Saturday 29th May 2021
Foden and a touch of Messi
The teenager Maradona smiles at
Needed by David
This season, Manchester City’s Phil Foden is maturing into one of the best young players in the world. Coach Guardiola is certain: The teen miracle weapon will soon rule Europe. After a Champions League triumph, the introverted Foden would only go fishing for one round.
Almost two weeks ago, a touch of Diego Maradona wafted through the British county of East Sussex. Of course, this 20-year-old English teenager is not dribbling around as many players as the Argentine once did in his solo goal of the century against England in 1986. Of course, it’s only a game in the Premier League and not a World Cup quarter-finals. Of course, the elegance and finish of the two gates are not completely similar. And yet: What Phil Foden of Manchester City is doing against Brighton & Hove Albion at Falmer Stadium would have put a smile on the face of perhaps the best footballer of all time.
Foden captured the ball deep in his own half. City is withdrawn and the opponent has advanced far. The child prodigy cleverly shields the playground equipment on the left outer line, dances a few slow steps with an opponent in lockstep – only to ignite the turbo out of nowhere at the center line. From zero to what feels like 100 in two seconds. With the ball he is faster than Brighton’s Ben White, who tries unsuccessfully to foul.
In superspeed, Foden races through the entire opposing half, only on the sixteenth does another defender manage to catch up with him. But the city striker simply puts the ball far past the approaching opponent, sprints after it and shoots it precisely and flat with his strong left foot into the right corner of the goal. The finish with a pick is as quick and clever as his sprint, the goalkeeper can no longer react. Number 47 (a homage to his grandfather Walter, who died at that age) turns jubilantly.
“In the same category as Lionel Messi”
Phil Foden comes from the Manchester area, was a ball boy and was trained at the club’s own academy from the age of ten. The club discovered him when he was six. A city fan since childhood, he is now one of the best in Pep Guardiola’s elite squad in his younger years – and one who is hoped that he will finally be able to shoot England to the first title since 1966. As the first player under the age of 21, he scored 30 goals for a Guardiola team. Only as the third player of this age did he reach the knockout phase of the Champions League four times (after Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott).
The superlatives around the youngster don’t stop at all. Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand even lifted him above Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé after reaching the premier class final and described the child prodigy as the “best young player in the world”. Dutch football icon Ruud Gullit recently told the BBC: “He’s in the same category as Lionel Messi.” Even if the comparison is far too early, Foden’s talent and ability are as close to Messi as an Englishman has never done before him.
That may also be a reason why start coach Guardiola is very fond of the offensive artist who turned 21 on Friday. Why he let himself be carried away to call him the greatest talent that he would have ever seen. But also the other way around, only praise can be heard in the highest tones: “I watched Barcelona as a child, that was unbelievable,” Foden told uefa.com before the final. “I never thought that [Guardiola] times will be my trainer. I used to watch football with my dad and just thought: ‘Wow, what a team and what a coach!’ He tried to bring this football here and it seems to be working. ”
Fishing instead of partying
“This soccer ball” is made for types of players like Foden. He embodies exactly the things that the Catalan coach loves about football players: At 171 centimeters, he is fast and agile, and technically perfectly trained for all offensive positions (Foden often plays a wrong nine, but in Guardiola’s team the offensive is postponed anyway fluid way), intelligent and extremely dangerous. An instinctive footballer as well. A street footballer. As a child, he is said to have kicked alone for hours in a concrete parking lot near his grandmother’s house, and is said to still be drawn there when he visits the family. A dribbler who does not show off with umpteen excesses, but rather purposeful tricks combined with a clear and forward-looking precision game – and who is also looking for his teammates.
In the semi-final second leg of the premier class against Paris Saint-Germain, Foden put on the decisive 2-0 for Riyad Mahrez after a one-two with Kevin De Bruyne and a sprint down. Foden was involved in 26 goals (16 goals and ten assists) in all competitive games this season. Only the puller De Bruyne collected two scorer points more at Manchester City. Three championships in four seasons – As a teenager, Foden had more trophies in his closet than many professional footballers in their entire career. Now the largest in the European club business is to follow.
As a child, Foden dreamed of the Champions League. Since his professional debut at the age of 17, he has been working specifically on turning his dream into reality. Talent alone is no longer enough at this level, you need the right attitude. It was only thanks to his work ethic that he was able to fight for a regular place in the superstar group. Instead of partying or playing Playstation, the 21-year-old, who is considered an introvert, prefers to leave fishingto relieve stress. He is said to have a special maturity. Only once did it go wrong, in September of last year. Just 48 hours after his England debut, he was sent home by the national team. Together with Mason Greenwood, he had invited two young women to the hotel and violated the Covid guidelines.
“Phil is City”
Foden apologized. And from then on he only let his performance speak. As always. The youngster has been obsessed with football all his life, and as a child he needed a football to be happy, his mother once said. Even today, he is rarely supposed to run around normally in his house, but rather juggle a ball or tunnel his family members. When he was a youth player in the duty-free shop when he was traveling by air, he did not stock up on sweets but with small balls so that he could practice in his room. Only a few years later it is up to him, among other things, to shoot his childhood love Man City to the first Champions League title in history after an outstanding season. Then the European Championship follows in the summer, with many English hopes weighing on the youngster.
“I don’t think all the attention that surrounds him has ever bothered him and that’s one of his special qualities,” says Mark Allen, former City Academy director who helped Foden get his first professional contract, of his ex-protégé . “As a 20-year-old Phil Foden is just like a 10-year-old. He only plays for fun and for the love of the game.” In addition to the Guardiola football skill set, it is also this perfect mixture of lightness and maturity that makes Foden shine at the highest level of football at such a young age. The Catalan star coach already knew in 2019: “Foden is the only player who cannot be sold under any circumstances. The only one. Not for 500 million euros. Phil is not going anywhere. Phil is City.”
Ahead of today’s final against Chelsea, Foden said: “I approach the final like any other game: smile and see how it goes.” Most of the time things go more than well for the city youngster in the game. Maybe this time Maradona will smile again from above – and Foden takes a quick look up while fishing after the triumph.
.