Pep Guardiola hopes that Phil Foden will take confidence from a goal and assist against Sevilla but will always value the other qualities he brings to Manchester City.
Foden has had some criticism online this season for not passing to Erling Haaland in games and more generally has not been at his best, but is one of only five players to have started every single Premier League and Champions League game. He kept his place for the Sevilla game, with Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez having to settle for a place on the bench again.
With Jack Grealish back in the team and goalscoring monster Erling Haaland scoring another two goals, Foden dovetailed well with his attacking teammates in Spain and was directly involved in two of the four goals. His early substitution with the game won could point to some extra rest ahead of the match with Tottenham on Saturday.
Also read: Man City player ratings vs Sevilla
Guardiola admitted after the 4-0 win in Seville that Foden has not been playing well lately, yet said the roles and duties he performs for the team even when struggling with his own level always put him in the reckoning to start matches. "Phil has an incredible thing", the manager told BT Sport.
"Lately he is not playing so good like normal but he always does a job and run and fight and he's stable for the team. I'm pretty sure today the goal and assist he has done will help him.
"Phil's position is dynamic and [so is] his work ethic. We have to learn a lot. You can play badly because you are human but you never, never, never can avoid doing what Phil does every single game and that's why he deserves to play."
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