NAfter all the Manchester City players had already said goodbye to their fans, Phil Foden waved over his colleague Gianluigi Donnarumma. The playmaker of the top English club noticed that a boy in the fan block was holding up a small cardboard sign on which he wanted a jersey from the Italian goalkeeper: “Gigio, can I have a shirt, please?” Foden passed the concern directly to Donnarumma.
This gesture underlined Phil Foden’s importance within the team this season: The boy, who was the first player in Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi era to make it into the professional team despite a number of expensive additions from his own youth, has now become what is called a leading player in Germany.
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Foden also demonstrated that his team can rely on him in the 3-0 win against Crystal Palace on Sunday, which ended up being too much, with City avenging their recent FA Cup final defeat against the Londoners. The Englishman decided the Premier League game with his goal to make it 2-0 (69th minute) – in front of his national coach Thomas Tuchel, who was present. Before and after, fellow striker Erling Haaland scored with a header (41′) and a penalty (89′).
Shortly before the penalty area, Foden received the ball centrally and then sent it into the bottom right corner with a powerful, precise left-footed shot. Foden was “unbelievable” near the penalty area, praised his coach Pep Guardiola – and he emphasized that Foden had the ability like no other to “show this explosion at the right moment”. Guardiola supported Foden, 25, early on and gave him his competitive debut for City at the age of 17.
In this form, Foden could surpass his personal record season
It was Foden’s sixth goal in the last four league games, all of which City won and thereby reduced the gap to league leaders Arsenal to two points. Foden scored almost half of City’s goals during this period and, in a sense, stepped in for Haaland, who had failed to score in two of these games. In this form, Foden could even surpass his personal record season: with seven goals and two assists, he currently has more goal involvements than in his most successful season to date two years ago.
Back in 2023/24, in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne, who had been injured for months, Foden had proven that he could one day succeed him in his role; he was even named the best player in the Premier League that season. But after a total of 69 appearances for club and national team last season, Foden seemed exhausted – like many City players. During this time, Foden spoke of being “burned out” physically and mentally. But now he seems to be following in the powerful footsteps of his midfield colleague De Bruyne, who left the club for Naples on a free transfer in the summer – and what’s more: Foden seems to be building his own identity in City’s game.
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His influence on the team is different than that of De Bruyne. The Belgian was a creative playmaker who particularly shone with assists, while Foden acted as a playmaking goalscorer. This difference can be seen in the personal statistics: Foden recorded a third more goals than assists, while for De Bruyne it was the other way around. Foden’s goal threat, which is primarily based on his remarkable finishing technique from distance, earned him the nickname “Sniper”. Because of this quality, England coach Tuchel sees Foden in the national team more as a complement to striker Harry Kane from FC Bayern, as a so-called false nine.
At the club under Guardiola, the flexible Foden has a different profile: he mostly plays in the half-left midfield position, which means he is also increasingly required to play in defense, which was not one of his strengths in the past. Two years ago, Guardiola once complained that Foden could “move anywhere freely like a bird” on the pitch, but he also had to fulfill “some duties”. After the Palace game, the coach gave a eulogy for the player’s development. The work that Foden did without the ball this time was “one of his best defensive performances ever”.
In fact, Foden appears to be living up to the responsibility that has been given to him following the departure of experienced regular players. He is currently one of the players in the squad who plays the most minutes. Nevertheless, Guardiola still sees room for improvement. The head coach felt that Foden lost the ball too many times against Palace, that he was “in a hurry” and “too anxious” when making decisions, that he had to hold the ball longer and combine more.
Guardiola gave Foden his suggestions for improvement in a lively dialogue on the pitch. The fact that Foden was still on the pitch was because he still had to clarify the matter with Donnarumma and the jersey request. He waited until the keeper had safely delivered the shirt – and then hugged him.
