Phil Foden opens up on ‘very slow’ start to season and ‘enjoying’ his Manchester City football again | OneFootball

Manchester City may have Phil Foden back to the peak of his powers, with the England international reflecting on a slow start to the new season.

The 24-year-old has been largely absent for the club in the opening weeks of the new season, aside from a brief cameo showing on the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign at Chelsea in mid-August.

Pep Guardiola was often keen to credit an illness as the reason behind Foden’s continued absence from the matchday set-up, and that was backed up by his withdrawal from the England international squad during the September international break.

However, having taken on a growing number of appearances and minutes in the last few weeks, many believe Phil Foden may have finally shaken off his early season struggles and is closer to returning to his outstanding best.

Speaking to broadcasters after this week’s Champions League game in Slovakia, Phil Foden reflected on his return to Manchester City’s scoresheet after a slow and challenging start to the new season on a personal front.

“It’s been a bit of a slow start to the season, so it was nice to get back out there and score,” Foden said. “I’m feeling okay now, back at it. Obviously it was a slow start to the season after the Euros, but I’m slowly getting there now and getting back into it.”

Offering comments to Manchester City’s official club website, Foden continued while reflecting on Tuesday night’s win in Slovakia, “A good night for myself, obviously being back out there, obviously nice to score again.

“But more importantly just enjoying my football again! I’m delighted with the result and how I played. I’ve had a very slow start to the season with a bit of illness and a bit of fatigue. But I’m getting back into it now and feeling more like myself.”

Quizzed on what Pep Guardiola had to say to him upon being substituted in the second-half of the Champions League encounter, Foden revealed, “He just said I played well and I think he’s just delighted for me to be back out there, to be honest, and enjoying it!”

Manchester City’s 0-4 win against Slovan Bratislava puts them in a much stronger position in the UEFA Champions League’s league phase, after their 0-0 draw on matchday one left them languishing in 19th position.

In Europe, City will return to action with a home contest against Sparta Prague at the Etihad Stadium after the October international break, whilst a meeting with Fulham in the Premier League rounds off the latest bulk of matches this weekend.