Phil Foden's form continues to be a concern for Manchester City

Phil Foden won the 2023/24 Premier League PFA Players' Player of the Year following another incredible season with Manchester City. However, his performances for England at Euro 2024 suggested there is plenty for him to still improve upon, with some suggesting he needed to “step up”.

So far in the 2024/25 Premier League season, Foden has only played 89 minutes, contributing no goals or assists across his three performances, per Transfermarkt. Could this extended run of poor form be a worrying sign for Foden and Manchester City?

Foden started City's group stage match against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League, scoring once and assisting another in what were his first goal contributions of the season. Against such lowly opposition, a player of Foden's ability is expected to get on the stat sheet, so perhaps his time in the doldrums isn't over yet.

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England made the final of Euro 2024 despite Phil Foden's ineffectual play in Gareth Southgate's team. Let's take a look back over how his tournament went.

The Sun gave Foden a 5/10 rating for his performance in England’s 1-0 victory over Serbia in their Euro 2024 opener, describing Foden as, “Not at his sharpest.”

Due to Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham making themselves undroppable from their natural positions, Foden has been forced onto the left wing, a position he has played at times, but perhaps isn’t naturally suited for.

Foden was also partnered on the left with Kieran Trippier, another high-quality footballer, but not a naturally left-sided player. Trippier’s right-footedness, combined with Foden’s natural desire to play with his left, made England’s left flank disjointed with no over, or underlaps available.

TalkSport’s Jamie O’Hara described Foden as, “He’s ineffective in an England shirt,” which whilst perhaps not inaccurate, seems reductive given he is the current Premier League Player of the Year. O’Hara did suggest Foden’s issues stem from being forced onto the left wing, much like Paul Scholes during the “Golden Generation”.

Foden’s role in Pep Guardiola’s system at City has evolved over the years, with the England player gaining more freedom as he has developed. Given Harry Kane’s desire to drop deep and Jude Bellingham’s fluidity around the pitch, Foden was often occupying areas the other two were looking to play from.

As part of BBC Sport’s Euros coverage, Cesc Fabregas didn’t hold back in his criticism of Foden, suggesting the City man needs to, “step up”.

Fabregas continued, suggesting Foden needs to take some notes from Bellingham, “The way we see Jude getting the ball, imposing himself, he [Foden] owes us this class. He needs to do that himself. A player of this class, this level and this talent doesn’t even need to be told by the coach what to do.”

Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright was also critical of Foden on his podcast, Wrighty’s House. Wright said of Foden, “We can’t always blame the system. He needs to make it happen for himself and demand the ball.”

Foden ultimately started for England in the Euros final, but it wasn't until his exit that England found an attacking spark. There is no doubting his quality as a player, but he does appear to be in a rut for possibly the first time in his career. Are we overreacting to a few poor performances, or does the City attacker need to improve?

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