Pep Guardiola has expressed confidence that Phil Foden will “explode” once the Manchester City midfielder reconnects with his passion for football.
This season, Foden has seen his role diminished at City, having not started a league match in over two months.
Just two years ago, Foden was recognized as the Premier League‘s top player. Guardiola believes the 25-year-old, who is nearing a new contract agreement at the Etihad Stadium, can return to that caliber.
“He just needs to regain that spirit and joy of playing football,” Guardiola stated.
“Not because I have a contract, not because I have responsibilities, and not for the sake of winning games—just the joy of playing football as if you were a young boy in the streets or at the academy of Man City. Once he taps back into that feeling, he’ll explode and be back on track.”
Manchester City has the opportunity to close the gap to just two points behind Arsenal when they take on Brentford on Saturday.
Arsenal, who face West Ham on Sunday, are seen as the favorites for the title.
However, Guardiola argues that finishing second would still provide valuable experience for the team for the following season.
“It’s the first time for Marc [Guehi], Khusa [Abdukodir Khusanov], Gigi [Donnarumma]—not their first time but their first here—and Antoine [Semenyo],” Guardiola emphasized. “It’s the first time we’re in a title race. You understand that feeling of, ‘I cannot lose this game.’ Sometimes, it takes time to experience that. But as I said, we are still in the mix.”
“This season has been more than good so far. Let’s win the next match, and then we can assess what comes next.”
Middlesbrough has been contacted for comments by the Press Association.
On Friday night, Hull and Millwall faced off in the other Championship semifinal, resulting in a goalless draw in the first leg.
Tigers manager Sergej Jakirovic said he was unaware of the “spygate” controversy regarding Southampton.
“Why would you need to spy? We’ve already played,” Jakirovic remarked. “I know everything about everything. What could Middlesbrough possibly surprise us with? Are they going to field 14 players? It’s unbelievable!”
Millwall manager Alex Neil responded, stating, “I’d definitely comment if someone from Hull was hiding in a tree filming our training. But it’s not something that impacts us, so I won’t delve into that.”
The incident has drawn comparisons to when the League fined Leeds £200,000 for violating ‘good faith’ regulations in 2019, when then-manager Marcelo Bielsa sent a spy to Derby’s training ground ahead of a match between the teams. Bielsa faced significant backlash for his actions and later paid the fine out of his own funds after justifying his coaching methods in a lengthy press briefing.