Pep Guardiola gives honest response to Phil Foden ‘lacking confidence’ claims | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has explained why Phil Foden has struggled to be at his best this season after the England attacker failed to make a difference for Manchester City in their goalless draw with Southampton on Saturday.

City were frustrated to a point by a resilient Saints side that dug deep and defended with 10 men behind the ball for most of the game, drawing harsh criticism from Ruben Dias in the immediate aftermath of full-time on not trying to play to win.

Erling Haaland, Josko Gvardiol and Nico O’Reilly all came close to securing another pivotal win for Manchester City in their bid to secure qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League, with City dropping to fourth place courtesy of their draw as Newcastle secured a 2-0 win over fellow top four hopefuls Chelsea on Sunday.

Manchester City have recovered from their slump and clicked into gear in the business end of the season and a week before they play Crystal Palace in the FA Cup at Wembley, Guardiola’s men were held to a goalless draw by Simon Rusk’s side on the south coast.

Phil Foden was recalled to the starting XI by Guardiola after five games without a start for Manchester City in all competitions and as was the case with every Manchester City player trying to slice open the Saints backline, the England international found little success.

Foden has endured a mixed-bag season and, by his own admission, has failed to kick on from his 2023-24 PFA Players’ Player of the Year winning campaign where he led his boyhood club to a fourth successive Premier League title – whilst managing 10 goals and six assists in 43 appearances in all competitions.

Asked in his post-match press conference on Saturday whether Foden is struggling for confidence, Pep Guardiola launched a defence of the 24-year-old attacker, who has admitted he has felt the effects of mental and physical burnout this season, where Manchester City have been far from their best.

“It’s not easy. Of course, it’s a type of game like Phil last season is breaking down for his talents, small spaces for the shots, for the assists, for the intuition right to the box,” Guardiola said of Foden.

“But today (Saturday vs Southampton) we make a good game; I think in the middle, in the first-half, he was a little bit out, away from that.

“His position should be close to the box, close to Erling (Haaland), because at the end to score the goals there you have to be there.

“But the second half he was more active, there were more players there. And Kevin (De Bruyne), with his talent, made some balls, some delivery, balls there that we had chances, that unfortunately we could not score.”

It remains to be seen whether Foden will make the cut to start in the FA Cup final this Saturday and despite admitting that the Englishman has been away from his usual self this season, Guardiola will be hopeful that Foden will be back to his best next term.

Foden has two years left on his contract and it remains unlikely at present that any contract talks are held over the summer. The Manchester City board will want to see the forward rediscover his usual best next season and then open discussions for a new deal.