Manchester City legend sends word of warning to Phil Foden after recent struggles | OneFootball

Shaun Wright-Phillips has spoken candidly on what Phil Foden needs to do to return to his best self in a Manchester City shirt this season after a sluggish 2024-25 campaign.

Foden, 25, admitted to physical and mental struggles getting the better of him in the recent season as Manchester City recorded their lowest Premier League points tally (71) under Pep Guardiola with a third-place finish.

The Blues also crashed out of the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage courtesy of a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid, with Manchester City also losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace to mark their most challenging season under Guardiola.

After spearheading his boyhood club to a fourth successive Premier League title in 2024, Foden was voted the PFA Players’ Player of the Year for his personal best season since he broke into Manchester City’s first-team squad from the academy ranks.

However, like much of the City dressing room, Foden failed to match the high standards he has set for himself over the years last term and despite still racking up 20 goal contributions in all competitions over the course of the 2024-25 campaign, the England international himself admitted to have been far from his best in several interviews over the summer.

City have enjoyed a successful yet busy transfer window and after witnessing the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker leave the club this summer, Foden has the right people around him in the attacking and midfield areas to return to his best this season.

The England international did not make the matchday squad for Manchester City’s Premier League opening day win over Wolves last week owing to a fitness issue, the extent of which remains unknown ahead of Saturday’s visit of Tottenham.

Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki starred on their respective Manchester City debuts at the Molineux Stadium and are expected to start against Tottenham at the weekend, which means Foden has it all to do to stake a claim back in Guardiola’s preferred starting XI.

Speaking in a new interview on behalf of AceOdds.com, former Manchester City attacker Shaun Wright-Phillips has given his two cents on what Foden needs to do this season to re-establish himself as indispensable to Guardiola.

“It’s important that Foden re-finds his form. If he gets that form back, then it’s important to the team of course. But when the team is playing well in general across the board, you naturally do that anyway, because there’s more space available for him,” Wright-Phillips said.

“He (Foden) is so good in those little tight pockets and areas, taking the ball on the back-foot and driving at people. I saw that in the Club World Cup, the games that he played, you saw there were elements coming back, he was causing a lot of problems.

“The goal that he (Foden) scored after taking that pass from Cherki (against Al-Hilal) was excellent. He just needs to carry on with that, and the goals would have helped his confidence more than anything else. Hopefully it will run into the season.

“Not only that, the signings that have come in have meant the competition for places has gone up. All of them have amazing qualities and they’re going to be pushing each other and you’ll need to perform if you want to start back to back games.”