Phil Foden bang in trouble as Pep Guardiola makes massive Man City discovery

Phil Foden’s drop-off has been dramatic from last season to the present campaign.

The Manchester City playmaker was crowned PFA Player of the Year for 2023/24 after hitting 27 goals in all competitions. With City struggling collectively this season, Foden could have further cemented his status as a superstar among stars by dragging them back to winning ways.

But the statistics do not make pretty reading. The 24-year-old has played 10 Premier League games without scoring this term, featuring in all of City’s seven consecutive winless games before sitting out the match in which they rediscovered their rhythm, against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.

Foden’s bout of bronchitis forced Pep Guardiola to reshuffle the pack. But the manager may have been tempted to do so even if he had been available, with City’s system proving less and less effective off the back of four successive league titles.

Guardiola’s experimental line-up in the 3-0 win over Forest featured Josko Gvardiol in a curious hybrid role which saw him bomb forward from the back. But the most interesting discovery of all came from Jack Grealish’s deployment in central midfield.

The £100million man, signed from Aston Villa in 2021, has spent the vast majority of his stint at the Etihad Stadium stranded out on the left wing. Barring a solid run during the treble-winning campaign of 2022/23, City fans are yet to see the reemergence of the talismanic figure that shot to fame at Villa.

That made Wednesday’s performance that bit more encouraging. Given the freedom to roam the middle of the park, drop deep, drift wide and be more creative with his passing, Grealish looked like a player reborn against the Tricky Trees.

The 29-year-old has never been one to pile in goals or hoard assists, but when he is at his best, he can be hugely influential going forward and set the tempo of a game. Forest found that out in Manchester as Grealish embraced the return to his old position with open arms.

And though that is great news for Guardiola on his quest to catapult City back into the title race, it is undeniably bad news for Foden. The England international spent years working his way in from out wide to his favoured role in attacking midfield, fending off competition from some of the league’s best players in the process.

Now, at a time when his own form is faltering, a new rival has emerged in Grealish. Kevin De Bruyne is also getting back to his best – evidenced by a goal and an assist against Forest – and a superb showing from Jeremy Doku on the left means that Foden is at a real risk of being crowded out.

Ahead of upcoming games against Crystal Palace, Juventus and Manchester United, Guardiola suggested that Grealish will get the chance to make one of the central roles his own.

“Hopefully in the next games, if I decide to play him in that position, he can be involved in the final third and decisive in goals and assists,” said the City boss. “We control the game, and Jack gave us that pace. When to accelerate and control, he did it really well. I’m so happy for him. I know his quality. He has attributes to play in midfield, keep the ball, break the lines and show composure.”