Phil Foden has the full backing of Pep Guardiola to play an important role in the run-in despite starting only three of the past 10 Premier League games for Manchester City.
The England international was in the side for the 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest last weekend but was an unused substitute in Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 draw at RB Leipzig. Foden will hope to start at Bournemouth on Saturday evening, the fourth of five straight away matches for City in a hectic period for the title challengers.
Asked what Foden required to get back into the team, Guardiola said: “To be himself. I saw other players better than him at times after the World Cup. He struggled with his ankle after the World Cup a lot.”
Foden was not used for almost a month after starting in the Manchester derby defeat at Old Trafford in mid-January. “He played an incredible effort, playing with pain and arrived at the moment when he said: ‘Pep, I cannot [play] any more,’ so he had to rest and recover,” Guardiola said.
“We gave him a week or two weeks off, and after that Riyad [Mahrez] was in his best time of the season and Jack [Grealish] made a step forward. It’s not about intention, he’s a lovely guy. If you are saying I don’t trust with Phil, forget about it. Phil is our diamond.”
Foden featured at the World Cup for England, starting in the quarter-final defeat by France. The tournament has taken a mental toll on a number of players yet to find their best form since returning. “Always I say to him: ‘You are so young, next season is a new one,’” Guardiola said. “If you drop a little bit this season compared to the previous one, it’s an absolutely normal process.
“How you handle it, is the question; if you handle it well. He is training like an animal, there’s no doubt about that, and he will be back, like he was back at Nottingham, where he was brilliant, perfect. Just continue.”
