Phil Foden has rarely appeared this season and of course has rarely been mentioned. Last season's Premier League MVP only played 14 minutes in Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Brighton.
Explaining why Foden rarely plays, coach Pep Guardiola denied that the reason was due to lack of energy, confidence or injury. He thought it was simply his choice.
Foden was also on the bench when the Citizens visited Tottenham last month. The same thing happened in the match where Real Madrid traveled to the Etihad in the Champions League. In other circumstances, such a large absence of Foden would be a surprise. But many things have turned around at the Etihad this season. And Foden is one of them.
Last season, the 24-year-old took on the role he had long expected when he played as a key attacking midfielder for Man City. Foden's 27 goals have spoken them all. However, in the context of The Citizens' decline this season, Foden has also been caught up.
Will Foden regain an important position in Guardiola's plans for next season when Rodri kept the midfield company, or will the Spanish strategist build a squad around other players? Both are possible.
Guardiola's reaction when asked if Foden did not start in the match against Brighton was very noteworthy. Because he did not directly mention the English player.
"All coaches around the world have to make the most correct decision. When they chose 11 players, they had to believe that they would win. I have never seen a manager choose a team thinking that team will lose. I tried to be honest, I needed speed ahead, I needed stability in midfield with the intelligence of Ilkay Gundogan and the fitness of Nico Gonzalez" - Guardiola said.
In fact, Nico Gonzalez and Ilkay Gundogan are an imperfect couple. Gonzalez is far behind Rodri in terms of class, while Gundogan has been slower. However, it is worth mentioning that Foden is not really competing for the positions of the two names mentioned above. In the draw with Brighton, Man City lacked a breakthrough player when De Bruyne only played for 4 minutes. However, Foden is still not a starting player.
Against Brighton, Guardiola almost deployed a 4-4-2 system, a formation in which he prioritized the use of rookie Omar Marmoush over Foden. The Egyptian showed his speed and dynamism to better combine with Erling Haaland.
Marmoush's arrival was part of Guardiola's squad reshuffle. His thinking is also changing, with a focus on the speed of real wingers. The proof is that in Man City's last 4 matches in the Premier League, Jeremy Doku and Savinho have both started together. And compared to these two players, Foden tends to drift into the middle of the field as well as be behind in speed.
Guardiola's rapid rebuilding in January this year was driven by Man City's urgent situation. This has led to some recent studies. Foden did not take on the striker position well when Haaland was injured. The England international struggled when he was given a difficult task of leading Man City's attack at the Bernabeu.
Marmoush has been used by Guardiola on the left, right and midfield - all positions that Foden can take on. Marmoush's good form caused Foden to drift to the middle of the field and even sit on the bench. After a slow start to the season, interrupted by illness and injury, Foden has regained his form with 6 goals in January 2025. However, he has not scored any goals in his last 11 appearances since then.
Overall, Guardiola will have more questions than answers as he tries to find the timing, location and frequency of using Foden next season.
