MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – MAY 20: Phil Foden of Manchester City warms up before the Premier League match … More between Manchester City FC and AFC Bournemouth at Etihad Stadium on May 20, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Neal Simpson\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Phil Foden\u2019s absence from Thomas Tuchel\u2019s England squad was not surprising.<\/p>\n
He might still technically be the holder of the coveted PFA Players\u2019 Player of the Year trophy for his outstanding performances last year, but in the final months of this season, he could barely get a game.<\/p>\n
The mysterious downturn in form, which has led to this sorry scenario for the Manchester City forward, began with Foden donning the white shirt of England last summer at the European Championships in Germany.<\/p>\n
Touted ahead of the competition as a key component in the most exciting front line in a generation, he soon became a scapegoat for the side\u2019s lethargic performances in the early rounds.<\/p>\n
It was strange to see a player who, just weeks before, picked up the ball with such incision and rifled it into the back of the West Ham United net in the final crucial game, struggling to find a forward pass.<\/p>\n
He was not alone. England had a long list of underperformers in those early weeks of the competition.<\/p>\n
However, while Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka looked reinvigorated when they returned to their club colors, Foden\u2019s bluntness continued.<\/p>\n
It should be noted that his struggles have come in the context of Manchester City\u2019s worst season in eight years. This campaign has been shockingly bad, considering four back-to-back titles had been won before then.<\/p>\n
But even so, Foden has failed to have any real impact on a poor Pep Guardiola side.<\/p>\n
Addressing his decision not to select the attacked England boss, Thomas Tuchel suggested a combination of mental and physical strains was to blame.<\/p>\n
\u201dPhil had a difficult time since last camp,\u201d said the German.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved Phil as a person, fantastic. I love his talent and ability he showed, simply outstanding, no doubt. He struggled before last camp to show it at Man City.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings weren\u2019t so easy for him, became a bit more complicated after the [Manchester] derby on a personal level [when Manchester United supporters sang derogatory songs about his mother], what happened with fans and also on a physical level.<\/p>\n
\u201c[He\u2019s]<\/p>\n
still suffering from ankle problems. Putting it all in the mix, we thought it better for Phil to take a breath, not be with us, which was also very hard because I admire and like him a lot.<\/p>\n
COLOGNE, GERMANY – JUNE 25: Phil Foden of England during the UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match … More between England and Slovenia at Cologne Stadium on June 25, 2024 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s better he takes care about his ankle, gets fully pain free and be fit for the Club World Cup. So a mix between injury and performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foden doesn\u2019t do much media, but he has a habit of offering brutal, often self-reflective honesty when he does.<\/p>\n
Shortly before he was cut from the England squad, he provided the fullest explanation yet for his horrible downturn in form.<\/p>\n
Addressing the physical problems, Foden revealed he\u2019d played with an injury from which he\u2019d not properly recovered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI managed to play on with my ligaments done [against Manchester United],\u201d he said, \u201cthat\u2019s the kind of person I am. I try play on with anything. I remember how much pain I felt when the adrenaline died. I missed the next game or two, came back to training quite early.<\/p>\n
But most tellingly, he said some off-field problems were dogging his mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a frustrating season for me. I\u2019ve had a lot of things going on off the pitch mentally,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of them, sometimes there’s things in life bigger than football. This season, I\u2019ve struggled a little.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, come next year, I can get my head mentally right, get back where I left the season before because I know what I\u2019m capable of and the quality I have. I know if everything was okay, I\u2019d definitely be better on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes things happen; you have to deal with it and move on. Unfortunately, I\u2019ve had a difficult season. Now it\u2019s just about improving, getting back to my best. I know my standards and what I can reach. I\u2019m looking forward to getting back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe club have been so supportive. I can\u2019t thank them enough…\u201d<\/p>\n
We often take for granted that elite athletes can put aside everything in their personal lives and continue to perform at the highest levels.<\/p>\n
But the reality is that there are many times when events away from the field have an impact.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know about these events because they are, by their very nature, personal.<\/p>\n
Foden has suggested that this is the reason behind his struggles, which should be respected.<\/p>\n
Fortunately for the Manchester City forward, his manager, Pep Guardiola, appreciates this.<\/p>\n
He discussed Foden\u2019s problems: ” A baby, baby boy from the Academy is becoming a star for us, and we want to help him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs rest, and it\u2019s going to happen, and step by step, it\u2019s going to happen. It\u2019s what we want; we want to help. I don\u2019t care about his performance on the pitch; I want him to feel good, and the rest will come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both England and Manchester City fans will hope that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – MAY 20: Phil Foden of Manchester City warms up before the Premier League match ……\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,886,1037,8839,6573,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-140982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-city","13":"tag-pep-guardiola","14":"tag-phil-foden","15":"tag-thomas-tuchel","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114590287665162035","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}