Phil Foden returned to the Manchester City side after injury issues and played on the right against Nottingham Forest this week.
When Phil Foden was replaced on the hour mark at Old Trafford just over a month ago, he will have hoped his fourth start in a row would kick-start his season after the World Cup.
Foden had only been given one Manchester City start in four after the World Cup, in his favoured left-wing position, and followed that up with a goal against Chelsea in the FA Cup from a more central midfield role – one he reprised at Southampton a few days before the derby.
However, a sore foot picked up in a challenge with Aaron Wan-Bissaka kept Foden out for four games, and he would be on the bench for a further two. His return to the starting XI at Nottingham Forest this weekend was welcomed – but it wasn’t in the position he may have hoped. And Pep Guardiola’s post-match comments appear to have given him a new challenge.
It’s understandable that Foden needed more recovery time after the World Cup, and that can’t be held against him. He’s also unfortunate that Riyad Mahrez restarted the domestic season in good form after Algeria failed to qualify for Qatar, and Jack Grealish has started to add the goals and assists that his performances deserve.
That derby injury couldn’t have come at a worse time, and allowed Grealish a free run to start seven games in a row after his Old Trafford goal off the bench. Before that, Grealish had just two starts in seven as Guardiola tried to accommodate Foden’s post-World Cup recovery.
Now, Grealish has made the left-wing spot his own, and the only way Foden was returning to the team this weekend was in place of Mahrez, who wasn’t at his best at Arsenal in the previous game.
Foden did well in attack at the City Ground and created plenty of chances, but the final ball was lacking – most evident when through on goal before he slipped after being caught in two minds on whether to shoot or square to Haaland. It was a chance that Guardiola later said Foden ‘had to score’ and would go down as one of many good opportunities spurned that cost the Blues two vital points.
“Phil played really good, in the first half he was really aggressive against [Renan] Lodi. He arrived at the byline many times,” said Guardiola after the game.
“He still doesn’t have this pausa that he had. It’s normal because he didn’t play much, but he was so aggressive. Really good.”
It’s fair to expect Foden to be slightly out of rhythm after six games out of the starting line-up and a niggling injury, but Guardiola’s next response appeared to lay down the law for the winger over his current place in the City squad.
Asked if Foden had been frustrated, Guardiola said: “I didn’t ask him, I don’t know. He has to compete with Riyad, who has done really well, and the other players. It’s not about being frustrated, it’s performing as well as possible. After that, it will be easy.”
It’s clear Guardiola has trust in Foden, and if he is earmarked as a right-winger for the time being, he has a chance to rediscover his early-season form where he struck up an effective partnership with Kevin De Bruyne on the right flank, with both creating plenty of goals for Erling Haaland.
But with Mahrez playing so well, it seems that it’s the Algerian who is ahead of Foden at the time being – and he may have been rested in Nottingham ahead of this week’s Champions League trip after seven starts in succession beforehand. On the opposite flank, Grealish feels untouchable.
Foden’s task is clear – to break back into Guardiola’s first-choice attack that currently doesn’t appear to include him on either flank.
SOURCE: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
