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Player Watch: Juan Foyth

allpaths

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2014
3,174
8,381
I dont understand why so many posters think he'll be a conservative fullback, when he is already ultra progressive as a centerback.

Fully believe he's going to be a great FB and it will do wonders for his develop as a CB in the future.
 

Timberwolf

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2008
10,328
50,217
I think he has a ton of potential at RB. He's deceptively good going forward - actually reminds me a little of Dembele in the way he manages to beat a man with little more than a shrug of his shoulder and a sudden burst. He's also naturally a much better 1v1 defender than Trippier - he's just instinctively good at reading players.

He is also a risk taker and he WILL make some big mistakes. This is something we'll just have to accept and hope he can cut out with experience - call it an 'Aurier Tax'. I'd rather him make those mistakes at RB than CB and I think this will be good for his devlopment but we have to be patient and accept that opposition teams will target him.
 

werty

Well-Known Member
Aug 8, 2005
25,074
26,310
If he's asked to play high and wide he'll fail miserably. If he plays like a third CB when we're in possession then I'm confident he'll do well.
 

pedrodelawasp

Morton season ticket holder, Spurs fan from afar
Jan 14, 2019
1,446
2,449
Best case scenario he's a more offensive Branislav Ivanovic?

I was about to say "and taller" then googled them both. Turns out Ivanovic is about 3" taller! [according to Wikipedia, at least].

Interesting comparison in any case.
 

BC87X

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2012
71
342
That could be. I was thinking similar to a Thomas Meunier? Decent enough pace, solid with the ball at his feet and just a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none type.

Both Meunier and Ivanovic have/had a very physical aspect to their game to cope both defensively and offensively, Foyth doesn't like at all. He is still in my opinion too small and will need to bulk up pretty soon, he looks like a child compared to our other CB's.
 

aliyid

Well-Known Member
Dec 28, 2004
6,944
19,927
I dont understand why so many posters think he'll be a conservative fullback, when he is already ultra progressive as a centerback.
My take is that he’s shown a lot of promise as a CB with clear composure in possession and decent close control to get himself out of trouble.

The problem comes that playing FB for us requires a very very different set of skills. The way we play you need to be ready to explode and sprint into space as soon as we turn over possession. This lets us stretch the other team while being able to force their wide players back into a more cautious mindset.

Every time we’ve tried Foyth at FB so far you can see that his first priority is to cover the space behind him and by the time he makes a run the opportunity has been lost and they’ve set into their defensive shape.

Can’t remember the game last year but Eriksen was screaming at him to make runs for a full 20mins but he never responded and was always playing on the back foot. Affected the whole shape of the team so if he is to be given a run at FB he needs to change the way he plays.

It’s no surprise as he’s always been a CB and it’s essential as a CB but as a FB you need to be as quick in the mind as you are in your feet and Foyth doesn’t have that mindset (not to say he can’t be taught).

The tackling side worries me a bit too. He has a tendency to dive in which (when playing against a tricky winger) can be very risky. He’s given a lot of leeway as a 4th choice CB but if he starts being viewed as a main option for FB he will quickly frustrate and be judged by the fan base.

TL: DR - promising CB but hasn’t yet shown he can be a decent FB
 

BringBack_leGin

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2004
27,719
54,929
Ivanovic, Corluka, Maldini, both Vertonghen and Alderweireld for Belgium for most of their international careers, Thurman, Abidal... all very successful at left back and all bigger, bulkier and no more agile than Foyth.

The only question mark over Foyths ability to play there will be mentally, but he’s of an age where that side of his game is evolving, so there’s every reason to have faith if Pochettino believes it will work.
 

JUSTINSIGNAL

Well-Known Member
Jul 10, 2008
15,980
48,498
My take is that he’s shown a lot of promise as a CB with clear composure in possession and decent close control to get himself out of trouble.

The problem comes that playing FB for us requires a very very different set of skills. The way we play you need to be ready to explode and sprint into space as soon as we turn over possession. This lets us stretch the other team while being able to force their wide players back into a more cautious mindset.

Every time we’ve tried Foyth at FB so far you can see that his first priority is to cover the space behind him and by the time he makes a run the opportunity has been lost and they’ve set into their defensive shape.

Can’t remember the game last year but Eriksen was screaming at him to make runs for a full 20mins but he never responded and was always playing on the back foot. Affected the whole shape of the team so if he is to be given a run at FB he needs to change the way he plays.

It’s no surprise as he’s always been a CB and it’s essential as a CB but as a FB you need to be as quick in the mind as you are in your feet and Foyth doesn’t have that mindset (not to say he can’t be taught).

The tackling side worries me a bit too. He has a tendency to dive in which (when playing against a tricky winger) can be very risky. He’s given a lot of leeway as a 4th choice CB but if he starts being viewed as a main option for FB he will quickly frustrate and be judged by the fan base.

TL: DR - promising CB but hasn’t yet shown he can be a decent FB

He hasn’t always been a CB - he as an attacking midfielder up to the age of 16/17. His conversion to centre back has been fairly recent.

With the technical skills of a attacking mid, awareness of a centre back, good pace and willingness I really don’t understand the concern.

Trent Alex Arnold is a converted centre mid, Sergio Ramos was forced to play full back early in his Real Madrid career, Danny Rose was a utility midfielder. There are numerous other successful examples. Positioning is something that can be coached - especially when we Poch the full back whisperer is the one doing the coaching. Foyth has all the raw attributes to be a real success in my opinion.
 

Spurs_Bear

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2009
17,094
22,286
He hasn’t always been a CB - he as an attacking midfielder up to the age of 16/17. His conversion to centre back has been fairly recent.

With the technical skills of a attacking mid, awareness of a centre back, good pace and willingness I really don’t understand the concern.

Trent Alex Arnold is a converted centre mid, Sergio Ramos was forced to play full back early in his Real Madrid career, Danny Rose was a utility midfielder. There are numerous other successful examples. Positioning is something that can be coached - especially when we Poch the full back whisperer is the one doing the coaching. Foyth has all the raw attributes to be a real success in my opinion.

Really good. The Poch factor is overlooked by many I fear.
 

JayB

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2011
6,652
26,046
I've come around to the idea. All he's lacking is experience to be able to cut out the mistakes. Getting games in a position where he's less exposed than at CB will aid his development greatly and it allows us to paper over the cracks in the squad in a summer where we've left ourselves too much business to do.
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
19,232
57,388
He hasn’t always been a CB - he as an attacking midfielder up to the age of 16/17. His conversion to centre back has been fairly recent.

With the technical skills of a attacking mid, awareness of a centre back, good pace and willingness I really don’t understand the concern.

Trent Alex Arnold is a converted centre mid, Sergio Ramos was forced to play full back early in his Real Madrid career, Danny Rose was a utility midfielder. There are numerous other successful examples. Positioning is something that can be coached - especially when we Poch the full back whisperer is the one doing the coaching. Foyth has all the raw attributes to be a real success in my opinion.

We have to trust Poch on this. He has a great knack for getting players to adapt and I think the run outs at RB for Foyth last season were an opportunity Poch took to preview him there. People question why KWP was overlooked but Poch already knew how good he is and is apparently pleased with him. Maybe that is some sort of explanation for being overlooked so I expect him to get minutes as well. Foyth to RB is, IMO, an easier transition than Dier to CM and Poch saw something there that none of us did. I think if it comes off it will enable us to concentrate spending on higher quality in other areas and it will also give Foyth the game time he needs for us to be able to hang onto him.
 

aliyid

Well-Known Member
Dec 28, 2004
6,944
19,927
He hasn’t always been a CB - he as an attacking midfielder up to the age of 16/17. His conversion to centre back has been fairly recent.

With the technical skills of a attacking mid, awareness of a centre back, good pace and willingness I really don’t understand the concern.

Trent Alex Arnold is a converted centre mid, Sergio Ramos was forced to play full back early in his Real Madrid career, Danny Rose was a utility midfielder. There are numerous other successful examples. Positioning is something that can be coached - especially when we Poch the full back whisperer is the one doing the coaching. Foyth has all the raw attributes to be a real success in my opinion.
Interesting, I didn’t know he used to be an AM, was that in youth football or senior?

I hope and trust that Poch can work his magic but I’m just going on what I saw last season (y)
 

wrd

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2014
13,603
58,005


I'm curious if anybody has knowledge on how the Man City inverted fullback system works tactically or can point me to an article?

I found this:



But was curious of the forums opinions.
 
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