Phil Foden shone last night as he hit a hat-trick for Manchester City against Brentford – and Darius Vassell was left impressed seeing him ‘having a pop’ at Rodri.
The 23-year-old stole headlines for his wonderful display, with Sky commentator Alan Smith naming him his player of the match at the end.
Foden was brilliant operating in the middle, and linked up especially well with Kevin De Bruyne, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland.
Foden was at the heart of everything for City, and looked as though he was channelling Ilkay Gundogan with his late runs into the box.
It was a terrific display, but Vassell focused on something that really showcased Foden’s stature within the team…
Darius Vassell says Phil Foden ‘having a pop’ at Rodri proves he’s growing in stature at Manchester City
The focus has mainly been on Foden’s hat-trick, and he really did take his goals superbly well at the Gtech Community Stadium.
But it was a really mature performance from Foden, and former City striker Vassell pointed to one thing he did that shows that he is becoming more of a leader.
He said on City’s post-match coverage of the game: “He’s only going to go on and do great things. Touch wood he stays clear from injury. That’s the one thing that can hold a player back.
“But you can see in the Man City team now he’s got that status. I saw him having a pop back at Rodri for a bad pass. You can tell he’s coming into himself and that’s important. You need to be able to do that as a young player, hold your own.
“I think he’s very much an asset to the team, they look for him now don’t they.”
Fantastic to see from Foden
It is really refreshing to see Foden giving it back to his teammates on the pitch, because things like this are very important.
He will earn more respect, not that he particularly needs to do that, from his teammates by challenging them when things don’t go as they should.
For him to have a go at Rodri, a £63 million experienced world-class player who very rarely makes mistakes, is brilliant and clearly shows that Foden is now coming into himself, as Vassell says.
He was quite timid in his early years at City and that was understandable, coming up from the academy and into the dressing room of world-class talent and big personalities.
But now he is obviously extremely comfortable in that dressing room and we are starting to see him express himself more and more, and it can only allow him to become an even better player.
