Redaction Simon Brett with Dan Murphy
Published on 2024-02-10 19:00:00
Neil Lennon has spoken highly of Phil Foden’s continuous improvement in his already high-quality game. After a couple of seasons in which he had not been a regular first choice in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side, Foden is now making himself un-droppable this season. The 23-year-old has started the last 12 Premier League fixtures in a row and has only been benched for two matches in the league all season. This suggests that the Blues boss now feels he can truly rely on Foden week-in, week-out, after years of carefully nurturing his undeniable talent.
Lennon has joined in on the high praise for Foden but has pointed out that Foden has significantly improved a skill. He said that Foden’s finishing skill has seen great improvement this season. Speaking on City’s Match Day Live show, Lennon said: “Phil is such an intelligent player, you can play him anywhere across the front three or No.10. Off the right, off the left, his game intelligence now is at such a high level and obviously he’s playing with quality players but his finish expected goals (xG) is improving all the time as well. His career already for a young man is exceptional but he’s at that time he’s grounded and he just wants more. There’s no better place to do it here than City.”
Foden did not score in the 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday, but he still has plenty of time to beat his personal best goal contributions for a season. He already has 23 to his name so far – with 14 goals and nine assists – which is not far away from his record tally of 26. In fact, he’s only three goals away from beating his best ever goal return of 16, which he set in the 2021/22 season. This constant improvement shows the bright future ahead for the young player.
Read Original article on Manchester City News
