Why Phil Foden Is Finally Ready To Be Man City's Main Man

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Phil Foden has more than staked his claim for a starting position in Manchester City's midfield after his recent games. But with the return of Kevin De Bruyne edging ever nearer... Has he done enough?

Transcript

00:00 Now of course, Phil Foden has been playing in the middle more this season, we know this,

00:06 and I've touched on it in other videos, mainly just because of absences in the team and of

00:10 course De Bruyne's injury as well. But I'm going to highlight some stats from last season

00:15 in the Premier League and this season in the Premier League, just to highlight kind of

00:18 how he's been playing differently in this city system this season.

00:22 Now you can see here, his goals per 90 are down, but also his passes are tempted to,

00:27 however his forward passes is up, meaning that he's actually kind of assuming this Kevin

00:32 De Bruyne role more in the team, where he's being dispossessed more, playing forward thinking

00:36 passes, but it's also creating more chances. And you can see here he's attempting 0.7 through

00:42 balls per 90 as opposed to 0.2 last season, which is a massive, massive upturn in terms

00:47 of just general chance creation in this city side. And he is also losing possession less

00:52 as well, which is a good indicator that he's actually just refining his passing game in

00:56 general, but a lot more through balls attempted and forward passes as well per 90.

01:03 So why are so many city fans going crazy about Phil Foden's performance against Everton last

01:07 night in particular? Well, to start off, he's actually played in midfield in the last three

01:12 Premier League games consecutively. And the reason for this is of course Erling Haaland's

01:16 injury, which has forced Julian Alvarez into his old sort of number nine position. And

01:21 then Phil Foden's have this sort of more, well he's took Alvarez's position effectively

01:25 in this sort of 10 second striker kind of free roll that lets him drift over to the

01:30 left, the right, wherever he may need to be. And to, I don't want to say wreak havoc, but

01:34 just pull, pull strings and really showcase his quality with freedom on the turn, beating

01:40 players and getting shots off from range as well, which we'll talk about.

01:44 But of course the problem is whether Phil Foden can maintain this position. And I'm

01:47 not sure he can per se in that 10 position, because of course when De Bruyne got injured

01:52 at the start of the season, Pep Guardiola decided to replace him with Julian Alvarez

01:56 in that sort of 10 role. Because you remember last season in that treble running, De Bruyne

02:01 was particularly playing almost as a second striker along Erling Haaland, particularly

02:05 against Arsenal at home at the Etihad. He really sort of played this second striker

02:09 role, which Alvarez has now assumed. And Phil Foden's not really had a chance to fill that

02:13 void himself, but he has of course now Erling Haaland is injured. But you'd assume with

02:18 the pecking order when De Bruyne comes back, that Phil will naturally go back down it,

02:22 despite how well he's playing. And I think it's kind of unlikely that we're

02:26 actually going to see Foden and De Bruyne as the double eight pairing, because we know

02:29 that Pep Guardiola likes to have one of his eights at all times defensively contributing

02:34 in the team. Last season of course it was Ilkay Gundogan who was doing it consistently,

02:38 and this season it's had to be either Alvarez, who's actually very, very good off the ball,

02:42 or Bernardo Silva stepping into that eight role. Because I mean, that man is just a Swiss

02:46 army knife, he can do everything. But with De Bruyne and Foden, who are both very attack

02:50 minded midfielders in those eight positions, I think it's unlikely that Pep will pair them

02:54 together. But time will tell. But I think moving forward, I don't think we'll see those

02:58 two play together when De Bruyne is in the team.

03:01 Now Phil Foden has actually come out and said, "Long may it continue" in terms of him playing

03:04 in the middle of the park. So clearly he feels like this is his best position. And I think

03:09 an awful lot of City fans, and maybe England fans do as well.

03:13 So what may the route be for Phil Foden into the middle of the pitch? Well, luckily for

03:17 him, not luckily for City fans, but Jon Stones actually got injured yesterday, which could

03:22 see a tactical shift that could suit Phil now moving forward. Now of course we know

03:26 that Jon Stones likes going to that pivot role, but with him injured now, what that

03:29 is going to do is really kind of take Kyle Walker out of this initial build up.

03:34 With Stones out of the team and Akanji then having to drift forward into that sixth, we've

03:37 seen Walker push on a lot more of almost in a kind of wing back position, which means

03:42 if Phil Foden starts on the right hand side and Walker pushes up, then Phil will naturally

03:46 have licence and then drift into the middle of the park and pull strings the way he did

03:50 last night. That could be his way into the team. It's a could. We will, again, time will

03:55 tell now Stones is out.

03:57 So what is Phil Foden so good at in the middle you ask? Well, simply put, driving. And no,

04:03 not in that way. Of course he did pass his test very recently. Congratulations, Phil.

04:07 A little side note, I passed my test when I was 19. And on the same day I passed my

04:11 test, I ran over a cyclist. It wasn't a hit and run. I just didn't indicate I was a...

04:17 Why have I said this? I took my mum to Tesco and did a left turn and some fellow went over

04:22 the front of my car. Anyway, listen, he's a better driver than me, Phil Foden, but that's

04:26 not the driving that I meant.

04:28 Driving with the ball, which he's also better than me at, surprisingly. I'm six foot three.

04:33 I can't turn like he can. I'm heavy, man, especially after this Christmas. But Phil

04:38 absolutely exemplified this last night because when he got that ball in the middle of the

04:42 park yesterday, he was not afraid to just do it by himself effectively.

04:47 Before I showcase the goal, of course, for the penalty that City won, he arrived at the

04:50 right moment on the edge of the box. So he was really hugging the D of the penalty area,

04:54 both from set pieces and in play. We also saw it towards the end of the game, which

04:58 would have been the goal of the game had it gone in. That sort of a quick turn, that quick

05:02 turn of pace, touching it out of his feet and getting that shot off onto the post. And

05:06 then we also saw it towards the end of the game as well, where Phil picked it up in his

05:09 own half and just skipped past two, three, four Everton players and drove with the ball

05:15 30, 40 yards before striking one from range. I think he realised that striking it from

05:19 range, Pickford can't quite get to his crossbar. So he kept trying to hit them over Pickford

05:24 and it did work once, well, he hit it under him.

05:26 But again, without the carries and the driving from the middle of the park, he's also actually

05:29 a great ball striker, which without De Bruyne in the team, City sometimes do miss. And listen,

05:35 for all these tactical breakdowns that we do like to do on this channel, particularly

05:39 Adam, sometimes you just need to say, have it. Oh yes. Yeah, just have it, just strike

05:48 one. Sometimes that is the best way to beat a deep block and you need specialists who

05:52 can do this. I think City have Rodri, who has scored a fair few from range, of course

05:56 De Bruyne don't need to talk about that, but Phil Foden as well can hit the ball from range

06:01 and he did it yesterday and it was a goal that actually really paralleled a goal he

06:04 scored away at Dortmund two, three seasons ago actually, which was hit in the same near

06:09 post and beat the keeper and sort of blindsided him. He's really got that finish in his locker,

06:13 that near post sort of pile driver. He does it once or twice a season and it bailed City

06:18 out yesterday.

06:19 And of course as well, this does beg the question, where will Phil Foden play for England in

06:23 the Euros? Will he play? Because the squad is that stacked and despite the fact that

06:27 my last video was all about how Curtis Jones should be in the England team, which I think

06:30 he should, or at least in the squad, can you make a case for Phil Foden playing in the

06:35 middle? You're going to have to let me know about that in the comments, because of course

06:38 we have Bellingham who can play at the tip of that diamond and is obviously arguably

06:42 the best player in the world right now. So I'm not going to debate him being in the team.

06:45 Of course, Declan Rice as well is a shoe in, but then you've got Trent Alexander-Arnold

06:49 in that midfield and it's whether you can strike the right balance, but Phil Foden in

06:53 the middle can pull strings so well, has so much to his game, particularly on the turn

06:58 with his back to goal, but also like I've just showcased those long shots as well, which

07:02 many players maybe don't have in the middle of the park. Would it be worth putting Phil

07:06 Foden in the middle of the park and then perhaps a Rashford, okay, he's off the boil, a Rashford

07:11 or a Grealish on that left-hand side instead of Phil, and then of course Saka and Kane

07:15 with him. You let me know what you think about that. Should Phil Foden be in the middle for

07:18 England? Gareth, please. And with that said, of course, guys, do not forget to subscribe.

07:24 We're in that kind of weird lull period at the end of the year now where like everyone's

07:28 just sort of existing. So yeah, a little video on Phil Foden. There'll be another one coming

07:34 your way tomorrow from MrCleary. But like I said, do not forget to subscribe. Continue

07:38 to have a lovely Christmas, a fantastic new year. I've been Adam Monk. Hope you have a

07:42 good one. I'll see you soon. Bye bye.

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