Kevin De Bruyne recently praised Phil Foden’s positional versatility, saying the Manchester City player could successfully transition as a midfielder in the future, and Pep Guardiola says he agrees with the Belgian playmaker.
Foden has mostly operated in a wide role this season, but he started games as a makeshift central midfielder and centre-forward last season, so he’s displayed the positional versatility that Guardiola loves in his players.
The City manager called the 22-year-old “unbelievable” after Man City’s 6-3 win over Manchester United and believes he’s smart enough to play in any role.
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As per the Independent, Guardiola said: “I agree with Kevin, Phil can play in five positions. He can even play as a left-back, he played a few minutes there in a game at home and he played really well.
“In the middle you have to pay more attention in some aspects where he still has to grow for his natural unbelievable instinct to play football. In the middle you have to pay attention to everything surrounding you.
“I would say with the ball and especially without the ball Phil has to improve, but it’s normal. It’s his age. (With) his desire to learn he will do it no doubt.
Foden has made 11 appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals with two assists. Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez have struggled for consistency this season, so Foden has been forced to start out wide on a regular basis. But Guardiola gave the 22-year-old opportunities through the middle in 2021/22 when City were expected to dominate possession.
He partnered Kevin De Bruyne in midfield in last season’s EFL Cup win over Wycombe Wanderers and partnered Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan in the FA Cup win over Peterborough United.
Foden is an excellent playmaker who finds space to create chances (40 chances last season) and is economic in the final third (28 PL apps, 9 goals, 5 assists), but he doesn’t yet have the positional discipline (0.6 tackles per game, 0.4 interceptions per game).
Clearly Guardiola has faith that he’ll improve that aspect of his game moving forward.
In other news, Kevin De Bruyne identified as key to Erling Haaland’s success
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