Gary Neville has claimed that Phil Foden needs to be playing regularly for Manchester City this season.
The winger made his first appearance of the campaign last night as he completed the full 90 minutes in the Manchester club’s 3-0 win over Burnley.
Before the match started, one pundit shared his thoughts on the 23-year-old and what this new season could hold for him.
Neville says Foden needs to play regularly
Speaking in Sky Sports’ coverage of City’s match at Turf Moor just prior to kick-off, Neville had this to say when asked if this will be a big season for Foden.
He said: “It absolutely is. His talent, you can’t question it, he’s an amazing player, travels with the ball brilliantly.
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“I think it’s just pinning down that position, obviously, Jack Grealish plays on the left more often than not so it’s really interesting it looks like he’s going to play there tonight.
“And the fact that actually, with Grealish being bought for so much money, [Riyad] Mahrez has gone, does he start to play on the right? Looks unlikely so we need to see Phil Foden, from an England perspective playing all the time.
“He’s certainly good enough to play in this City team, it’s making sure that Pep Guardiola can find a spot for him, but he’s got to get the goals, the numbers, the assists that all the rest of them have been doing.”
Last season saw Foden start just 22 of the 32 Premier League games he appeared in and wasn’t included in the starting XI for City’s FA Cup final against Manchester United or the Champions League final against Inter Milan.
With 90 minutes under his belt in this new season, the Englishman earned himself a match rating of 7/10 from the Manchester Evening News, who had this to say about his performance in their player ratings article.
They said: “Nothing came off for him but he linked well with Haaland and was threatening running behind the defence all game.”
This further magnifies what Neville said before the game that to make sure he pins down a regular place in the team, Foden needs to deliver goals and assists when given the chance to play.
Even though he scored 11 goals and provided five assists in the league last season, the winger will have to become more ruthless in front of goal if he wants to become one of the first names in Guardiola’s teamsheet moving forward.