Why Guardiola needs to persist with in-form Foden despite De Bruyne's return

 

"Kevin De Bruyne is warming up. The whole country is starting to shake." 

 

Jurgen Klopp was half-heartedly joking when he said this to Sky Sports following Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Newcastle United. However, the Manchester City maestro does have the talent to turn the title race in Pep Guadiola’s favour.  

 

His return to fitness has come at a key time for the reigning champions. City find themselves five points off the top right now but do have a game in hand. Title rivals are faltering too with Aston Villa dropping points against Manchester United while Arsenal have taken just a single point in their last three Premier League matches. Liverpool are without Mohamed Salah for the month of January and their injury list is mounting at the worst possible time.  

 

A good run of form for City over the next month or so could catapult them into the lead. De Bruyne could be the instigator of this second half of the season push for the title.  

 

But one player who might not be too ecstatic to see the No.17 return to the first-team picture is Phil Foden.  

 

Over recent weeks, the City academy graduate has been deployed centrally, with Julian Alvarez leading the line in place of the injured Erling Haaland. Safe to say he’s enjoying himself in the new role.  

 

The 23-year-old finished with the highest WhoScored rating in successive matches as City made it two wins from two following their return from the Club World Cup.  

 

Foden scored a big goal against Everton. It was the equaliser at Goodison Park and Guardiola’s side went on to win 3-1. He had a total of seven shots against Sean Dyche’s men while completing 94% of his passes and playing three key passes - a total only Jack Grealish and Alvarez (both 4) could better.  

 

He followed that showing up with another impressive outing in the win over Sheffield United. The England international was given a WhoScored rating of 8.51 at the Etihad as the hosts ran out 2-0 victors against the team rooted to the bottom of the table. For further context here, only Rodri (8.18) and Alvarez (7.57) managed to finish with a rating of higher than 7.30.  

 

The 31-cap international was almost flawless in possession, finishing the game with a pass success rate of 97.6%. This statistic is even more impressive when you consider he played six key passes, double that of anyone else on the pitch. He was managing to complete what could be viewed as risky passes, and it's all the more impressive when you consider that he has made more key passes (10) than he has misplaced passes (8) across his last three league outings. 

 

 

Foden also attempted more dribbles (5) than anyone else and no player could better the number of successful dribbles (2).  

 

He also assisted a goal in City’s final Premier League match before their Club World Cup involvement, the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace. It means Foden has a goal or an assist in his last three outings in the English top-flight, a run of games in which Man City have taken seven points.  

 

This flurry of final-phase contributions has seen his tally for the campaign swell to five goals and six assists. He’s on course to better the 16-goal involvements he finished with last season, meaning it would be his most productive season to date for his boyhood team. His good form is backed up by his highest ever WhoScored rating (7.32) in the Premier League The fact he’s 19 games into the season, with over 1,500 minutes to his name, shows this isn’t a purple patch.  

 

The 23-year-old could be stepping it up. But to do so, he needs to be regularly playing. There are no guarantees his run in the starting XI extends into the second half with De Bruyne now back.  

 

What Guardiola does over the next few weeks will be intriguing. With the Belgian playmaker available and Haaland set to return, he has the potential to juggle those two, Foden and Alvarez. If Foden remains part of that rotation cycle, it could be a passing-of-the-torch type of season for the versatile attacker, with the former Barcelona manager looking to manage the minutes of 32-year-old De Bruyne. 

 

However, if Foden is shunted out wide to accommodate the one-time Chelsea man and Alvarez, his form over recent weeks has counted for nothing and it tells you exactly how he is viewed by the Catalan-born coach.

Why Guardiola needs to persist with in-form Foden despite De Bruyne's return