Phil Foden saw his brilliant 2023/24 season end on a bitter note as Manchester City lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. The Englishman managed an assist in the 2-1 loss, but was still not able to save his side from defeat.
Despite the loss, Foden still enjoyed his best season so far with the Cityzens and played a huge role in helping them retain the Premier League title. He scored some outstanding goals, which also includes his sensational strike against Real Madrid in the 3-3 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
But even after his heroics from the 2023/24 season, Foden is being mocked by rival fans as someone who fails to deliver ‘when it matters’.
In this context, that means he can’t turn up for Manchester City in the big games or when they need to win the most. As a result, he’s now being compared by some fans to NBA star Anthony Edwards.
The Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard has arguably been their best player in the 2024 NBA season. Edwards played a key role in helping the Timberwolves make the NBA Western Conference finals, where the Timberwolves’ magic seems to have run out of steam.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are currently down by a 3-1 margin in the seven-match NBA finals and Edwards has attracted a lot of criticism. He’s been slammed for not being able to inspire his team to victories in the biggest games – something the likes of Lebron James or Stephen Curry excelled at.
Foden is being compared to Edwards in the regard that he can’t seem to turn up in pressure situations against prominent opposition.
Some rival fans (mostly bitter Arsenal ones) claim that the Manchester City winger is a ‘fake face of the Premier League’ like the taunts being made towards Anthony Edwards by some NBA fans.
For one, Foden only deservedly won the 2023/24 Premier League Player of the Season award after scoring 19 goals and providing eight assists across all competitions. Cole Palmer was the only midfielder with more goals than him in the league, but a lot of his goals came via penalties.
Moreover, the claims that ‘Foden disappears in big game’ is totally wrong – considering he literally scored the match-winning brace against West Ham United that sealed the Premier League title for Manchester City.
He even scored a hattrick against Manchester United and had goals against Tottenham Hotspur – and had 27 goals and 12 assists to his name in 53 appearances for Manchester City – doing all that while playing as a right-winger or attacking midfielder.
Foden has also won it all with the Cityzens over the last two seasns and actually has championships to his name. Anthony Edwards is yet to win an NBA championship in his career, despite fighting hard to take the Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals this year.
With that being said, a lot of NBA fans seem to be infuriated by this comparison too.
They feel it’s an insult to what ANT has achieved in his short career so far too. Edwards might not have won any titles, but he’s still enjoyed a brilliant NBA campaign in which he averaged 25.9 points and 5.1 assists per game in the regular season. He’s also single-handedly carried the Timberwolves to a lot of big wins and will still be held in high regard even if his side doesn’t clinch the championship.
Football fans should stick to football This makes no sense They’re literally not comparable in any way https://t.co/NBzGF0WUsc
— 21st century schiziod man (@Alvynadams) May 27, 2024
Both generational. Both top tier
Imagine social media existed when MJ lost to the Pistons. Yall woulda said he’s a scrub too. https://t.co/pyZHU45vRQ
The fact of the matter is that BOTH Foden and Edwards are top quality young players in their own playing field and are only going to get better and better. These comparisons are baseless and unoriginal, and these fans comparing might be made to look really dumb when ANT and Phil go onto win more championship and personal trophies later in their careers.
