Manchester City were comfortably beaten by Liverpool on Sunday, and during the game, Gary Neville noticed something very unusual from Phil Foden.
Phil Foden had an incredibly difficult day at the office at The Etihad, as Liverpool swept Manchester City aside.
Pep Guardiola will be utterly baffled at the manner in which this Premier League season has unfolded.
The Man City manager has been at the Etihad since the summer of 2016, and this season has been his most challenging yet, by a long way.
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Pep’s struggles this term have led to rumours suggesting that he faces an uncertain future in charge of Manchester City.
Guardiola will undoubtedly still be at the club for many years still to come, in spite of those claims.
And he is apparently plotting a huge rebuild at the Etihad in the summer, with eight-first team players said to be up for sale.
The Spaniard also has to figure out a way of getting some of his underperforming stars back to their very best.
Phil Foden had a nightmare for Manchester City vs Liverpool
Foden put in one of his worst performances of the season for City against the Reds.
He quite simply wasn’t at the races, and everything he tried failed to work.
We all know just how talented the 24-year-old is, but he hasn’t shown any kind of consistent form this season.
It was only nine months ago when he ended the 2023/24 campaign with 27 goals and 12 assists in all competitions.
In fairness to Foden, he hasn’t been the only Man City player who has regressed this season, far from it in fact.
However, it could be argued that the England international’s drop-off has been more drastic than everyone else’s, aside from maybe Kevin De Bruyne.
Getting to the bottom of the reasons why will be a conundrum for himself and Pep Guardiola to figure out.
The Man City boss clearly tried something different with Foden against Liverpool, but it simply didn’t work.
Gary Neville: Phil Foden did something unusual for Manchester City vs Liverpool
When commentating on Sky Sports, Neville highlighted how Foden began the game against Liverpool as a centre-forward for City (Sunday February 23rd, 4:12pm):
“The game’s not quite settled down but it does look like Phil Foden has gone to centre-forward for Manchester City, where that man (Erling Haaland) would normally be.“
Foden has only played 30 games as a centre-forward for Man City – just 9.8% of his 304 appearances for the club (Transfermarkt).
The last time he played through the middle as a striker in the Premier League for City was way back in May 2022, during the 5-0 win over Newcastle. – that was 1,022 days ago!
Pep was clearly trying to think outside the box in order to try and help Manchester City get a result against Liverpool.
However, his decision to start Phil Foden as a centre-forward against the Reds backfired badly.
