Review of Phil Foden for England Under 21

Foden has Poise and Grace belying his Age

Back in 1987/88 Stockport County were languishing in the lower reaches of the old Fourth Division, and somehow they attracted the ageing Frank Worthington to their side. By this time Frank was nearly 40 years old. He had started his career back in 1966 and had probably enjoyed a heyday in the 1970s as a unique maverick talent. I remember going to watch Worthington at Stockport County in that half a season he played (where incidentally he scored 6 goals in 18 League games) and he was a sublime talent. He had poise and grace on the ball and there were moments where his vision alone rendered other players somewhat obsolete;their frantic machinations like some cloying treacle from which he stood aloof.

Last night Phil Foden played his first game for England Under 21s against Andorra and for parts of the match his performance reminded me of that time I saw Worthington. Not because of any particular similarity in their style of play or physical attributes, but because of those moments where Foden seemed a class apart, not just from the opposition but also from many of the players on his own team.

Foden played the whole match wearing the number 10 shirt but wandered with some freedom around the pitch in a search for the ball. He wanted the ball at every opportunity. Wanted to make it work and to create opportunities. He sought to turn the ball over at every chance. Looked to rotate possession and split apart the Andorra defence. Foden looked at every moment like a player crafted by Guardiola.

There was his sublime confidence on the ball. His low centre of gravity allows him almost balletic movement, to change direction and move with precision. At times it was apparent he was a different class from some of the players on the team. He was anticipating return passes some of these players were not good enough to make, probably expecting too much given he regularly trains with David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne.

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There were some moments in the game where players seemed to overlook Foden, the space he had created and positions he was in. They seemed to prefer to pass into the crowd, a general long ball rather than precision and for a while I wondered whether there was some kind of Everton keep ball going on, which Foden was simply not part of.

But Foden did manage to exert some control on this game, being an integral part of at least one of the goals and appearing in the build up play to some of the others. At just 18 years of age – this was a performance of some maturity.

England ran out 7:0 winners in this game, clearly outclassing the opposition. Whilst Foden did not get the goal his overall performance deserved he did however stand out as one of the players who looked capable of performing at a higher level. If anything, the poor standard of the opposition tended to glorify the simple direct work by England’s more industrious players rather than provide a platform for skill and guile.

So, a confident and classy performance from Foden who seems to be excelling at every challenge placed in front of him so far this season, which has seen him star in the Community Shield and contribute significantly in the Carabao Cup victory over Oxford United. I have no reason to disbelieve the development will stall. It will continue at this pace over coming months and Guardiola will then find he has a real selection headache and rather than moving to secure first team football – Foden stands at the cross roads of achieving success by following a much harder path and dislodging genuinely World Class players from their positions. if anything, rather than a lack of desire, it shows a real belief in your own abilities and courage and determination to achieve what is possible. Get ready Manchester City fans because Foden may be standing on the edge of the impossible.

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