Man City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany talks to Sports Mole about the importance of Phil Foden and why his role in Pep Guardiola’s side is “absolutely essential” if they are to fight on all fronts once again this season.
Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has talked up the importance of Phil Foden and believes that his role in Pep Guardiola‘s side is “absolutely essential” if they are to fight on all fronts once again this season.
The 24-year-old enjoyed arguably his best season yet in a Citizens shirt in 2023-24 and was rewarded with the PFA, FWA and Premier League Player of the Year accolades after scoring 27 goals and providing 12 assists in 53 appearances.
Foden was unable to replicate his club form on the international stage with England at Euro 2024, and he has since experienced a disrupted start to the new campaign, with an extended summer’s break followed by a spell out with illness.
The versatile attacker is yet to start a Premier League game this term – making three substitute appearances – but he has started in the EFL Cup and Champions League, scoring in the latter competition in a 4-0 away win against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday night.
Foden admitted after the match that he is “still a little bit rusty,” but Guardiola has said that he has ‘no doubts’ that City’ No.47 will soon get back to his best.
McInerney: ‘Man City need Foden’s attacking impetus’
McInerney believes that a fit and firing Foden is exactly what City need if they are to seriously challenge for silverware once again this term, and he feels that Guardiola’s side are ‘crying out for that spark’ the Stockport-born star can deliver in the final third.
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: “He’s the PFA Player of the Year. He was voted the best player in England last season, so he’s absolutely essential, especially given Kevin De Bruyne is getting a bit older [and is] injury prone, [Ilkay] Gundogan – as brilliant as he is – he’s definitely staring down the end of his career right now. We need that attacking impetus (from Foden).
“It’s weird to say this about City, but they are not a side currently, with the current makeup of the squad, blessed with a lot of goals. [Erling] Haaland, of course, is the anomaly there, but our wingers – Savinho, [Jack] Grealish, [Jeremy] Doku – they’re not currently great goalscorers for City.
“Rodri is not available – he brings you 10 goals a season. De Bruyne, of course, scores a lot of goals, but his injuries are up and down. Bernardo [Silva], [Mateo] Kovacic are not great goalscorers, Kovacic in particular is not. Bernardo can get you 10 (per season), but Phil Foden got 27 goals last season, that’s an awful lot, that’s a striker’s tally.
“Phil Foden is essential, because he has such a thirst for goals, and you can sense that his hunger for goals has gone up another level. He wanted goals [against Slovan]. He took a lot of shots. His goal, of course, was classic Phil Foden – it’s become a bit of a trademark scoring in and around the area, opening up his body, putting it in the bottom corner or the top corner with his left foot.
“A beautiful finish (on Tuesday) and that scares teams… and of course, the really clever assist for James McAtee, a lovely little dinked through-ball. He lifted it really smartly over the defender’s leg so he couldn’t intercept it, and McAtee finished it really well.
“That’s the Phil Foden City need, and I still think there’s a level for him to go up. I think he’s not quite as sharp yet. I think he’ll be the first to admit he’s had a patchy start to the season with injuries and fatigue (and illness) and not looking like himself, but it’s going to be such a long season and Phil Foden is quite simply one the best players in the league, and we need that, because this squad is crying out for that spark, and that’s what he’s got.”
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Can Foden continue to thrive in central role?
Foden’s predominantly thrived in a central role for Man City last season having previously operated on several occasions out wide, where he struggled to provide the goods for England in the summer.
McInerney fully expects to see the attacker cement his place in the middle of Guardiola’s midfield going forward, adding: “I think he’ll play centrally. I think Guardiola has accepted that that transition is complete.
“There’ll be occasionally games where he probably starts on the right, but even if he starts on the right, he’ll be drifting centrally. He did it a lot last season when he was playing as a right winger and before you knew it, he was alongside Haaland – that’s the sort of the freedom you get as a Manchester City player.
“I think he was starting on the right a fair bit last year and this didn’t affect his involvement in the game, but I do think he is a central player now. I think he’s a classic 10. I would love to see Phil develop into a number eight as well. That would be great for him to be able to go a little bit deeper and occasionally pick the ball off the centre-backs every now and then, and be a complete midfielder.
“I do feel that’s the natural development that he’ll take anyway as he becomes more of a central player. He’ll want more of a feel of the ball and not have his back to goal. He’ll want to get the ball a little bit deeper and play those passes that we know he can do.”
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McInerney: ‘Foden is so dangerous in front of goal’
“Right now, he feels like he’s more a number 10, more an attacker, more of a goalscorer,” McInerney added. “I think Pep appreciates that he has the qualities that we probably need. He’s going to play close to goal because he’s so dangerous. The movement, his link-up play with Haaland, De Bruyne, Gundogan, players like that.
“He maybe doesn’t quite have the control of a Gundogan in that role – not many do. Gundogan is obviously a genius footballer, but [Foden] does have his own unique qualities. The way he turns with the ball, the way he plays everything at 1000 miles an hour when he’s around the goal. It’s so useful because it upsets defences.
“I think right now, Phil is a central midfielder. It took a long time for him to get to that conclusion, but it was inevitable, and now he’s in his early 20s, PFA Player of the Year, playing in that role, you can’t really change that.”
With De Bruyne currently nursing a groin issue and unlikely to return until after the international break, Foden will be pushing to make his first Premier League start of the season when Man City welcome Fulham to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.