Leon Osman has claimed that Manchester City have a player who is the fastest in the Premier League with the ball at his feet.
There is a difference between being able to bypass players in a footrace like Kyle Walker and Jeremy Doku can effortlessly do and be able to do so with the ball.
For instance, Kevin De Bruyne might have never been the quickest during his time at Manchester City. But when given the ball, De Bruyne can be rapid and difficult to stop.
Osman says City player is the fastest with the ball in the Premier League
According to Leon Osman, that player is Manchester City’s very own Phil Foden.
Osman said on Premier League Productions show Generation xG: “The fact he sees this sort of space to drive into. He can probably accelerate with the ball faster than anybody else in the Premier League and he’s scored a lot of goals from distance this season.”
Osman makes an intriguing point about Foden
In our view, Leon Osman has made an interesting observation about Phil Foden.
Foden’s quickness when running with the ball is perhaps why when he is dribbling, opposition players find it difficult to stop him in his tracks.
The £225,000-a-week man’s speed over short distances in particular makes it seemingly easy for him to go past a series of defenders.
Several other players in the Premier League are quicker than Phil Foden.
But players like Kyle Walker and Micky van de Ven, who are incredibly quick do not have the ball control the 23-year-old does.
As a result, they are unable to dart past players like Foden has done since he was a teenager.
Phil Foden perhaps does not put this special attribute to use as much as he did as a young player.
But that is presumably due to Foden’s maturation as a player and his understanding of allowing City to dominate possession.
Manchester City in particular are a collective far more than a team full of individuals as opposed to many other teams in England.