Pep Guardiola delivers passionate speech in support of Phil Foden after contract breakthrough

Guardiola: No doubt about Phil, from the bottom of my heart

Asked about the decision to offer Foden a new contract amid his difficult run of form, Guardiola was forthright in his backing of the Stockport-born attacker.

“I said many times, no doubt about Phil, about his impact,” Guardiola said. “He’s a homegrown player from our academy, he has been massively important in our seasons together and I wish that from the bottom of my heart he can come back to his best and play the next years with all of us, helping to continue to be that team being what it deserves to be.”

The reference to Foden as a homegrown academy player carries particular weight at a club that has long prided itself on the development of its own talent.

Since breaking into the Manchester City first-team in 2017, Foden has won six Premier League titles and was voted the PFA Players’ Player of the Year for the 2023-24 campaign as he drove the Blues to a record fourth successive league title.

Just go back to who you are: Pep’s advice for Foden

Guardiola then delivered his most expansive assessment yet of why Foden has struggled and why he is certain the turnaround is coming, using the example of Bernardo Silva‘s own difficult third season at City as a reference point.

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“Always I’ve said to the players that in a career, a long career, except cases, for example, I remember Bernardo in his first season, and I put Bernardo as an example because he’s the player like can represent more the stability, in terms of mentality,” the Manchester City manager added.

“(Silva) didn’t play much (in his first season), the second season was for me the best, he was unbelievable – and the third season was like that. He said he didn’t have energy and said to me three quarters into the season, ‘Next season I’ll be back, I’ll be back’.

“Bernardo is special because he has incredible self-confidence but the third season was not good, really. And he came back. So with Phil, sometimes you have that period. It’s always what I’ve said to him, ‘Never forget who you are’.

“As a football player, never forget who you are, your skills, or your potential. It’s not new, right? Potential is your quality, your skills. Just do it again, and do it a thousand million times. So just feel free because it’s not about he’s lazy, it’s not about not having the work ethic, it’s not about like ‘I don’t care’ – it’s completely opposite!

“He’s a guy that’s like go and love and recovery every three days during many times, he has proven it! Just go back to who you are – nothing. Don’t pretend to be something different or something special, and it will come. I said, ‘It depends on you, I can help you and many people can help you’.

“Just visualise that biggest smile on your face, the joy you have to play’, because he’s one of the players as I’ve said many times that’s like Alex (Oleksandr) Zinchenko have, Riyad Mahrez, many players that go on the pitch and in the training sessions and now it’s, ‘Pep another competition, another game, stay more 10, 15 minutes’ because they love, they like it – and Phil is one of them!

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“It’s just recover that spirit, that pleasure to be a football player, not because ‘I have a contract’, not because ‘I have duties to do’, not because ‘I have to win that game’ – forget about all of that!

“It’s just the joy to play football like when you were a little boy, or were on the streets, or in your school, or in the academy of Man City, and were enjoying. It’s just go back to that feeling.

“And when that happens, he will explode again, he will be back because he’s not a player like you and me we’re going to discover him. He’s not 35 years old, like your legs don’t run any more or you’re in a wheelchair.

“It’s not the case; he’s still young, he still has the energy, passion, and love and for that – and the moment he’ll do that, one time, he’ll be back, I’m pretty sure.”

Pressed on whether he sees signs of that return already, Guardiola pointed specifically to the Everton cameo this week and the direct message he has delivered to Foden about how to rediscover his impact.

Guardiola said: “Yeah, for example, the minutes he played in Everton, his movements, and his aggressiveness – we talked about that.

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“‘So Phil, who you are as a player? What is your biggest quality? It’s turn and go. Turn and go and attack the box and don’t lose that. It doesn’t matter if you are in better form or bad form. So you are not a player to control the game. Your quality is to be a machine attacking the ball with the sense of assists and goals. And make the keeper, threat that you’re going to shoot.’

“And it happened two or three times against Everton in that moment. Go on the pitch with 2-1 down or 3-1 is not easy, you know that – and he did really well.”

The clarity of Guardiola’s message to Foden is striking. Rather than asking him to do more or be something different, the City manager is actively stripping back the complexity, reminding Foden of the qualities that make him genuinely dangerous and urging him not to lose them regardless of circumstance.

For a player who was the best in England just two years ago, Guardiola’s conviction that the version of Foden capable of that is still in there, waiting to come back, will be the most important thing he has heard all season.