Leading from the Back: When Steph trained with a teenage Foden | OneFootball

Today’s Leading from the Back extract is all about two Club legends going toe-to-toe on the training pitch… Steph Houghton and Phil Foden!

The Club has been granted access to publish excerpts from Steph’s autobiography, with our former skipper having already reflected on her move to City in 2014 and on potential coaching opportunities with Pep Guardiola.

Our legendary former captain’s book was released on Thursday 7 November and is available to purchase in all major bookshops as well as the City Store.

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We go back to 2014 again today, where our former skipper was one of five players training full-time in the initial months after our relaunch, with the rest of the team then joining after work commitments for a pitch session.

It meant that she, as well as fellow professionals Toni Duggan, Jill Scott, Karen Bardsley and Izzy Christiansen, would maintain their sharpness by taking part in sessions alongside Manchester City’s Under-18s on a Monday.

It was here that Houghton first saw the emerging talent of a young Foden.

Now a household name across world football, even at 14 or 15 years old our former skipper admits the England international felt destined for the top of the game.

Steph also reflects on the important standards that were expected of City’s players off the pitch, and the small details which she still believes are essential in creating not just good footballers but good people as well.

Read the full extract below…

“Even walking into the training venue, you could see that the standards were high. There were lots of rules. We were told how to behave as Manchester City players. You had to have your socks pulled up, your shirt tucked in. Every time you went into the canteen or the office and you saw someone, you had to high-five them, give them a fist bump or say good morning.

“We even had a meeting where they outlined what was expected of us. I thought that was brilliant. We couldn’t really go in and make up our own rules. This was their building, and they were one of the top academies in the country. We learned from them, we abided by their rules and that did us no harm. In fact, there are things that I won’t forget, should I ever go into management. Like your water bottle at the side of the pitch – it had to be standing up and in place. If you had to take your jumper off, it had to be folded on the side so everything was tidy. It was smart. We were ready to train.

“Obviously, there were other rules, such as being on time and respecting your coaches. When you were in the gym you had to make sure you put everything away. Don’t leave any bars out, don’t leave any dumbbells out. You leave it as you find it, that kind of thing. Once you’re in an environment where you’ve got a lot of young players coming in on a lot of money, I think it’s important you have these rules and it was good for us to fit in. They had us training with the Under-18s on Mondays, which was an eye-opener. Jason Wilcox, who is now at Manchester United, was the manager and he gave us some really hard sessions. It made no difference that we were women, there was a real respect there.

“Some of the talent they had in that building was incredible. There was a kid in there, I think he was fourteen or fifteen, called Phil Foden. Even then he would run rings around me. All the lads were amazing. They were respectful, I think because of what we’d achieved with England. That’s what I loved about City: you weren’t looked down upon because you were female. It was just people viewing you in terms of what you’d achieved and the person that you were. Jason was very good with the boys, that they would always be humble. They would always come and say hello. But when it got to training, there were no prisoners. It was full contact, and it was competitive, and that made me improve so much.

“For the women, technically we were probably on the same level as them, but they were a lot faster. So that meant that we had to move the ball quicker. We had to learn to get into position earlier. And it gave us a bit of a challenge to be able to keep up with them. Phil – I mean, you could tell he was going to be a superstar, just by the way he moved, really. He glided across the pitch and his touch – everyone says that about him now, his touch – but his dribbling, his turning, his technique. He was also the first one on the pitch practising, playing keepy- ups, playing it off the wall, playing with whoever was there, and you’d have to fight to get him off the pitch. When he was in possession – and bear in mind, you’ve got people like Tosin Adarabioyo, who is six foot and Phil is shorter than me – he would give as good as he got. With Phil, you could tell he just loved the game and had really good coaches around him to be able to help him on his way. For us to be a part of that was pretty special.

“The good thing about City was that no matter who you got coached by, the principles were still the same, just possibly said in a different way. Those principles were clear. You need to be technically really good. You need to take pride in your passing. Your touch needed to be spot on. You needed to understand the patterns of play and have respect for everybody else’s positions. But, most importantly, you needed to control everything. Whether that’s when we have the ball or when we don’t have the ball, we need to make sure we are in control. And you have to play good, attractive football.

WATCH: The Last Game: Steph Houghton

"I feel as though that was my first time I got properly coached in the sense of tactics and patterns. What was expected of my position. Fine details, like giving a little bit of depth to players that you’re passing to, to make it harder for the opposition. Honestly, the amount we learned in that first year was absolutely crazy. We played the Under 18s every Monday until we started to play friendlies. We also did a few sessions with the Under 14s and there was a kid called Cole Palmer who stood out. He and Foden were the ones the coaches always spoke about.

“Both of them played in exactly the same positions then as they do now. They were both absolutely ridiculous. And don’t get me wrong, it was so competitive. The team that got beaten had to go out and run, so you didn’t want that to be you. They were mixed teams, which was good: I think we would have done OK against the lads, but it was good for us to play with different players and have a bit of competitiveness. It set you up for a great week of training. You were so tired after it.”

The next extract of Leading from the Back will be available to view on mancity.com and the official Man City app on Monday.