Manchester Metropolis’s distress continues.
In Tuesday’s heavyweight Champions League conflict in opposition to Actual Madrid, the Sky Blues appeared set for an announcement victory over the reigning European champions, main 2-1 with lower than 5 minutes to play.
Erling Braut Håland the scorer of each, lashing residence the opener having been expertly teed-up by Joško Gvardiol, earlier than changing a late penalty to revive their benefit late on.
Nevertheless, a poor kick out from Ederson led to a los Blancos equaliser earlier than quickly after, proper on the loss of life, one other defensive mix-up led to Jude Bellingham poking him a dramatic last-gasp winner, silencing a shell-shocked Etihad.
As famous by OptaJoe on Twitter, that is the fifth time the Residents have misplaced a match this season wherein they’ve led, as many as throughout the earlier 4 seasons mixed.
Pep Guardiola’s staff have reached the Champions League quarter-finals, no less than, in every of the final seven seasons however, forward of subsequent Wednesday’s journey to the Bernabéu, that streak seems unlikely to proceed.
So, as Man Metropolis’s struggles go on, consideration has turned to the gamers Guardiola has allowed to depart the membership in latest seasons, with one specifically outperforming any of Man Metropolis’s present midfielders.
Phil Foden’s continued struggles
Simply final season, Phil Foden picked up each the PFA Gamers’ Participant of the 12 months and Soccer Writers’ Affiliation Footballer of the 12 months awards, with teammate Rodri claiming “he has the flexibility to be the very best English participant in historical past”.
Now although, as famous by James Ducker of the Telegraph, his targets and help numbers have “fallen off dramatically”, starting the evening on the bench in opposition to Actual Madrid on Tuesday, albeit he was launched on the half-hour mark, successful the late penalty when Dani Ceballos clattered into him.
So, let’s examine Foden’s statistics this season to the earlier three campaigns.
Phil Foden season-by-season comparability | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Statistics | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Appearances | 45 | 48 | 53 | 31 |
Minutes | 3,184 | 2,660 | 4,276 | 2,181 |
Targets per 90 | 0.40 | 0.51 | 0.57 | 0.41 |
Assists per 90 | 0.31 | 0.27 | 0.25 | 0.21 |
xG per 90 | 0.43 | 0.28 | 0.35 | 0.28 |
xA per 90 | 0.28 | 0.24 | 0.27 | 0.23 |
Targets – xG | -1 | +5.1 | +10.4 | +3.8 |
Pictures per 90 | 2.52 | 2.06 | 3.37 | 3.15 |
Pictures on the right track % | 40% | 52.3% | 42.9% | 32.9% |
Take-on success % | 58.9% | 49.5% | 49.2% | 41.2% |
Statistics courtesy of FBref.com and Transfermarkt | ||||
Because the desk outlines, Foden’s metrics this season thus far are nearly universally decrease than the earlier three campaigns, together with his targets and assists per 90 each considerably down, as are his photographs on the right track and take-on success percentages, underlining his insecurity.
Earlier this season, Foden acknowledged he was affected by “burnout” in addition to nursing “just a few niggles” following his exertions for membership and nation, and he’s at the moment being outperformed by one other Man Metropolis academy graduate who would definitely be an asset to the Sky Blues proper now, had they not let him go.
The Man Metropolis academy star how thriving within the Premier League
Alex Brotherton of BBC Sport posits if it is doable for a 22-year-old to be described as a “journeyman”?
Effectively, if anybody matches that description at such a younger age, it’s Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers.
That is as a result of, after spending nearly all of his youth profession at West Bromwich Albion, Rogers has been on the books of Manchester Metropolis, Lincoln Metropolis, Bournemouth, Blackpool and Middlesbrough, earlier than being purchased from Boro by Aston Villa for a reported £15m little over a yr in the past.
His performances in Claret and Blue have earned rave opinions, with Ryan Benson of Opta’s the Analyst labelling him a “rising star” whereas, as famous by Toby Cudworth of 90 Minutes, he grew to become the primary participant in Champions League historical past to attain twice within the opening 5 minutes of a match in January, due to a quick-fire double in opposition to Celtic.
On Monday’s Guardian Soccer Weekly podcast, Max Rushden acknowledged that the best way Rogers performs is sort of “Lampardian”, including that he would possibly truly be a “extra rounded participant” than Frank Lampard ever was, whereas Jonathan Wilson additionally praised the Villa midfielder, calling him an “unbelievable expertise”.
Rogers’ winner in opposition to Tottenham within the FA Cup on Sunday took his tally to 11 for the season, yet one more than Foden’s ten targets, with Haaland the one present Man Metropolis participant who has bagged extra targets to this point.
The midfielder spent 4 seasons on the Sky Blues’ books between 2019 and 2023, showing 37 instances at youth degree however by no means that includes in a senior matchday squad, earlier than being bought to Boro for simply £1.5m. Contemplating he is now rated at £67m by CIES Soccer Observatory, it is protected to say this might show to be the largest mistake the membership have made in latest instances.
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