Why would you limit yourself? Has there ever been a player nicknamed ‘the somewhere someone’, who ever outshone the original? The Romford Pele, the Welsh Xavi and the Scouse Cafu were all tongue-in-cheek, at least; the Croydon De Bruyne, the Scottish Messi and the Yorkshire Pirlo now feel almost mocking.
The Stockport Iniesta felt like shorthand at best. Diminutive, innately intelligent in his movement, excellent in small spaces: a midfielder could play a rondo in a lift. Pep Guardiola infamously proclaimed that Andres Iniesta would retire them all in Catalonia – and perhaps that quote was at the heart of the Foden comparison: that despite the present riches of Pep's first wave, the future was arguably bigger and brighter and bolder than the Centurions' peak.
Not that Foden and Iniesta have been inextricably linked: the Manchester City academy graduate has been compared more readily to more relevant parallels. It was expected that Foden would assume De Bruyne's throne; even Bernardo Silva's. Most of us have forgotten that Iniesta was even a reference point at one point or another, simply a metaphor of grandiosity more than an explanation for his profile. Yet there is a comparison.
Iniesta was a true generalist: all things to all men in a Blaugrana shirt, from dictating play from deep in the 2006 Champions League final to turning his hand at being a left-winger later under Pep. He was so talented that he could play Xavi's role, a bit of Sergio Busquets' and even mirror Lionel Messi on the right. A player that you simply had to “know ball” to appreciate.
Foden has had similar connotations. Gary Neville notably claimed that regardless of what form the City star was in, he was undroppable for his country. Gareth Southgate seemed to agree towards the end of his England tenure, crowbarring Foden into the No.10 spot in his side. Jude Bellingham was shoved out left; Harry Kane started to get subbed more.
“Just give Foden freedom. Let him dictate. Let him roam.” It's commonly considered that he's always been at his best when given the space and time to bend a game to his will.
And this, is a lie.
Foden has two very obvious peaks, both for Manchester City. The first came in the 2020/21 season, his breakout season behind closed doors following David Silva's departure. Those who didn't care to notice assumed he was a like-for-like heir – yet in City's strikerless system, Foden was the left-winger most often, playing a Sane-esque role in which he held width, beat full-backs on the outside, and pressed relentlessly.
He operated as a false nine at times in this system, sometimes an advanced midfielder: but fluidity shouldn't be confused for freedom. This was one of Guardiola's most forensic systems, with Foden one of several following instructions to the letter. He wasn't free: he was completing a task.
And then in 2023/24, the England man had the season of his life. Either from the right, left or centrally – depending on who overlapped – Foden was an attacking midfielder, drifting into a spot in front of the penalty box, receiving on the half-turn and unleashing hell. This time, the team was geared to him, even Erling Haaland sacrificing a few goals to allow this shadow striker to flourish.
It's a lie that Foden is best when given the space and time to bend a game to his will
Again, there was nothing free about the role. Foden did not have autonomy to dictate play or create: he was there as an exclamation point. It suited him perfectly.
We've been going round suggesting Foden is a generalist: yet, Foden is a specialist. He is best not when he's given a blank canvas and a box of paints, but when you give him a toolkit and a timer.
And that's precisely why he's only drifted in and out of City's best teams. Generalists are useful in any scenario: Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Gabriel Jesus and Ilkay Gundogan all adapted their roles depending on whether Pep went with inverted wingers, a double-pivot, a target man or a 3-2-4-1. Specialists like Jack Grealish or Aymeric Laporte were usually good at one or two things, though, and found their importance fluctuating.
It's not an insult to call Foden a specialist. Liverpool built a team of them, with Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino doing basically the same thing for the entirety of Klopp's tenure to a league-defining standard. Perhaps it goes to explain, however, why neither Foden nor Trent have ever truly thrived for very long in an England shirt.
And maybe the expectations were too much on Foden. The No.47 was one of the first recipients of the ‘generational’ tags on social media, when really, none of us really knew what that actually meant. Was he the Second Coming of Gazza, peroxide-primed, 'n' all? Is Di Maria a lofty enough bar? Would Foden simply define an era of English attacking midfielder?
It just feels like we got him wrong back then, and we're continuing to now. Early signs under Enzo Maresca aren't that he's going to grab City by the neck and deliver a lightning bolt from the centre of chaos. And perhaps he was never that player: he was more of a Salah or a Mahrez or a Julian Alvarez that you could get to do a very specific job in a specific system.
There's nothing wrong with that. Not everyone is Andres Iniesta, after all.
