasn't been one good player there (besides Alaba)? Maybe their coaching is lacking? I mean it's not like there is a general dearth of talent in German football. The usual suspects of Schalke and Stuttgart still went on to produce national team players, some of them are well on their way to become world class.

Anyway I feel were are drifting away a bit, since this the Phil Foden thread, not the Bayern academy thread.
Click to expand...

Because their feeder club system is much more successful.
 
Davs said:
Just browsing some interviews and radio shows this morning and had a listen to some comments from James Ducker on Phil Foden.

In a nut shell, he's made a comment saying he's England's most exciting talent since Wayne Rooney - a very big statement, especially to most of us here.

Where does the Caf think his potential lies? Is he going to be the next Scholes/Lampard/Gerrard or is he going to be the next Ross Barkley?

Full video here;

Click to expand...

In terms of talent Barkley looked to have more potential than a young lampard... But lampard improved so much off the ball... His positioning and his timing of runs from midfield.

Talentwise foden looks to be possibly the best we have produced in England for a while but it will come down to his development which will in turn come down to a combination of his attitude, the opportunities he gets, the coaching he receives, injuries and luck.
Potentially though he is a gem of a player
 
Damien said:
Assist. Chelsea players did rubbish though.
Click to expand...

Lol, this is a warning if ever there was one of judging a player based on a (not very high) "highlight". He's been poor overall - that was the first team he hadn't lost the ball as soon as he'd received it; def still looks like a kid amongst men at the moment.
 
Posted this in the LC thread but easily his best game for us. Felt he was nervous early on but grew into the game, should have scored two but missed a soft one. Looks like he's finally growing and able to take a shove, shoulder etc... Really good game for him. Wonderful assist, good finish and some nice touches.
 
duffer said:
Because they're not usually playing Oxford United.
Click to expand...

That level looks way above Oxford United. He's been looking great in pre-seasons for them too. Their dominant play should make it alright to throw him in more.

Shame for England that he'll probably rot on the bench.
 
ROFLUTION said:
That level looks way above Oxford United. He's been looking great in pre-seasons for them too. Their dominant play should make it alright to throw him in more.

Shame for England that he'll probably rot on the bench.
Click to expand...

He is a very special talent but as you say, going to be tough to break into that starting XI!
 
Its Oxford.

If he was that amazing, Pep would play him. He played Busquets at 18.
 
he'll get plenty of game time this season with Silva's time being cut back as he can't play week in, week out. He can also play LW or RW which helps.

He's now played 194 minutes this season which is just over 2 games from the 8 competitive we've played. If he gets the same percentage of game time for the entire season, he could well end up with 15 full games worth of minutes this term. Around 1000 minutes would be no small amount for an 18 year old.
 
Hadnt seen this topic before and very happy to add to it.

Not saying he will turn out as good but he has the same motion as Gazza with the ball at his feet. Can he turn out that potential only time will tell but for me his is being managed beautifully right now.

It is tedious to see some City fans calling for more time on the pitch for Foden but him and Diaz are being brought through professionally and patiently which i totally agree with.

So many times do we see with youngsters getting too much game time while their bodies still develop and later on they burn out. The approach being taken will hopefully allow a long and fruitful career.

England international before the end of the season.
 
padr81 said:
He can also play LW or RW which helps.
Click to expand...

It does in a sense but he has Sane, Sterling, KDB, Mahrez, D Silva and B Silva all in front of him. I think Pep might see him as a deeper midfielder. I think that he could develop into a Modric type role.

I think he will play more this season though. He doesn't turn 19 until the end of the season so his progress is acceptable up to now. He really needs to be playing regularly by next season. Perhaps he will be ready for a loan to Girona then.

Micky Targaryen said:
Pep definitely rates him. High praise from his boss.

http://global.espn.com/football/man...-can-star-for-club-for-10-years-pep-guardiola
Click to expand...

The hyperbolic nonsense from the Oxford manager is unwelcome though.
 
padr81 said:
he'll get plenty of game time this season with Silva's time being cut back as he can't play week in, week out. He can also play LW or RW which helps.

He's now played 194 minutes this season which is just over 2 games from the 8 competitive we've played. If he gets the same percentage of game time for the entire season, he could well end up with 15 full games worth of minutes this term. Around 1000 minutes would be no small amount for an 18 year old.
Click to expand...

Has to be added that his game-time is not in the Premier League but in these type of Carabao-cup matches too. Only 29 minutes combined in Premier League yet. Eased slowly in, but that's probably an okay way of doing it - Don't want to give Pep too much credit just yet. Hasn't really taken any real "chances" on any youth from own ranks yet (despite there being plenty of talent). Only Zinchenko (now and then) springs to mind, but he's out in the cold again.
 
Is there a better feeling than watching an academy product develop into a first-team regular and possibly a bona fide star?

Fecking love it when that happens. Had the same feeling with Sterling, although he wasn't from our academy, and Alexander-Arnold. United probably with Rashford most recently, Spurs with Kane.
 
Think he might contribute more than it was expected at the start of the season. He lacks experience but he can run further and press better than D. Silva and Gundogan.
 
He’s in a good enough situation for now. Whilst it would benefit him to go elsewhere and get more frequent gametime as it stands he is at a very good, stable, and cohesive side. When he actually does play, he’s not already against the grain to try and prove himself, rather another component in a well worked side.

If January comes and his gametime is still stifled I think then he should start considering the move.
 
He will get more and more minutes over the next few seasons and is being groomed as the long-term replacement for David Silva, who is expected to return to Las Palmas in 2020.
 
DWelbz19 said:
He’s in a good enough situation for now. Whilst it would benefit him to go elsewhere and get more frequent gametime as it stands he is at a very good, stable, and cohesive side. When he actually does play, he’s not already against the grain to try and prove himself, rather another component in a well worked side.

If January comes and his gametime is still stifled I think then he should start considering the move.
Click to expand...
Disagree there. At his age, learning from pep and playing with the likes of Silva etc in training will benefit him more than going to a West ham or Southampton just to get game time. He's very young still. Were he a few years older I'd tend to agree with you though
 
DWelbz19 said:
He’s in a good enough situation for now. Whilst it would benefit him to go elsewhere and get more frequent gametime as it stands he is at a very good, stable, and cohesive side. When he actually does play, he’s not already against the grain to try and prove himself, rather another component in a well worked side.

If January comes and his gametime is still stifled I think then he should start considering the move.
Click to expand...


the problem is, where will he get more frequent game time? in the Championship he could just as easily sit on the bench every week and there is nothing City could do about it, at least at City he's training with established players and now getting a bit of game time and Pep can play him when he wants, as said above, he looks more physically mature than last season so hopefully he'll get plenty of 20 min cameo's as well as playing in the cups.
 
Thunderhead said:
the problem is, where will he get more frequent game time? in the Championship he could just as easily sit on the bench every week and there is nothing City could do about it, at least at City he's training with established players and now getting a bit of game time and Pep can play him when he wants, as said above, he looks more physically mature than last season so hopefully he'll get plenty of 20 min cameo's as well as playing in the cups.
Click to expand...

Derby County. Lampard is playing a lot of youth this season, Bogle (18), Mount (19), Tomori (20), Wilson (21), Bennett (22) are all regulars. He will also really want to help develop a young England star. Foden would get lots of minutes under him.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
It does in a sense but he has Sane, Sterling, KDB, Mahrez, D Silva and B Silva all in front of him. I think Pep might see him as a deeper midfielder. I think that he could develop into a Modric type role.

I think he will play more this season though. He doesn't turn 19 until the end of the season so his progress is acceptable up to now. He really needs to be playing regularly by next season. Perhaps he will be ready for a loan to Girona then.

The hyperbolic nonsense from the Oxford manager is unwelcome though.
Click to expand...

100% I wouldn't mind him playing 15 or so games this term, 20 next season, by then we'll all know his true level so he'll either be in the first team or on his way out I think (hopefully the former).

ROFLUTION said:
Has to be added that his game-time is not in the Premier League but in these type of Carabao-cup matches too. Only 29 minutes combined in Premier League yet. Eased slowly in, but that's probably an okay way of doing it - Don't want to give Pep too much credit just yet. Hasn't really taken any real "chances" on any youth from own ranks yet (despite there being plenty of talent). Only Zinchenko (now and then) springs to mind, but he's out in the cold again.
Click to expand...

Agree but he played two full CL games last season too. I wouldn't say Pep has taken any chances on youth at City, Pep himself has admitted as much though he also said the english system is a big reason and players aren't ready for the big leagues because there is nowhere for them to develop between youth and senior football.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Derby County. Lampard is playing a lot of youth this season, Bogle (18), Mount (19), Tomori (20), Wilson (21), Bennett (22) are all regulars. He will also really want to help develop a young England star. Foden would get lots of minutes under him.
Click to expand...

but this season he'd be be competing with Mount, Wilson and Bennett who are all older and have a bit more experience, maybe next season but in January he's more chance of game time with City
 
Thunderhead said:
the problem is, where will he get more frequent game time? in the Championship he could just as easily sit on the bench every week and there is nothing City could do about it, at least at City he's training with established players and now getting a bit of game time and Pep can play him when he wants, as said above, he looks more physically mature than last season so hopefully he'll get plenty of 20 min cameo's as well as playing in the cups.
Click to expand...
I meant more start the mutterings of a move in January. He could hop across to Deutschland. Working for Nelson and Sancho so far.
 
DWelbz19 said:
I meant more start the mutterings of a move in January. He could hop across to Deutschland. Working for Nelson and Sancho so far.
Click to expand...

ahh right, though Foden, unlike Sancho signed a contract til 2020, so he can mutter but he'd not be able to just up and go.
 
He will be some player. You could see it since the pre season game against us that he is a great talent
 
Thunderhead said:
but this season he'd be be competing with Mount, Wilson and Bennett who are all older and have a bit more experience, maybe next season but in January he's more chance of game time with City
Click to expand...

There's Lawrence too but Foden can play in every single all of their positions so I think he would get lots of game time. He's more talented than them all too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.