Phil Foden - What Is His Potential?

His potential is about the same as Ramseys was for Arsenal, and he'll reach it, no doubt.
 
Incredible player.

One of the best English talents I've seen. His potential is absurd.

As an Englishman, it's refreshing to see us have such technically gifted players coming through the ranks. The future looks really bright.

Shame we have such an uninspiring manager. Southgate is managing at and elite level but is not an elite manager (sound familiar...).

If England had a proper a proper manager to really capture the talents of these young lads it really could be a golden generation but I just don’t see it in Southgate. Not that I know who would be the one to get the best out of them by the way
 
Real air of Rooney about him, not in style, but in that he's gonna be England's best player this generation and rack up huge numbers.

Looks an amazing player, which is sickening.
He has the same natural footballer look as Rooney did. I'm uncomfortable with all the praise bearing in mind the media will knock him down at some point and we have always had to sell our decent homegrown players in the past.
What I do like is the fact he has destroyed Robertson at Liverpool twice already, to do it against good teams is the benchmark.
 
Been watching him closely recently in games and the bloke is unreal. Marking/tackling him is like trying to catch air.

His balance is superb too.
 
It’s no surprise he’s breaking through, I know you can argue against the hyperbole but when Pep is saying things like this back in 2019 it’s not a shock that he’s turned out to be a great young player already
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49127119

What’s surprised me the most is that he’s broken through on the wing, rather than more centrally where we expected. I am still yet to see what his best position will be long-term - he’s shown that he’s a nightmare to defend when he’s got the freedom to run at players and you wouldn’t want to take that out of his game by moving him centrally again, but perhaps he could really dictate games from there because he seems to have it all. We’ll have to see how Pep shapes it up over the next year or so.
 
Simply has to be starting at the euros ahead of likes of Lingard and Mount given those two have suddenly emerged as serious options for the 11.
Mount is fantastic too, even though he is not as flashy as Foden, therefore maybe not as much of a clutch player. But Southgate should do everything to get these two into his first eleven. Good thing is that you can put Foden almost into any position from midfield to forward, so you could adjust whether you play Sterling / Rashford / Grealish.
 
Just my feeling but I think Peps system is holding him back. Reckon he'd be better in a system with more freedom. England producing Sancho and him at the same time while Grealish is still banging about is bang out of order. This is what a real golden generation looks like.
Truly gold standard stuff. I don’t think Money Mase is too far behind, either.
 
Look on the bright side, only another 12 years or so until he starts to fade :(
 
It’s no surprise he’s breaking through, I know you can argue against the hyperbole but when Pep is saying things like this back in 2019 it’s not a shock that he’s turned out to be a great young player already
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49127119

What’s surprised me the most is that he’s broken through on the wing, rather than more centrally where we expected. I am still yet to see what his best position will be long-term - he’s shown that he’s a nightmare to defend when he’s got the freedom to run at players and you wouldn’t want to take that out of his game by moving him centrally again, but perhaps he could really dictate games from there because he seems to have it all. We’ll have to see how Pep shapes it up over the next year or so.
You'll have watched him more than us, so is he at risk of becoming the Rooney style utility player? I suppose the City squad is much deeper than United's was, so he can theoretically settle into his best position. It'd be a waste of talent if he ends up being shoehorned into every position as and when needed IMO.
 
Been watching him closely recently in games and the bloke is unreal. Marking/tackling him is like trying to catch air.

His balance is superb too.

Yeah, I heard someone on a podcast describe him as slippery as an eel. As someone who’s actually handled eels I can confirm that they’re not only slippery they’re strong and wiry as feck. Which sounds about right watching how hard defenders find it to stop him.
 
You'll have watched him more than us, so is he at risk of becoming the Rooney style utility player? I suppose the City squad is much deeper than United's was, so he can theoretically settle into his best position. It'd be a waste of talent if he ends up being shoehorned into every position as and when needed IMO.
Calling Rooney a utility player is a bit much. He was one of if not the most influential attacking player at a club that won 5 PL titles in 7 seasons, won a CL and made 2 more finals.
 
Yeah, I heard someone on a podcast describe him as slippery as an eel. As someone who’s actually handled eels I can confirm that they’re not only slippery they’re strong and wiry as feck. Which sounds about right watching how hard defenders find it to stop him.

I posted this back in 2018 in this thread, his agility is ridiculous. There's an article in a Stockport local paper from when he like 8 with his coach saying the same thing.

I think it's his agility and ability to control and turn with the ball. If you watch this England training video he's on a different level to the other players in that regard, the best example is at 4.05mins. I've seen examples of it when he's played for City and England u21s recently, he can turn and leave players for dead. Iniesta had this quality too, a lot of the small Spanish players do.



*disclaimer - not saying he will be as good as Iniesta.


The interesting thing last night was that he started getting the Grealish treatment from the Villa players. The other interesting thing will be if Pep plays him over Sterling in the final on Sunday. It would indicate that he's taking his place.
 
Would it be accurate to say he is a clearly better version of Joe Cole? Joe Cole was also a generational player that had ability like no other English player, but he lacked a tactical brain which Foden has shown at such a young age. I actually think Foden could go on to have a career that many hoped for Joe Cole in the early 00s.
 
Ive always hoped that he would get fed up of waiting to be first choice and impaitently leave.

No such fecking luck.
 
Calling Rooney a utility player is a bit much. He was one of if not the most influential attacking player at a club that won 5 PL titles in 7 seasons, won a CL and made 2 more finals.
I think he had the potential to be much closer to Messi and Ronaldo if he wasn't shifted around as much. I think it also affected his longevity to an extent. Maybe utility player is a bit much, but he definitely didn't play in his best position throughout his career.
 
I posted this back in 2018 in this thread, his agility is ridiculous. There's an article in a Stockport local paper from when he like 8 with his coach saying the same thing.



The interesting thing last night was that he started getting the Grealish treatment from the Villa players. The other interesting thing will be if Pep plays him over Sterling in the final on Sunday. It would indicate that he's taking his place.

The coach in that video is fantastic, he is full of energy.
 
Would it be accurate to say he is a clearly better version of Joe Cole? Joe Cole was also a generational player that had ability like no other English player, but he lacked a tactical brain which Foden has shown at such a young age. I actually think Foden could go on to have a career that many hoped for Joe Cole in the early 00s.
That's a nice comparison. Cole was a huge talent at a young age, and still had a very good career, but didn't quite fulfill those aspirations. And ultimately the knee injury at 26-27 curtailed his full development.
 
I think he had the potential to be much closer to Messi and Ronaldo if he wasn't shifted around as much. I think it also affected his longevity to an extent. Maybe utility player is a bit much, but he definitely didn't play in his best position throughout his career.
He never had Messi's level of talent as wonderful as a young player as he was. Regardless,Foden certainly isn't coming close to that level either.
 
Why are people comparing him to Xavi and Iniesta when he's clearly more like you know who. He's got the potential to be a premier match winner. Reserve Xavi/Iniesta comparisons for Gilmor and Gomes.
 
I posted this back in 2018 in this thread, his agility is ridiculous. There's an article in a Stockport local paper from when he like 8 with his coach saying the same thing.



The interesting thing last night was that he started getting the Grealish treatment from the Villa players. The other interesting thing will be if Pep plays him over Sterling in the final on Sunday. It would indicate that he's taking his place.

That has already happened.
 
Foden, Sancho, Greenwood, Bellingham, wow. Looking good!

I know this is going to sound ridiculous but England finally know/have targeted the improvement of their view on technical players rather than physical monsters.

It's kind of why I'm excited of Rice if he is targeted by us because he is a bit of the opposite to the players that are coming up like Sancho, Foden, Grealish, Bellingham, Greenwood etc.

He is more of that old school strong, physical, leadership player that maybe there to provide the balance that players like Sancho, Foden, Grealish, Rashford etc need. Watching him develop may be important for England national club or a top team he may develop in.
 
Still already upset that Southgate is going to ruin this generation this summer by his negative tactics. Foden is amazing, hard to stomach that Angel Gomes was ahead of him a few years back.
 
Would it be accurate to say he is a clearly better version of Joe Cole? Joe Cole was also a generational player that had ability like no other English player, but he lacked a tactical brain which Foden has shown at such a young age. I actually think Foden could go on to have a career that many hoped for Joe Cole in the early 00s.
Nah, Cole never had pace for an attacker that's a big weakness. He however could handle the ball with the best of them. Cole, Cassano and Robinho were similar in that sense.
 
I would advise other talented younger players to study Foden. I've been watching him closely and noticed he has a quite unique style of play. He strides rather than runs. He keeps his legs quite far apart most of the time which gives him the balance which is so good. It also helps him a lot when receiving passes. Doesn't matter how hard the pass is kicked, he stops it as if it sticks to his boot. He's very difficult to read also because of his style of movement. Brilliant to watch and surely a role model for other youngsters. A bit like CR7 who also developed his own skills and took the game to a new level.
 
How the feck does the second coming of Iniesta get born in Stockport?

The one place on earth where he could actually grow up wanting to play for City.
 
------------Rice-----------Bellingham--------
Sancho-------Foden-------Rashford---
----------------Greenwood--------------

Amazing. So much talent and youth.
 
------------Rice-----------Bellingham--------
Sancho-------Foden-------Rashford---
----------------Greenwood--------------

Amazing. So much talent and youth.

Not gonna lie, that midfield and attack looks absolutly disgusting :devil:
 
In him and Grealish, England have two phenomenal players. I love how they carry the ball. The type of players England used to struggle to produce.

I can't wait for Southgate to mess it up this summer.