Phil Foden didn’t just look like his old inventive self against Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. He looked a new leader of Pep Guardiola’s evolving Manchester City side. Foden went round coordinating the press. He went round encouraging team-mates, even helping the colossus Erling Haaland to his feet. He organised. He led.
Haaland was named man of the match but City’s No 9 did what we know he can do: score with a confidence and frequency like few other strikers at work in the world today. Foden contributed something different, something new. The old joyous, nimble football was back in Foden’s game as if he’d stepped out of La Masia, Barcelona’s academy, and was joining in a rondo with Andrés Iniesta and Xavi. That freedom of expression has rarely been seen in the past 18 months, and City fans welcomed the old Foden back warmly and loudly. Now taking more responsibility with Kevin De Bruyne moved on, Foden also showed a new side to his game, scoring, creating and defending. And leading.
He even looked and sounded far more confident and relaxed in his post-match interviews. I remember interviewing Foden during his England Under-21 days and he opened up only when detailing how he’d landed a 136lb catfish on a weekend off.
It feels irrational to suggest that a player who has already won the Champions League and six Premier Leagues now comes of age but, judging from the maturity of this performance, Foden does. He’s 25, a father of three children he adores, and has now been handed a role at City that is central in every sense. Guardiola started Foden as one of two 8s with Tijjani Reijnders supporting Haaland. Rodri anchored behind them. The stage was set and Foden performed wonders.
Foden Thrives in Central Role
Foden enjoyed space to create because Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku stretched United wide. Maybe we will see less of Foden wide and more of him as the heartbeat of the side. He’s stepping up.
Foden’s was also a display inevitably shaped by a desire to pay tribute to Ricky Hatton, the City-supporting boxing legend who passed away on the morning of the match, aged 46. “We had extra motivation coming into the game,” Foden told Sky Sports. “It was for (Hatton), his family and the people suffering right now. The way we ran…it was all for him.”
Foden was also driven by some of the criticism he has faced over the past 18 months, ever since being voted Footballer of the Year and then disappointing for England at Euro 2024. “There’s been a lot of talk, all of it quite negative, but that’s the world we live in,” Foden added. “When you’ve been player of the season I understand that (expectations) are higher. It’s about reading the comments, trying to react as best I can and getting back to my level.”
So was the criticism fair? He went into Euro 2024 on a high. Rodri even claimed that Foden had “the ability to be the best English player in history”. Yet warnings were being sounded about Foden’s workload and the risk of fatigue. On May 30 2024, high up in a skyscraper overlooking the City of London, the intensifying schedules of Foden and other leading players was discussed by eminent representatives from the Premier League (CEO Richard Masters), the Professional Footballers’ Association (CEO Maheta Molango) and club medical staffs (including Darren Burgess, formerly of Liverpool).
I spoke to the conference as a reporter who had written about strains, physically and mentally, on players. Yes, they get paid fortunes, and given five-star treatment, but that doesn’t automatically protect against injury or mental health issues. I suggested players may one day go on strike against the constant expansion of the calendar by FIFA, predominantly, and UEFA. Players have debated in private about withdrawing their labour. Rodri declared at a press conference that players were “close” to refusing to play because of the pressures the crammed season places on their bodies. Shortly afterwards, Rodri tore his ACL.
Phil Foden’s Manchester Derby Record
Foden’s workload was highlighted at that May meeting in a report compiled by the global players’ union, FIFPRO. In his garlanded 23/24 season, subsequently updated to include the Euros, Foden made 72 appearances for City (including three club friendlies) and England.
Foden started every one of England’s seven games at the Euros. His song became the sound-track for England’s summer. To the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark”, England fans sang, “Can't start a fire; Can't start a fire without a spark; Phil Foden's on fire; He'll be playing the Germans off the park.”
By the time England reached the final in Berlin, Foden was meant to be playing the Spanish off the park. But there was no spark left in Foden after 6,170 minutes in a season that stretched from August 6, 2023 to July 14, 2024. Only Virgil van Dijk played more minutes (6,293).
Foden was physically and mentally exhausted as he subsequently admitted, not helped by being tucked in on England’s left which didn’t suit him, and also beset by ankle issues in City’s impoverished 24/25. Foden was running on empty.
Foden’s spark is now back, certainly igniting City against United. He was also helped by Ruben Amorim’s naïve tactics of leaving United’s centre undermanned. Foden could turn and ping his passes. He could ghost unmarked to meet Doku’s cross and head City in front because Bruno Fernandes failed to track his runner.
Trademark Passes and Contributing Defensively
Phil Foden rises to the occasion. pic.twitter.com/eKqZ2bU4cx
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) September 14, 2025
The energy was back. He raced to press United’s keeper, Altay Bayındır. He looked to isolate and dart away from Leny Yoro. Even when the United centre back went tight, Foden demanded the ball to feet and looked to spin Yoro. He was involved in City’s second, playing one of his trademark round-the-corner passes past Noussair Mazraoui for Doku to assist Haaland.
He contributed defensively, dropping back to help Nico O’Reilly with Amad. When Haaland went off, Foden finished the game as a false 9, still creating with the outside of his left foot to release Savinho, and still organising the press.
At the final whistle, Guardiola hugged Foden, patting his head, almost like a proud father congratulating his son. Foden looked refreshed by the positional change, and by domestic contentment. He's loving spending time with his son, having some “mini golf with mini me” as he posted. And enjoying a break with his partner in Amsterdam.
City will delight in getting their Foden back, and a new, enhanced Foden. It’s important for fans to have “one of our own” in the side and Foden’s pleasure in defeating their neighbours was very obvious. It’s also important for the club’s finances to nurture their own first-teamers.
But how does Foden fit into Thomas Tuchel’s 4-2-3-1 system with England. Tuchel likes pace wide to support Harry Kane. Foden has a burst of acceleration but not like that possessed by Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Anthony Gordon or Marcus Rashford, Tuchel’s likely four wingers for the World Cup.
At No. 10, where Foden looks increasingly at home, Tuchel enjoys an abundance of stellar options, starting with Jude Bellingham, and then Cole Palmer. Tuchel also likes Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for their different, dribbling skillsets. Foden showed he can play the 8 role currently occupied by Declan Rice, probably with Morgan Gibbs-White as first reserve.
If Foden continues to dominate games as against United, he should go to the World Cup. For Foden now, it’s all about consistency of performance with City and playing with this new-found leadership. It’s good to see.
READ MORE INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS FROM SI FC COLUMNIST HENRY WINTER
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rejuvenated, Confident Phil Foden Adds New Facet to His Game.