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Manchester City vs Bournemouth: Phil Foden continues to wait for his big chance at Man City
Premier League: Phil Foden has made six starts for Manchester City who host Bournemouth on Saturday.© AFP
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Phil Foden hopes he will get the chance to make his mark for Man CityPhil Foden has made six starts for Manchester CityPep Guardiola thinks highly of the 18-year-old midfielder
Phil Foden will have to wonder what he needs to do to earn a starting spot at Manchester City and can only hope he finally gets his chance during a packed December fixture. Saturday’s Premier League home meeting with Bournemouth is the first of nine games across three competitions that City will play during the final month of 2018. There is no doubt that Pep Guardiola thinks highly of 18-year-old midfielder Foden, and the running back thinks so too. The club is understood to be in talks to extend his contract until 2024.
But the manager’s positive words about the England Under-21 international have still not really translated into a big opportunity in the big game.
Foden has made six starts for the club – two in Champions League matches that effectively came to nothing, three in the League Cup and one in this season’s Community Shield. All 12 of his Premier League appearances have come as a substitute.
It appeared Foden might get his chance on Tuesday, when City traveled to Lyon needing a point to book their place in the Champions League knockout stage.
Guardiola needed to choose a team without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, saying in his pre-match press conference that Foden was “definitely ready”.
Yet when the teamsheet was released, Foden was among the only substitutes as Guardiola decided to move Raheem Sterling out of position in a reshaped midfield – with Foden an injury-time replacement for Sergio Aguero in a 2–2 draw. As only 92 seconds of action were given. Draw 2.
The implication was clear – despite all of Foden’s talent, Guardiola did not think the young midfielder was ready to face opponents who pressed as aggressively as Lyon.
encouraging praise
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However, at least there have been some reassuring words from the manager.
“It is not important whether he is a star of a few minutes or of a lot of minutes,” Guardiola said. “He’s part of the team. It’s about my decisions. He’s definitely ready to play.”
“He can start in any competition or any sport. He is ready. After that, he has to compete with his teammates and sometimes that is not possible, but he is ready.”
For those who have followed his career closely, Foden has looked ready for some time. He scored a spectacular individual goal in the FA Youth Cup final defeat to Chelsea in April 2017, and six months later he earned the Golden Ball award for best player at the Under-17 World Cup.
When he scored his first senior goal for City in a 3–0 League Cup win at League One side Oxford in September, opposition manager Carl Robinson compared him to retired Spanish international Andrés Iniesta.
Yet it is difficult to break into a Manchester City team filled with some of the best players in the world. Foden’s youth teammate Jadon Sancho decided the battle was unwinnable and left for Borussia Dortmund in 2017.
Sancho is not a regular starter in Germany, but he has made enough of an impact to win three full England caps. Can Foden match that score by staying in Manchester?
Guardiola thinks so, if the midfielder does the basics right. “He’s a young player,” the City manager said. “He has to build his own career, and move forward step by step. Don’t pay too much attention to the media. Train as well as you can. Play as well as you can. Then your career will speak for itself.”
USA news by Harneet Kaur