While the likes of Julian Alvarez and Rodri have been hailed this season, the same cannot be said for Manchester City attacker Phil Foden.
This comes as quite a surprise, considering that the £225,000-a-week (Sport Rac) man has quietly been excellent so far this season.
However, it seems like unless Phil Foden produces a goal or an assist, he fails to get the credit he deserves.
Manchester City dribbler Phil Foden is having a wildly underrated season
Once branded as ‘unreal’ by Rio Ferdinand, the 23-year-old has bounced back from an injury-ridden campaign to emerge as one of his side’s standout performers so far.
However, there has not been much of a spotlight on how Phil Foden has performed or perhaps even how he has been used this season.
It would be easy to believe that after Kevin De Bruyne’s injury, the Englishman simply slotted into his position but it is not quite as straightforward as that.
After De Bruyne was sidelined, Guardiola chose not to line up with a pair of advanced midfielders on paper and instead utilised either Kovacic or Bernardo Silva in a deeper position alongside Rodri.
But in order to hand Phil Foden more of a license to drift in centrally, Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker was instead deployed as a right-winger in possession.
Considering the former was asked to play in said role, at least on paper, he was allowed to take up a more central position and play alongside Julian Alvarez.
The perfect example of this was against Newcastle United, in which Phil Foden ran proceedings for Manchester City, with Mateo Kovacic and Rodri forming a midfield pivot behind him.
However, against Brighton, due to John Stones making his first start of the season, Bernardo Silva was utilised in an advanced role alongside Julian Alvarez.
As a result, Phil Foden simply operated as a right-winger for Manchester City, as he bossed proceedings, dropping in deeper areas, ghosting past a series of pressers time and again to create attacks singlehandedly out of nothing.
While Jeremy Doku earned a ton of praise for his display and deservedly so, his teammate’s decision-making was far better and he perhaps sustained the level of his performance longer into the second half as well.
Against Nottingham Forest as well, Phil Foden was one of, if not the standout player for Manchester City but as an advanced midfielder in possession.
Time and again, Foden has delivered but for some bizarre reason, his exploits are yet to be highlighted by the masses.
The truth is that after Julian Alvarez and Rodri, the Stockport-born attacker has been far and away City’s best player this season.
