Phil Foden delivers classy response to social media critics after five-star derby display | OneFootball

Manchester City’s Phil Foden addressed the barrage of hate and criticism aimed at him for his displays in the last 12 months after a 3-0 derby win over Manchester United on Sunday.

Having missed the early part of the season with injury, City’s boyhood blue marked his first start of the 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a special goal to open the scoring at the Etihad Stadium after 18 minutes.

Guardiola named a changed frontline from Manchester City’s last Premier League game – a 2-1 defeat to Brighton before the international break – with Jeremy Doku delivering his best performance in a long time after coming in on the left wing for the injured Omar Marmoush.

Foden was granted his first start of the season by Guardiola, with the Stockport-born Manchester City academy graduate reminding his critics of his quality as he showed encouraging signs of a return to his best with a five-star display in attack.

The 25-year-old also played a hand in Erling Haaland’s first of the evening and Manchester City’s second, playing an intricate ball to Doku to find its way to Haaland, who chipped it over Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir to double the hosts’ lead after 53 minutes.

Foden impressed at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in June and has displayed signs of returning to his best form of 2024, when he spearheaded Manchester City to a fourth straight Premier League title and was voted the 2023-24 PFA Players’ Player of the Year.

However, there have been questions over whether the England international can take over as Manchester City’s architect-in-chief for the seasons to come, with Hugo Viana conducting a major overhaul of Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad in the summer transfer window.

Many fans on social media and pundits have argued that Foden would be better off seeking a permanent exit from the Etihad Stadium, with the forward’s current Manchester City deal expiring in 2027.

Foden has adhered to mental and physical struggles derailing his performances in the last 12 months in several interviews since the summer, but criticism on social media – as unavoidable as it is – is only fuelling the attacker to return to his best.

“There has been a lot of talk. It’s impossible (not to see it),” Foden said in an interview with Sky Sports after City’s 3-0 derby triumph on Sunday.

“Everything I see at the moment is negative, but that’s the world we live in. When you come off winning Player of the Season (in 2024), the standards are higher. I understand that. It’s about reading those comments and reacting, to come back to my level.”

Haaland backed up his teammate and fellow boyhood Manchester City fan in the joint-interview, with the Norwegian adding: “We have to keep him going, we need him (Foden) so much. This is the Phil we need. We are going to help him as much as we can to make him as good as he was (in the 2023-24 season).”