Why would Foden leave Pep?
AFtEr Manchester City’s win against Feyenoord this week, a studio discussion over the future of Phil Foden concluded that the best thing for his development would be a loan move to a Championship club.
Harry redknapp and Martin Keown were certainly in favour and no doubt will not be alone. Many professional observers feel it is better to play matches, even inferior ones, rather than wait for an opportunity at an elite club.
Yet, given what we have seen of City this season, why would any young player wish to move out of the orbit of Pep Guardiola? Indeed, if we could hand over all of England’s best youth players to learn football his way, the future would be instantly brighter.
Guardiola has been including Foden in his first-team plans since the summer, and talking him up to anyone who would listen since the middle of last season.
the problem is that eliteclub rosters are now so big that teenage prospects must be ever more patient. Andres Iniesta was on the bench for Barcelona at the Champions League final in 2006 at the age of 22; thiago Motta was beside him at 23. At another club players of their talent would have been long established by then.
So it may take several years for us to see our fill of Foden; years when, yes, he could have amassed 100 games in the Championship. Yet at what cost to his development? Championship clubs are perhaps the most overworked in football; they play 46 league games and are often strong enough to progress through the early rounds of cups. Leeds played a 53- game season in 2016-17, simply by getting to the fifth round of the League Cup.
Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday schedules are commonplace. When would a Championship manager, however committed, get to work on Foden’s development the way Guardiola can; when would Foden get the chance to learn first- hand from mentors as gifted as David Silva or Kevin De Bruyne? And after two years at, say, Derby County, would Foden return to Manchester City in any way prepared for the challenges of elite football?
He might be stronger and a little battle- hardened, but surely he can have those experiences in the EFL Cup, the FA Cup and Europe?
Guardiola didn’t let him down this week. Even with the score tied 0-0, he still brought Foden on against Feyenoord with 16 minutes remaining. He now knows what it feels like to beat the champions of Holland. the learning has begun — and will continue under Guardiola. Why go to night school if you’re already enrolled at oxford?