“It was around the corner” – Pep Guardiola assesses Phil Foden’s inconsistencies in form | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardola has given his two cents on how Phil Foden can maintain his form followings ups and downs in the last 18 months.

Foden started the current season well and rediscovered the form he regularly displayed during his personal best 2023-24 PFA Players’ Player of the Year award winning campaign, wherein he led his boyhood club to a historic fourth successive Premier League title. However, he hasn’t been first-choice in attack in recent weeks.

The 25-year-old underwent a downturn in form in the 2024-25 season and admitted to physical and mental struggles derailing him from building on the preceding term as Manchester City endured their most challenging year under Guardiola.

The Blues are vying for silverware on four fronts in the coming months and speaking in the build-up to a 2-0 FA Cup fourth round win over Salford City at the Etihad Stadium this weekend, Guardiola was asked whether Foden has to earn his way back into the starting XI after having struggled for starts of late.

“I said many times, I have zero, zero, zero doubts, zero about Phil,” Guardiola said earlier this week. “He has to recover himself good and just focus on playing football and going to fish. He loves fishing and that’s it.

“When he is that, Phil is back and will be back. It’s not 20 centuries ago when he was the best player in the Premier League. It was around the corner. It was not many seasons ago.

“This is Phil Foden. Just to be relaxed his mind, the joy, the smile and happiness and play and play and play. He will play every day.

“Not all the players, me neither, I don’t like to play every single three days.He will play football every day. Every day. And when you have this gift, just be relaxed and do it.”

A sixth minute own goal from Alfie Dorrington and a second-half header from Marc Guehi helped City progress to the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday afternoon, with Guardiola giving his players some time off to rest and recuperate after a gruelling run of games of late.

On how many days off Manchester City will have after Salford, the 55-year-old added: “Few. After Newcastle we have a long week, yeah. Hopefully it can be the last one, last two. After Saturday, tomorrow, until Wednesday afternoon, everybody (will be at) home.

“When we give four days (off) between games, we are another team, with (every) three days we arrive especially with a lot of injuries, it’s almost unsustainable. Last season was a big example of that, but- it’s important to be fresh in your mind.

“I learned in this country, when you can give a day off, (give a) day off. Because the schedule is so tight. And that’s why people can travel with their families, different environment. Just change a little bit. They come back after three days, prepare the Newcastle game and after Leeds. I think it will be good for us.

“That doesn’t mean maybe we’ll go and play disaster and maybe we lose the vibe that we have right now. Maybe. I don’t know. But I think everybody needs it. Staff, backroom staff, everyone; clean the minds. It has been so demanding, always it is, especially with a lot of injuries we had in November, December. So it’s really important to have this.

“That’s why we were so happy to qualify for the Champions League (Round of 16 automatically), in the first eight. That’s the main target. But especially to have these last two weeks, we can breathe a little bit and don’t see each other. We are tired to see each other.”

On whether he has any plans himself for his period of time off, Guardiola said: “Listen, I give a day off for me! For me. Of course I have plans.”

Guardiola made wholesale changes to his lineup for the win over Salford City, with John Stones wearing the armband upon his return to the starting XI from injury and the pair of Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland missing out after being deemed “not fully fit”.