From best in league to bench - Foden's mysterious loss of form

By

Football tactics correspondent

ByJoe Rindl

BBC Sport journalist

What's going on with Phil Foden?

The Manchester City forward has started only four of his side's past 12 games in all competitions and on Wednesday was an unused substitute in the 3-0 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

He has played just 182 minutes of Premier League football across City's past six matches, with manager Pep Guardiola preferring new signing Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki and now also Savinho.

The 25-year-old England playmaker has not scored since 14 December, when he finished a run of six goals in five games.

Can Foden get back to that level? Will he be given the chance to? And what could it mean with a World Cup on the horizon?

Manchester United's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney thinks a tactical shift from Guardiola is the reason for Foden's lack of minutes.

Rooney says City are not playing so much "side-to-side, through lines and keeping the ball for long periods".

"They've gone a bit more dynamic with Semenyo and Cherki. They're a bit more dynamic than Foden," explained Rooney.

"It looks at times a little bit more physical, a bit more direct when they get the ball, running at defenders. Maybe that doesn't suit Phil as much as some of the other players."

City signed Semenyo from Bournemouth in January for £64m and the winger has played every Premier League minute but three since his arrival.

Semenyo, summer signing Cherki and even Nico O'Reilly, who is mixing playing in midfield as well as at left-back, have scored 17 City goals between them since Foden's last strike.

In his last start Foden was also criticised for failing to track Elliot Anderson in the build-up to Nottingham Forest's equaliser in their 2-2 draw at Etihad Stadium last week, which has taken the destination of the title out of City's hands.

He was substituted 65 seconds later.

"We don't always know everything. He could be carrying a knock or a particular injury that they have to protect and he can't get to the level in training," ex-City midfielder Michael Brown told The Wayne Rooney Show.

"Why does he go from playing every game to hardly having any minutes? How does it get to that? There's something there."

Per 90 minutes, Foden's goals and assists over the past two seasons are down compared to his proceeding campaigns.

His form in the 2022-23 season helped City to the Treble.

The following campaign he was named the PFA's men's player of the year after 19 goals and eight assists helped City win an unprecedented fourth straight league title.

Foden, who has already won 17 major club honours in eight full seasons with City, has struggled to return to those levels.

Since his short hot streak before Christmas, in which he bagged six goals in four games inside 15 days, he has not scored in 18 matches in all competitions.

His downturn will mean his England place comes under threat, with Thomas Tuchel to name his next England squad on 14 March.

Foden was included in England's last squad, coming on as a substitute against Serbia in a World Cup qualifying win in November.

Towards the end of 2025 Guardiola began tweaking his system, moving Foden from a central midfield role to one that resembled a second striker.

Guardiola said at the time: "I know when he plays close to Erling, like in the year we won the fourth Premier League [in a row], Phil was the best player in the Premier League."

And this worked for a while. At the start of December, there was a four-game run in which Foden scored six goals, often starting on the wing before moving into the space behind Haaland, freed by full-backs O'Reilly or Mattheus Nunes holding the width.

Foden has been subject to numerous role changes throughout his career and part of his success was his versatility.

This was often done to balance the team in some way but Foden has found himself on the bench for the same reason of late.

With City facing injuries to their wide players, as well as being exposed to counter-attacks through the middle, Guardiola stumbled upon a narrow attacking shape without Foden that alternates between a 4-2-2-2 and 4-3-1-2.

And as has been the case for City in previous seasons, if you miss the boat as Guardiola lands on his team for the run-in, whether that is because of form, tactics or injuries, finding your way back often requires a pre-season.

Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Joe Hart, Joao Cancelo - there's a long list of City players who were suddenly dropped by Guardiola and then quickly sold or loaned out.

This summer defender Manuel Akanji joined Italian club Inter Milan on loan from City having made 26 Premier League appearances the season before.

In February he suggested, external the club had told him he was not needed shortly just before his move.

Perhaps the most high-profile example of a player looking out of favour under Guardiola only to be brought back into the starting XI is Yaya Toure.

City legend Toure was left out of their Champions League squad in Guardiola's first season in England in 2016-17, which Toure's agent called "humiliating".

Guardiola refused to play Toure until he received a public apology.

That apology came a few weeks later and Toure, despite missing City's opening 11 league games, returned to start 22 of their remaining 27 Premier League matches.

Mark: Sadly, I think it's time we cashed in! For far too long he's disappeared in big games or when it needs someone to step up to the plate. He's a quality player - no doubt about that - but how long do you keep giving him chances? Clearly there's an issue, so a fresh start could best for both.

Tom: Don't know what it is with Foden at the moment. Is it confidence? Fitness? I don't know, but I think he needs a run of games to get back to his best. I believe he will get back to his best as he was outstanding before new year. Every player goes through a dip. But we also need to play to his strength and give him the ball more when he's on the edge of the box.

Doug: He appears to have lost confidence in himself, and his ability. Wanders around the pitch as if he doesn't know where he is supposed to be playing, and has very little impact. He's holding on to the ball too long and running into dead ends. And when he loses the ball has developed a habit of just watching the game instead of trying to get it back straight away.

Kevin: Let's be honest. Foden's form over the last two seasons has been poor. Not good enough to be in the first 11. Time to sell?