Phil Foden is getting back to his best in a new role for Manchester City

If you’re a regular listener to the Transfer Flow podcast or have otherwise followed my work elsewhere, one thing you’ll have realised about me is that I’m different. So, while most people who have followed Manchester City this season have been blown away by Erling Haaland’s insane start to the season (as have I – 23 goals in 13 games is just bonkers), entertained by Jérémy Doku’s dribbling or putting Tijjani Reijnders on Fraud Watch, Phil Foden’s work has attracted my attention.

The raw numbers do not make the reason behind this apparent. The English international has one goal and no assists to his name after six Premier League appearances, seemingly continuing on from a disappointing campaign last term. Foden failed to break into double digits in terms of league goal involvements for the first time since 2019/20, when he was still a teenager and saw limited game time. His involvement and importance to the Manchester City juggernaut only ramped up thereafter, culminating in a 27-goal-involvement 2023/24 season and various Player of the Year awards.

Over the years, Pep Guardiola has deployed Foden in a variety of roles. He often started on the wings when breaking through, more often on the left. He occasionally filled in as a false nine during City’s strikerless phase, and gradually also moved infield from his usual wider positions. That aforementioned 2023/24 campaign saw him come inside from the right wing or even start centrally on many occasions, thus bringing him into play in more dangerous spaces. This resulted in his best season by various metrics, including touches in the final third (38.2 per 90), xAG (8.4) and, of course, goals (19). His return was boosted by some incredible conversion with his left foot, which produced 17 of those goals and was largely responsible for his significant xGOT (16.35) overperformance relative to xG (10.34).

Coming on to this season, though, it is difficult to point to any similar stats that suggest Foden is on course for another stellar campaign. In fact, the underlying numbers in his radar have dropped off even further from 2024/25.

But anyone who has watched him will surely agree that he has not gotten any worse this term, so what gives? Let us watch some tape to find out:

Of course, such compilations on Twitter tend to cherry-pick a player’s best actions for the most part, but this one should give a good idea of what Foden’s changed role has looked like so far this term. In the absence of Rayan Cherki in recent weeks, the Englishman has mostly been joined by Reijnders in City’s two advanced midfield positions. Both have been given a decent amount of positional freedom, but their responsibilities often include helping get the ball up the pitch in a team that no longer has the best defensive midfielder in the world. As a result, Foden’s heatmap in the Premier League currently looks like this:

This certainly stands out compared to his previous seasons. Foden’s activity has never been concentrated in the left half-space as much as this, and he certainly has never dropped back to pick the ball up so much. This obviously is reflected in the numbers, as the City academy graduate is currently putting up his highest per 90 average for touches at 71.4. Dividing by zones, his involvement has gone up significantly in both defensive and midfield thirds but has dropped off at the sharp end.

If I had to guess, this partly shows why Foden’s numbers have dropped off despite him looking good to the eye. His attacking production is obviously going to suffer the further away from goal he gets, but that does not explain his very poor on-ball value (OBV) figures. For that, we have to dive deeper into some other stats.

Foden’s passing OBV is shockingly the worst among central midfielders in the Premier League so far this season, but it would surely be harsh to call him the worst passer of the lot. If I had to guess, I would say that his tendency to go backwards and sideways for the most part as well as his completion rate of 40.4% in 9.59 long pass attempts per 90 are to blame for that.

But, despite all of this evidence to the contrary, I remain adamant in my opinion that Foden has been quite good so far this season. Why, you might ask? Because I have seen him do stuff like this:

Foden has excelled at finding pockets of space to receive the ball between the lines, and then crucially has managed to hold on to it. The above assist against Napoli was the highlight-reel moment, but there are many such small examples littered around his performances in the league. All the while, he has only miscontrolled the ball or been dispossessed 0.82 times per 90 each. That is his lowest average to date, which is all the more impressive when you remember that he often used to play out wide in the past. To my eye, he has looked quite strong in terms of being able to ride contact and pressure coming from behind, contributing to his excellent retention.

In a team that does not always have elite-level progressive passing ability among its deeper-positioned players, having a world-class receiver like Foden can prove vital. Even if he plays a backwards or sideways pass, his ability to retain the ball so well after receiving it inside the opposition’s block still helps get his side up the pitch and push the opposition back. He is some way better than any of his teammates in Markstats’ progression received metric and ranks as high as 7th in the league, only behind an assortment of forwards. When given the time and space, he also does not mind getting on the half-turn and driving the team forward and slipping a pass in behind. To add to that, he always has a moment of brilliance in him to unlock a staunch low block, as the assist against Napoli or two pre-assists this weekend showed.

Add to all of that Foden’s top-class work rate when the ball is lost to support the counterpressing effort, and it is easy to see why he is such a useful asset against disciplined and settled defences, even if he might not be returning with a handful of goals or assists. His new role this season makes him all the more interesting as a player to me. He has always been a pretty unique profile, possessing top-class technical ability that rivals almost any traditional number 10 but marrying it with a lot of tactical discipline and understanding that makes him a great fit for this Manchester City side.

Foden’s latest evolution, as well as the arrivals of the likes of Rayan Cherki and Reijnders besides the presence of Haaland, means that City should surely avoid facing the same issues against deep blocks that they did last season. They also have a lot of weapons for more open games, so they are sure to be one of the most exciting attacking teams in Europe now, but a lot of their success will hinge on the performance of their defence.

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