Some of us have been posting about him for the past 12 months+....

Stephen Tudor on Phil Foden:

https://www.unibet.co.uk/blog/football/premier-league/why-hyping-up-manchester-city-wonderkid-phil-foden-is-the-right-thing-to-do-1.956737

But....as I wrote earlier. When Pep thinks the time is right, he'll be starting his first PL game. But how exciting is this kid?

Don't know what it is about these Stephen Tudor links all I get is a bloody shopping page called viglink open. Had this trouble before.

I'll post the article shortly.

Why hyping up Manchester City wonderkid Phil Foden is the right thing to do

We are right to talk up England's successful kids, mollycoddling them is not going to help their development

Amidst the euphoria that followed England’s lion cubs bossing the Brazilians in last week’s u-17 World Cup semi-final, the Daily Mail plastered a large photograph onto their back page showing 17-year-old Phil Foden surrounded by four opponents. The image evoked the famous shot of Maradona about to leave a litany of Belgium defenders trailing in his wake and the clear intimation was that the traditional role of the respective nations here had been reversed. It was now the turn of the South Americans to be spellbound by England’s magic; to be flummoxed by our creativity for a change. The accompanying write-up described Foden’s close control as ‘wizardry’.

Three days later the Stockport teenager was voted player of the tournament as his two goals and mesmerizing display against Spain in the final secured England their second World Cup triumph this year at youth level. Over the course of the three weeks in Kolkata and Margao, the Manchester City prodigy had been instrumental in almost all of his team’s best endeavours, showing surety in his passing options and twinkle-toed flashes of arrogance, as he announced himself several times over on the worldwide stage as a superstar in the making. Naturally this prompted unbridled acclaim back home and further afield.

Fox Sports commentator Brenton Speed declared that he was ‘freakin’ unbelievable’, a Spanish writer long scholared in Barcelona’s La Masia admitted he was ‘speechless’, while respected journalist Tim Vickery tweeted – ‘Blimey! This Phil Foden really is exceptional’. Gary Lineker effusively singled him out from the many impressive contributions made by England’s most promising kids in India, while on co-commentary duties for the final, Trevor Sinclair was particularly blown away by ‘the way he manipulates the ball. His zest and enthusiasm’.  When a debate surfaced online about whether Foden will be given sufficient opportunities to break through at City, given their array of ace attacking players, the Scouted Football Twitter account insisted he was ‘the biggest guarantee since Neymar’. Even the official Manchester City account dispensed with restraint publishing a picture of the midfielder along with the words ‘The sky is the limit’.

This welter of praise follows Pep Guardiola’s ebullient words this summer when Foden participated in a handful of City’s pre-season friendlies. After an all-Manchester affair in Houston, Texas when the teenage debutant ran rings around Paul Pogba and boasted a 98% pass accuracy, Guardiola said, “You are the lucky guys who saw the first game, for the first team of Manchester City, for this guy. It’s a long time since I saw something like this. His performance was another level. He’s 17 years old, he’s a City player, he grew up in the academy, he loves the club, he’s a City fan and for us he’s a gift.”

If reading all of the above makes you feel somewhat uncomfortable given that this is a lavish amount of hype to burden onto the slender shoulders of a kid still to make his full club debut, then I heartily respect the sentiment. I heartily respect it but you’re wrong. You’re wrong because Pandora’s Box has been opened now. The cat is out of the bag. Phil Foden is a rare talent of a stature that rarely comes along domestically and better yet he is presently right in that sweet spot between proving beyond doubt his exciting credentials and going on to execute them on a weekly basis throughout a distinguished senior career. I would even argue that now is precisely when to laud him to the rafters because the time for cossetting and mollycoddling is over – that was a year ago when Lineker, Sinclair, Vickery and the rest were fully aware that in Foden Manchester City possessed an incredible kid but chose not to publicise the fact. Because back then he was sixteen and raw: now he has exhibited his immense potential against the elite, become a World Cup winner, and is on the precipice of entering a profession where he will be judged stringently or showered with plaudits each and every weekend.
With that in mind, I would argue that throwing pressure and expectation his way at this juncture of his development is exactly what he needs.

It has been surmised by those who know the youngster well, that he will be inspired by the recognition and not go under nor allow it to go to his head. A down-to-earth lad who is assertive only in his ability but off the pitch remains grounded. Foden appears to have the temperament to take the recent hysteria in his stride. It helps too that his mentor at the club is David Silva, who won’t only be teaching his training ground pupil how to shake off markers but also the temptations of ego.

Either way though, we have to know; for his sake more than ours, it has to be sink or swim as he leaves the secure environs of academy football and enters the demanding world of headlines, internet trolls and knee-jerk pundits. Sparing a young player of a constant treadmill of games in order to avoid early wear and tear of a developing body is one thing. Protecting him from the necessity of mental fortitude is quite another. Let’s not forget too that Wayne Rooney was an England international by Foden’s present age, while Michael Owen was a month away from scoring his first senior goal for Liverpool.

Yet it should not be under-estimated what is at stake for Foden to succeed. A local boy blessed with a prodigious talent, his progression into City’s first team would singularly justify their prized academy, while silencing the critics who claim City don’t give their home-grown products a chance. On the slender shoulders of a kid still to make his full debutl, lays the investment of a club’s dream then but if acknowledgement of this onerous responsibility leads to understandable empathy it should not include public parenting.

Phil Foden is the next big thing, the next big hope, and it’s in his own best interests that we suitably trumpet that fact, if for no other reason that he’s probably getting a huge buzz at present from collecting the newspaper clippings and making a name for himself. So, well-intentioned protectors be gone. A sense of perspective be damned. Its right that we hype and that can be extended to the other exhilarating young prospects coming through the national ranks right now too. England is only 48 hours into creating European history by becoming the first country to win two World Cups in the same calendar year at youth level and already the handwringing has begun. Will they be given a chance at their clubs? If they’re good enough and strong enough in character, yes they will. Are we putting too much expectation onto them? Absolutely not and wrapping them in cotton wool only serves to undermine the first concern anyway.

Let’s talk them up and see what they’re made of. The best will thrive and amaze. The rest will earn a very healthy whack at a Championship club. If that sounds harsh so be it: these are precious talents but it would be completely counterintuitive to treat them preciously.