“Today was not good” – Pep Guardiola explains Phil Foden substitution in FA Cup fourth round win | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has explained his thinking around Phil Foden being taken off for Antoine Semenyo against Salford City on Saturday.

An early own goal from Alfie Dorrington and a late header from Marc Guehi at the Etihad Stadium helped the Blues progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup, with City winning for the fourth game on the bounce and extending their unbeaten run to seven games.

City have cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to four points in recent weeks, having come from behind to beat Liverpool at Anfield earlier this month before seeing off Fulham to continue to pile the pressure on Mikel Arteta and co.

Arsenal will face off against City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on March 22 in a clash that is expected to have major ramifications on confidence in both title chasing dressing rooms, with the Premier League’s top two also meeting at the Etihad Stadium in April.

City are starting to purr like usual, with Erling Haaland rediscovering his goalscoring form and January signing pair Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo also getting off the mark after joining from Crystal Palace and Bournemouth respectively.

Omar Marmoush has also impressed since returning from a one month absence owing to Egypt’s participation in the Africa Cup of Nations, with competition for places as stiff as it has ever been in attack for Guardiola.

However, Phil Foden has struggled for consistent starts and form in recent months and after being handed a start against Salford City in the FA Cup on Saturday, the England international was replaced by Antoine Semenyo after 65 minutes.

Quizzed on Foden’s recent form after the win, Guardioa said: “He’s alright. I am a big admirer of Phil and I’m pretty sure that today, like Rayan Cherki, like Tijjani (Reijnders), like Phil didn’t involve and play good because the process or reading what we should do, we didn’t do that. That is the only reason why.

“So I’m not judging one player because, no – we should move better, the four guys behind, Rico (Lewis) and Nico and John (Stones) and Khusa (Abdukodir Khusanov), when the ball is one side, bring the ball quick to the opposite side – these guys who have produced there, because they have incredible energy and incredible passion to play and do it.

“So, play bad? No. No. But sometimes with the way we played, the players that play in that position up front, we need better process. And today (against Salford City) was not good.”

Guardiola has repeatedly alleviated concerns over Foden’s inconsistencies in form of late and having started the season brilliantly, it has to be said that the 25-year-old is yet to rediscover the kind of form that saw him spearhead Manchester City to a historic fourth successive Premier League title in the 2023-24 campaign.

Foden is contracted at the Etihad Stadium till 2027 and club bosses will want to tie their academy poster boy to a fresh, long-term deal sooner rather than later, with Rodri also in line to put pen to paper and commit his future to Manchester City.