Our Phil: Five things we learned | OneFootball

Our fantastic new documentary looking at the rise of Phil Foden, is available to watch on CITY+ now.

Made by City Studios, the full-length films the career to date of our homegrown star with interviews from the man himself and those that know him best.

It’s a fascinating watch as we find out some of the factors that helped him on his journey to becoming a Manchester City star.

OUR PHIL DOCUMENTARY | WATCH NOW

Ahead of its release, we look at five things we learned from watching it.

Watch him!

Excitement about Foden’s potential began from an early age with his natural talent giving him a very early edge.

Even coaches from higher age groups would come and watch this thrilling young player that everyone was talking about.

Assistant head of the junior Academy Nick Power says: “It made us all venture over and watch the under-7s sessions so we knew what was going on. There was real excitement about clearly a very special talent and we’re talking about a six-year-old kid!”

That continued throughout his career with director of football Txiki Begiristain making Pep Guardiola aware of him when he joined the Club.

“We prepared some clips of players for Pep to take a look at and let’s say, Phil was maybe the main one,” he says.

Hart of Darkness

Phil was a regular at the Etihad Stadium as a boy, whether it was as a fan or on the occasion he was a mascot when he walked out with winger Martin Petrov.

Academy players are often used as ballboys and there can be the odd occasion when they have a part to play on matchday.

There was the famous moment when Pep Guardiola spoke to Micah Hamilton as a ballboy before he too would go on to make his debut for the first team.

Foden enjoyed the role too, being so close to the senior squad, and revealed he was often given the most pressured position - behind Joe Hart’s goal.

“He was very demanding; he wanted the ball back quickly and they used to put me on that role because they knew I would do the job properly!” he says.

WATCH: Watch now: Our Phil

Family man

Throughout his journey, Phil’s family helped him to flourish.

Despite his huge potential being apparent from a very early age, he never lost his enjoyment of playing the game he loved.

Phil’s family were with him all the way, taking him to training and watching his matches through the Academy age groups.

City fan and blogger Steven McInerney remembers watching the youngster playing at youth level and speaking to his father Phil Senior about his talent.

The pair bumped into each other after Foden’s first team debut as a 17-year-old against Feyenoord when his dad was waiting to give him a lift home, just as he had done throughout his Academy days.

Good Kompany

Moving into the first team environment is not easy for young players is never easy but once Phil joined Pep’s squad he never went back.

Inspirational captain Vincent Kompany was a player that would always look after the young players in the dressing room including a young Phil.

“He just made us feel comfortable,” he recalls. “When I was younger, I was shy and with those big names, I kept quiet for a long time!”

Kompany and Belgium team-mate Kevin De Bruyne said he handled the transition well and was patient and respectful as he waited for his opportunity.

“He was humble and an example of how you break into a first team as a young player,” Kompany says. “He was patient and lucky to have a manager who believed in him.”

He has to be stopped!

From a little boy right up to the present day, there’s a consistent message that Phil simply loves playing football.

Whether it’s kicking a ball against a Stockport end-terrace or staying behind after training to practise shooting, he has to be dragged away.

It doesn’t matter where he is, his joy of the game is clear and that was also apparent when he announced himself on the global stage at the Under-17s World Cup in India.

With a minor injury, Phil missed a training session in the build-up to the tournament but practised by himself on adjoining pitch.

However, he forgot to take off his GPS tracker and the data showed that he had run further by himself than the players in the main group!

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