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If, that is, he is selected – which is the clue to Foden’s status under Guardiola. This is a footballer who since his debut at 17 as a 75th-minute replacement against Feyenoord six years ago has won five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, the Champions League and the Uefa Super Cup but is still to convince his manager he can be De Bruyne’s successor as the next dazzling star in a Guardiola constellation that features Messi (Barça, 2008-12), Götze (Bayern, 2013-16), and Silva (City, 2016-20). That seemingly inexorable rise to the top was not going to be without its hiccups but, after an impressive start to last season when he scored seven goals in 11 Premier League and Champions League matches, Foden would gradually find himself on the outside looking in. It underlines how midfield is such an important area. For me, Foden has to be an integral part of whatever England do next because before long he is going to be the best player we have in this country. In two or three years' time, when he is nearing his peak, he will be the top man. When Silva ended a glittering decade at City he was rated by many as the club’s greatest footballer. Three years later De Bruyne’s serial A-list displays allow a similar claim. In January 2020, before Silva’s departure that summer, Guardiola said: “We trust Phil. If we didn’t believe in him we might go to the market to replace David, but we have Phil.”
After Phil Foden had wreaked havoc against Liverpool at Anfield a few seasons ago, teeing up two goals before claiming a stunning one of his own to round off a 4-1 win, Carles Puyol felt moved to laud the young Manchester City tyro on social media. “What a great player,” the former Barcelona captain said, and he should know. If he gets the balance right in that area of his game, then I think he will start to flourish again. There no reason why he cannot be out on the left for England, where he likes to play. In the modern game, though, if you are playing in any of these positions, you have to be a goalscorer too and I think that is where Foden has the edge on everyone else I have spoken about, because he will go right into the six-yard box to get on the end of things.
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That's where English football has really won out as a result of foreign managers and players coming in from the mid-1990s onwards. That type of player - the technician, really - has really flourished because of a change in playing style. It was a long wait, but we have moved on. Judging the correct time to release it is one of the things he has got to work on but I am sure he will improve his decision-making while he is at City, because he has got the ability. We also changed the academy system about 10 years ago, and you are seeing the fruits of that now - people such as Foden and Mount were just starting their journey then, and they have been brought up with the kind of football they are playing now, for club and country. Guardiola still has Foden but last season was a first post-Silva campaign in which faith wavered, the England international being trusted with markedly less playing time. In 2020-21 Foden played 3,373 minutes in all competitions that came in 36 starts in 50 appearances, with 16 goals (all career-high numbers) and 10 assists. The following season the same statistics read 3,184, 36, 45, 14, 11. Then Foden endured a notable drop to 2,260 minutes and 29 starts with only eight assists, though in 48 appearances there were 15 goals. Midfielder for both Manchester City and the England national team, Phil Foden has become synonymous with both teams' recent successes at home and abroad, and at Sport Photo Gallery, we're documenting the young star's rise to footballing fame.
After making his debut as a 17‑year‑old in November 2017, Foden has become a key member of Pep Guardiola’s team, winning three Premier League titles, four League Cups, and an FA Cup. Last season he was voted the Professional Footballers’ Association Young Player of the Year. After Foden started and disappointed in the 2021 final when City lost 1-0 to Chelsea here was a golden opportunity for him to prove he could thrive in the continent’s elite club contest. But though competent at the Ataturk Stadium no game-of-his-life display was produced. Those who will argue Inter are a tough team to dominate simply make the case for what is required: the ability to take hold of a contest in the highest-stake game and shape it their side’s way.
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Pep Guardiola has given Phil Foden only a substitute’s role in many of their biggest games. Photograph: Dave Thompson/AP The future is very bright - the challenge for Gareth Southgate is to mould it all together to make a successful team. Getting the balance right for England Phil Foden made his senior England debut in September 2020 and has won 11 full caps, scoring two goals Phil Foden sees a shot saved in this year’s Champions League final, when he came on for Kevin De Bruyne. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian As I describe in my book, it is working, everywhere. You can see the talent that is out there in England shirts, right through the age groups up to the senior side, and it is going to keep on coming.
I was a kind of a number 10 in my final season with Tottenham - the one when Clive Allen scored 49 goals - but people still talked about what I couldn't do as much as what I could. It was only when I went to Monaco in 1987 that suddenly I was at a place where what I did was seen as the most important position, because I could elevate the team. Create bespoke photographs. With easy-to-use customisation features, we let you take control and create bespoke photographs for any occasion. From gift giving to home decoration, our custom options are endless.It's easy to see why it happened, because the game is different now. The pitches are beautiful, the rules have changed. Why would you lump the ball in the way we had to put up with? It would be sacrilege. Hoddle was one of the managers responsible for beginning the transformation of the Premier League into the competition it is today when he signed one of its first superstars, Ruud Gullit, for Chelsea in 1995. "I came because of Glenn," Gullit told the BBC in 2020. "In the eyes of the Dutch, he was the best English footballer ever." In truth, Puyol was not the only illustrious player of past Barcelona association to show an interest in Foden’s progress. Pep Guardiola’s presence at City has always ensured a degree of fascination in Catalonia at events unfolding in east Manchester and in the past Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano are thought to have idly asked their friend and compatriot Sergio Aguero what “that kid Foden” is like.
With those players involved then, whoever the opposition, the right balance is there - I feel Rice will be hugely important to Foden's England career, and vice versa.
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As Foden matures, I feel as if we are going to see him score a lot of goals for England as well as make them. I could be wrong, but it is going to be a lot of fun finding out.
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