Phil Foden was a notable absentee from the matchday squad in Manchester City’s 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and Pep Guardiola explained after the game that the 22-year-old “felt unwell” the night before.
He told Sky Sports (h/t Mike Minay)“(Foden) was there at the hotel. He felt unwell all night – really, really bad.” Guardiola named new signing Maximo Perrone on the bench instead, but he wasn’t introduced over the 90 minutes.
Foden hasn’t played a lot of football since the World Cup ended in late-December. He was given 17 minutes from the bench in the EFL Cup win over Liverpool (December 22), had just 17 minutes from the bench in City’s 3-1 win over Leeds United (December 28) and had only three minutes from the bench in their 1-1 draw with Everton (December 31),
In the new year, Foden played 60 minutes in the 1-0 win over Chelsea (January 5), had 90 minutes in the FA Cup win over Chelsea (January 8), played 90 minutes in the EFL Cup defeat to Southampton (January 11), played 57 minutes in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United (January 14) and was an unused substitute in the 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur (January 19).
The England international was then left out of the matchday squad in City’s 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers (January 22), their FA Cup win over Arsenal (January 27) and the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham (February 5), so it’s not been a good couple of months.
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