Man City power rankings: Foden explodes, Jesus crashes

Martin Macdonald

• 6 Apr 2022 10:49 BST
• 3 min read

Phil Foden is the most improved Manchester City player over the last six months, according to SciSports.

Using in-game data to calculate the performance of every Man City player the England attacking midfielder has enjoyed the greatest improvement, statistically.

Foden is recognised as one of the most talented players of his generation and has come on leaps and bounds under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola.

In the 2020/21 season he scored 16 goals and recorded 10 assists in all competitions, and he is in with a shout of bettering that tally in the current campaign as he has 11 goals and nine assists in 2021/22.

FOOTBALLTRANSFERS' MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS IN THE WORLD

Most recently for City, he came off the bench to play a major role in the club's 1-0 Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid, setting up the winner for Kevin De Bruyne with a cracking bit of play.

The second most improved player is John Stones. The central defender was in and out of the team last season following the acquisition of Ruben Dias, but he has fought fiercely for minutes and is now considered just as important at the back as the Portuguese or Aymeric Laporte.

Jack Grealish may not be banging in the goals or laying on assists to the degree that he enjoyed at Aston Villa, but his exposure to a higher level playing in the Champions League has allowed his score to develop.

In fourth is Joao Cancelo. Widely considered one of the best full-backs in the world, he has adapted his game to be equally as impactful playing as an inverted wing-back on the left as a conventional one on the right.

Riyad Mahrez, despite his clear talents, arguably remains underrated by some, but not by our SciSports algorithm. Clearly trusted by Guardiola, he has an astonishing 22 goals in 25 starts this season

At the bottom end of the scale, the player whose performances have declined more than any other is Gabriel Jesus. In the summer when City failed to sign a new centre-forward, it was assumed the Brazilian would receive much more game time.

But, that hasn't been the case, with just 19 starts. Even when he does play, he is sometimes shifted out wide.

How is the SciSkill ranking calculated?

Over the course of a season, there are players who will enjoy increasingly poor performances and increasingly positive performances.

FootballTransfers, in partnership with SciSports, has determined Man City players over the last six months whose performances have improved or regressed.

SciSports explains how our development ratings are gathered:

“Among others, a positive development could be boosted by more playing time, playing time on a higher level or better performances on the pitch.

“A negative development could be due to the player being active on a lower level than he used to play, bad performances or the fact that he does not play that often as he used to do.

“A SciSkill Development of 0.0 could indicate that a player is performing exactly like our algorithm expects him to do. Another reason could be inactivity (e.g. a long-term injury or suspension).”

It should be noted that vast improvement does not necessarily mean that a player was underperforming previously.