WEMBLEY — He had everything in place to be the greatest England player of all time. Talent in abundance. Under the tutelage of the greatest manager in history. Part of various Manchester City teams who belong in the pantheon of the Premier League greats.
Instead Phil Foden, at a juncture in his career when he should be approaching his footballing peak, should not be even anywhere near England’s World Cup squad this summer – never mind the starting XI.
As Pep Guardiola shuffled his pack for City’s FA Cup semi-final clash with Southampton, Foden was given a rare start. He needed to show an element of sabre-rattling, some semblance of being capable of any form of renaissance, after a second successive season of a few highs but a myriad of lows.
Yet, as domestic treble-chasing City stormed to a record fourth successive FA Cup final with a hard-earned 2-1 victory, Foden could only watch on from the sidelines as Nico Gonzalez slammed home the stunning winner. He had been hauled off 12 minutes into the second half, having offered zero threat, zero guile and most unsettlingly of all, no desire to have any effect on the game at all.
Why his alarming decline is so concerning is we know he can still do it. In late November, early December, Foden plundered six goals in five games, his sensational late winner against Leeds the standout. This is the Roy of the Rovers character he always threatened to be for City, deciding crucial games with jaw-dropping individual moments of brilliance.
He hasn’t scored since in 25 appearances. Many of those appearances have been late substitute cameos, which is telling in itself. Guardiola simply does not trust this once generational talent at the time of year when results matter most.
It isn’t for want of trying on Guardiola’s part. Foden has been his pet project in Manchester ever since he arrived a decade ago. As soon as he laid eyes on the Stockport Iniesta, he knew the phenom he had at his disposal.
Despite everyone else telling him that a young Foden should have gone out on loan to learn his trade as he struggled to hold down a regular first-team spot early in his City career, Guardiola kept his fledgling talent on the training ground – no better place to learn, under the watch of the figure who has had the most transformative influence on English football.
Foden is without a goal for City since December (Photo: Getty)Even in the campaign when he reached optimum level two years ago, his stunning strike against West Ham clinching City the title, and Foden the PFA Player of the Year gong, Guardiola made sure to keep laying down challenges. He would insist even after his best performances that his midfield maestro needed more pausa to become complete.
Two successive seasons of nothing gives Foden the unwanted honour of being the only major project Guardiola has failed to see through.
“It is a question of time, playing more,” Guardiola said after City’s comeback victory at Wembley. “He [Foden] was not bad. It was not easy for him in the first half because we were playing in the pockets, in his position he was man-marked. It’s not easy to find him.
“Always you expect one connection with Rayan [Cherki] in the first half, always good passes. It is a question of time”.
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Michael Hincks: Man City are getting cocky – if this can’t fuel Arsenal, nothing will The i Paper Team: Will Arsenal bottle the title race? Our football experts’ predictionsTime is, however, running out. Mentally, it appears Foden’s slump is taking its toll. This isn’t just a severe bout of the yips. That wouldn’t last two years.
Perhaps a change of manager will do Foden good, if Guardiola does choose to leave in the summer. Not because the Catalan has done anything wrong in tutoring Foden, but something needs to change to reignite the fire within.
Maybe even a summer switch away from his boyhood club is the answer. It simply cannot go on like this.
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