Phil-good factor a boost for pal Joel
JOEL LATIBEAUDIERE and Phil Foden grew up together in the Manchester City academy and shared one of the proudest moments of their career.
Latibeaudiere wore the captain’s armband as Foden inspired England Under-17s to World Cup glory in 2017, a side managed by Steve Cooper, now the Swansea manager.
The pair went their separate ways last summer as Latibeaudiere joined Swansea on a permanent basis and reunited with Cooper.
Tonight, the defender’s journey goes full circle as he takes on Foden and his former club in the FA Cup fifth round.
Latibeaudiere said: “It’s a game against the best team in England at the minute, but it will be a bit weird seeing the blue shirts and me playing against them.
“It wasn’t tough [leaving City] because I was thinking about my own career and I knew I had to get out, really.
“I wasn’t going to get a chance there and I had to play and make my own way.
“When Swansea came in I was over the moon
TOP TEAM: The pair lift the U17 World Cup because I know some of the staff and I know a lot of players who have already played here that only had good things to say. It just felt like the right move.”
While Latibeaudiere opted to leave City in search of first-team football, Foden’s decision to stick with his hometown club has paid off.
“I’ve got a lot of memories with him on and off the pitch,” said Latibeaudiere of Foden. “Seeing where he is now is unbelievable.
“Deciding to stay at Man City and working his way into the team, he’s done unbelievably well.
“Even last season I thought he deserved more minutes than he got but when you think about the players they have, it’s tough.
“This season he’s getting the minutes he deserves and it’s great to see him in the team and playing well.
“You saw him at the weekend, playing against the champions, and he ran the show, he was the best player on the pitch.”
LEEDS skipper Liam Cooper says Patrick Bamford deserves his success because he has worked so hard to achieve it.
Bamford, 27, scored his 100th career goal in Leeds’ 2-0 win over Crystal Palace and the in-form striker is enjoying his best season.
The former Chelsea forward has silenced his critics with 12 Premier League goals and five assists and Cooper said: “He’s flying and we see it every day in training.
“I’m delighted for him but he’s got there through hard work and hopefully he will continue to do what he’s been doing because he’s been unbelievable for us.”
Marcelo Bielsa’s side are now 10th, and centre-half Cooper said: “We want to finish as high as we can.We’re under no illusion about how difficult it is. Our target at the start of the season was to stay in the league and hopefully we can do that.”
Jack Harrison, who scored Leeds’ opening goal against Palace, added: As a team, we are very ambitious.We always want to push ourselves to keep breaking barriers.”