“We will try all of us” – Pep Guardiola outlines plan to get Phil Foden back to his Manchester City best | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has outlined what needs to be done to get Phil Foden performing back to his blistering best for Manchester City after a difficult season for the club.

The England international has struggled throughout all competitions for Guardiola’s side alongside the collective issues witnessed by the squad as a whole due to injuries and fitness problems alone.

For Foden, he has not been immune to such, although an ability to contribute to anywhere near as many goalscoring moments as he did last season, even when fully-fit, has caused concerns about his longevity after a staggering opening five years in his top-level career.

Manchester City will be assessing their first-team squad for possible solutions to life without Kevin De Bruyne from the start of next season, and some have suggested that Foden should be the man to step up into a central role and contribute more heavily to creative output.

Speaking during a recent press conference, manager Pep Guardiola was quizzed on what needs to be done from his side and as a club to get Phil Foden performing back to his very best for City, particularly after an award-laden campaign in 2023/24.

“We will try, all of us, to help him, absolutely. We will try,” Guardiola insisted, before admitting that it is a subject that has been spoken about with the Stockport-born star personally.

“If the team would have played better, he will play better. The reason why he was not good is – a hypothetical player that you can choose – OK, we’ll sell him. Problems are gone? It’s not about that! So the team plays better, you know, the individual players lift,” he continued.

“There are a few players in the world that for himself can lift a team, and we don’t have, I’d say. We have to be as a team, understand what you have to do defensively, spirit, offensively, our patterns we had that in the past always were so precise, and then this season we struggled.

“The last game was a big example. And this is what I try to recover in this seven games, plus the FA Cup, plus the (FIFA Club) World Cup, and after, of course next season.”

Phil Foden is currently sidelined with an injury problem sustained in the 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford earlier this month, and subsequently missed the dramatic 5-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola is due to face the media once again on Friday afternoon looking ahead to his side’s final trip to Goodison Park on Saturday where an in-form Everton side led by David Moyes awaits as the next challenge.