Manchester City suffered a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday’s Premier League clash and Phil Foden was left out of the matchday squad due to illness. The 22-year-old has not made the bench in City’s last two top-flight outings and was an unused substitute the last time he made the squad, so Darren Ambrose wonders if there’s more going on than health issues.
Foden was called out by Pep Guardiola for displaying a bad attitude in training months ago and saw his club form drop off a cliff, so he stopped starting games on a regular basis. The England international has started just two league outings since mid-November and Ambrose wishes he could see what goes on behind closed doors.
He told talkSPORT: “The Phil Foden situation is a little bit strange. We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, unless you’re actually there. We don’t see what goes on in training, but to keep Foden on the bench for so long is surprising. He’s such a talent, such a good player.”
Foden has made 27 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring nine goals with four assists. The 22-year-old hasn’t scored since November and hasn’t managed an assist since October, however.
He’s failed to create a chance or make a successful dribble in six of his last eight outings across the board and has failed to whip in an accurate cross in seven of those games.
Jack Grealish (4 goal contributions in last 7 PL apps) and Riyad Mahrez (6 goal contributions in last 6 PL apps) have been in better form and keep their place on merit, so Foden will have a difficult task to get back into the team when fit.
In other news, Bernardo Silva ‘wants to leave’, Kylian Mbappe ‘pushing’ for him to join PSG
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