As many of you Soccermanagerites are well aware of, almost 92% of professional Footballers playing in Europe’s top 5 leagues have an ambition to become a prestigious member of a Premier League club. It’s the “créme de le créme“, as the French like to say. There are some who work their butts off in order to become equipped with the attributes that are necessary to play at such a high level, and then there’s the ones who have been granted the gift of luck due to being born in England and representing one of the better Academies at a younger age thus making their path a bit more “easier”. In Stockport born Phil Foden, it is safe to say that we’ll be discussing a player who is within the latter category!
Before we get into the Manchester City Protégé, we’d like to make a query pertaining as to why Arsenal’s Protégé Bukayo Saka wasn’t granted the same opportunity of being a SMW Superstar… We’re sure many of you would’ve seen some of the comparisons between Saka and Foden over the course of last season and we completely get the argument pertaining why Foden is considered as being the “better” of the two due to him having played in more high pressurized games throughout his career to date, but there are only a select few players who have been as consistent as Bukayo over the past 2 seasons (and ALL of them are currenlty members of this luxurious Superstar club). If there was an upgrade for the man we spoke about in our previous episode then how didn’t Arsenal’s 🌟boy join the gang?!?!? 🤦♂️
PLAYER BIO
Short rant aside, Phil Foden was touted for excellence ever since he was developing within the youth team of Manchester City. A quite rare gem that has the technical prowess of Spaniards rather than his fellow Brit, it was no surprise when Pep Guardiola decided to bring the then 16 year old into the first team set up in order to groom the lad for the genius philosophy that he wanted Phillip to understand. The Manchester City starlet then shined at the U17 World Cup back in 2017 which led to a bombardment of requests from every English media throughout various corners of the country to get him playing more via sending him out on loan. But, Pep reluctantly resisted all of the suggestions and stayed stubborn in his pursuit of Foden’s process of training with the first team, and we have to absolutely commend Guardiola for this decision since Phil has now become the English Maverick that the entire globe is raving about, and who knows what would’ve been the case if Guardiola decided to remove him from his schooling prematurely…
BEST ATTRIBUTES WITHIN SM25
Phil’s representation on SM25 continues the trend of being 80% accurate with some otherwise glaring mistakes. Let’s start with the positives as things such as his Movement, Long Shots, Creativity, Composure, and Flair are all perfect representations of the Englishman’s overall mold as a player. The icks however are things such as his Set piece taking being so high (higher than Ødegaard’s… 🤨), as well as his low Physical attributes. The latter has really got us looking at these attributes sideways since we’ve never watched a match live where Foden was showcasing 71 levels of Workrate (simply wouldn’t play under Pep if that was indeed the case), while he’s got to be more faster than a 65, right??? His Stamina stats (71) are also quite 💩 ...
BEST ROLES
One of the main reasons as to why Foden is considered such a special player is due to what he provides on the pitch. He is a very rare Englishman that is SUPERBLY technically, can find pockets in tight spaces on the pitch, and get unto the ball by driving past his opponent via the use of his Technical Dribbling capabilitiesHe isn’t a type of ‘F.A.P’ that wants to always play that killer ball since he is incredible as a roamer going wherever he deems neccessary (especially when situated “between the lines”) in order to make those “half turns” in areas where not many players of the same ilk will be able to excel atWhat this means is that he is very comfortable playing across the AM(RLC) positions without feeling hassled or rushed no matter where you decide to position him in (of course, his teammates will be forever important)Phil can also effectively operate in the wider regions of a 4-3-3 A without seeing that much of a difference in terms of his overall game, style of play, and his approach to being a difference makerNot only is he exceptional at roaming around in the final third ,but if you also wanted him to stretch the pitch by starting out on the sideline then he is more than capable as your ‘T.W’. As a matter of fact, one of the main reasons why Pep has been reluctant to play Phil in the middle is due to him not trusting the Englishman’s temperament within central regions (although KDB’s influence plays a key role into the Spaniard’s decision making as well). Nevertheless, Phil will be able to hug the touch line while also drifting into central areas when the chances permitNo matter the 4-3-3 A or 4-2-3-1 A, the players we decide to choose as Phillip’s support cast will play a role in wether he is operating as a ‘F.A.P’ or a ‘T.W’ when situated in those wider regionsWe briefly discussed the elements of the 4-4-1-1 in our Ødegaard episode, and while the Norweigan should never be positioned here, it’s the EXACT OPPOSITE for the Englishman as he is PURRRRRRRRR(roll that ‘R’, Soccermanagerite!) FECT for this formation! He will have the complete freedom to do basically everything his heart desires, and one thing about Phil is that he has incredible off the ball movement for a role in a formation that tends to like when they have the option to driftUnto a back 3/5 formation, and we yet again have another reason as to why Foden is such a special player! He is very effective when it comes to playing in multiple positions, and of course this also includes his capacity to operate alongside a proper F(C) within your XIBut that’s not the end of it, as Foden can also be placed as your ‘D.L.F’ who will drift into midfield and outnumber his opposition while also using that magnificent movement of his (we’re starting to realize that Phil is pretty similar to Antoine Griezmann in terms of his positional intelligence, and if you want to check out our complete overview of the Frenchman’s game then click the link at the end of today’s episode)…
HOW TO BEST USE HIM
You Lot can debate all you want down in the comments section pertaining Foden’s best position and role, but we refuse to be swayed on him out of that No.10 slot within a formation like the 4-2-3-1 A. In a similar way that the 4-2-3-1 B was basically made for Ødegaard, Phil was made for the 4-2-3-1 A with his brilliant movement off the ball, his ability to drive at the oppostion, find pockets of space that leave defenders scratching their heads, and his overall attacking output. Guardiola may not trust him within this position (yet), but we most defintely will! 🌟
WHO ARE THE BEST TEAMMATES
If there’s one thing about the 4-2-3-1 A is the fact that those three players behind the F(C) have the capability of winning their team lots of matches so long as the balance is spot on in between them and throughout the rest of the XI. Phil is someone who will blossom within this formation as we’ve already explained, but it’s imperative that he has other technically sound players alongside him in order to excel even further. It also helps if his supporting ‘F.A.P’s have good roaming tendencies as well, and, as always, the other support cast will become important based on what they provide to the XI… We start off with the ‘Wingback’ who will provide an overlapping option as well as provide the crosses for Phil to be able to get into the box to utilize his goal scoring instincts. With that amount of freedom given to Phillip, we’ll need to have at least one player within the middle of the park protecting him and the other roamers that will be floating around; Phil is magic with the ball at his feet but he isn’t the go to for those killer passes, so we’ll need a player who’s simply in the team to allow Phil to not have to drop that deep to participate in his creative actions. Like we mentioned earlier, another floater next to Phil will also be essential, while a ‘Robust Target Man’ up front will be very important since Phil will benefit massively from the robustness of the ‘T.M’ who will occupy many opposition defenders with his strength, hold up capability, and overall Target Man aura (and of course, Phil will also aim to create for him too)It will be the same thing for whenever you’re considering playing Phil off the right or left as a ‘F.A.P’ as he will start off on the right on paper but will not stay in that position due to his desire to continually float around consistently in order to obtain the freedom that will be oh so crucially importantHave you ever played Pokémon before? If you have, “Ditto”…As we have explained already, playing Phil in those wide positions as your ‘F.A.P’ will allow him to float around the gaf seeking to impact the game in the best way that he possibly can, and utilizing him within a formation like the 4-3-3 A will be very similar to the 4-2-3-1’s, with ‘Wingbacks’ being neccessary to allow Phil and co. to overload the central spaces, a ‘Playmaker’ to do most of the orchestrating, and a ‘B.W.M’ who will of course clean up everything that the opposition throw at this XI whilst allowing Phil and co. to solely focus on attacking. Oh, we also have to mention that another ‘F.A.P’ would be beneficial for Phil’s sake as well as the overall balance of this team (and how could wealmost forget to mention the importance of the ‘Robust Target Man’! 🤦♂️)Right, so let’s get to the ‘T.W’ role for the Englishman… In order for us to be able to utilize Phillip as a ‘Technical Winger’ it will be imperative that we play a ‘Fullback’ behind of him who will not be seeking to overlap Foden at anytime within the match. That way he’ll understand that his role is that of a ‘Winger’ and although he’ll still drift centrally from time to time it won’t be as often compared to whenever he plays outwide as a ‘F.A.P’In terms of how he will be playing, well Phil will start outwide via hugging the touchline and waiting for any chance he gets to either drift centrally or get the ball to feet and create for his teammates. He won’t necessarily seek to get 1v1 against his fullback but we can maybe expect 1 or 2 dribble attempts in terms of trying to get past his opponent per game (nothing compared to actual ‘Technical Wingers’ like a Sancho or Mahrez, for example). For the most part, Phil will simply provide the width and try to get some of his teammates around him in order to play some neat passes and triangular rotations. As he settles into the game, we will then see Foden (and many other ‘Technical Wingers’ of a similar mold) start to drift centrally with or without the ball based on the context of the play. This is the primary difference between a ‘Technical’ and an ‘Explosive’ Wingeras ‘E.W’s’ will aim to stay outwide for longer and make runs in behind of their fullback when neccessaryIf you were to ask us which formation would be second in command after the 4-2-3-1A in order to get the absolute most out of Phil then most defintely it would be this one. In this free role, Phil will again be able to play to his heart’s content knowing that there’s 4 players behind of him who will be taking care of the defensive duties compared toonly the 2 within the 4-2-3-1A. Patterns are always crucial which is why every player in question will be important to have within your XI, with the only change being a player who has the capability to operate as a ‘B.P.D’ since Foddas simply has an amazing knack of making delightful off the ball runs when in central positions in order to get unto the ball and score or create for himselfWhen it comes to the Englishman in a designated front 2, expect him to want that all too important freedom to shift across the front line and into the midfield to collect the ball or even make decoy runs in order to open space for teammates in better positions on the field.
A fella in the backline who can spray it around will come in handy, a boroading ‘Wingback’ with batteries in his lungs will also be helpful, aM(C) orchestrator pulling the strings to ensure that Phil and co. are being fed cannot be underestimated, while a big lad up front bullying the opposition’s defenders can potentially form a Batman and Robin type relationship with Phil (don’t ask us which is which… 😶 😅)We have the option of having Foddas as your lone F(C) up front in a ‘Deep-lying Forward’ role if you were to consider giving that a go which would basically mean that he tries to make a lot of selfless runs for his teammates to get into better positions. The Englishman isn’t your traditional type of ‘D.L.F’ since he was never that player who always seeked to play a final ball for his teammates (which is something the likes of a Griezmann, a Messi, or a Firmino would do had they been playing in the same position), so the players outwide are quite optional but we have chosen to use an ‘Explosive Winger’ who will provide the width that will cause the opposition’s defence to have to spread across the backline which will open up gaps for Foddas to do his thing. We will also need a ‘B.W.M’ to drop back closer to the defenders in order for Phil to collect the ball in the midfield, a ‘Playmaker’ who will be the main provider of that killer creativity, and we also have a ‘Floating Advanced Playmaker’ who could be placed within the midfield since Phil loves to have players to bounce off of, but any ‘Box to Box’ or ‘General Midfielder’ could also be used based on your personal Managerial preference.
Note: Looking at the above team we came to a realization that we should’ve also placed a ‘B.P.D’ within the backline as Phillip will constantly make off the ball runs despite his ‘D.L.F’ roleThe only time we’ll need to ponder Phil being used is whenever you choose to play him up front alone as your ‘D.L.F’… Other than that scenario, Phil should stay AS FAR AWAY from being used as a playmaker as much as possible since he simply isn’t that type of player and it will be a waste of his skills
So far we’ve went through most of the newly crowned SM Superstars with as much precision as a KDB pass, and we will end it all coming up next as we have another trip to Italy awaiting. Already got our tickets too… 🎫 😄
The Soccermanager Experience 