LIKELY LAD TO MAIN MAN
Phil has already matured into key star on big stage
PEP’S HERO
The joy on Kyle Walker’s face says it all as Guardiola rushes to OF THE HOUR
congratulate matchwinner Foden
PEP GUARDIOLA says Phil Foden is becoming Manchester City’s go-to man for the big occasion, saluting his growing maturity, courage and creativity.
The 20-year-old’s two goals, one in each leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund, were pivotal in City reaching the last four for only the second time.
Added to a growing body of work in the Premier League, it is making him indispensable in the manager’s eyes as he shoots for an unprecedented Quadruple.
Guardiola admitted Foden is starting to realise the potential they always knew he had, in doing so showing the perfect temperament for the biggest stage.
“We knew it from the beginning but he grew up,” said Guardiola.
“In the quarter-final of the Champions League he was the important player to help us go through to play against Paris Saint-Germain.
“You have the feeling that he is a guy who never hides. He always creates something. He’s dynamic offensively and defensively he has quality in the smaller spaces.
“And he’s learning, right now, not to take just one touch. He’s able to make more touches when making decisions.”
Just about the only foot Foden put out of place on Wednesday night was a slightly hubristic post-match jab at Kylian Mbappe on Twitter. In it, he asked whether PSG’s World Cup winner was “ready” to lock horns in the semi-final. He has since deleted the post, put up by his ‘social media team’, after City’s management were understood to have advised him to remove it. But even so, his manager Guardiola might privately have allowed himself an indulgent smile because it is exactly that sort of confidence that could be the route to Champions League glory. Foden spent two seasons learning to play second fiddle behind David Silva and when he took his bows at the end of last season, he still had the seemingly immovable figure of Raheem Sterling in front of him. But Guardiola has found it impossible to ignore Foden’s talents, the young England star keeping the older player on the bench for both quarter-final legs. Sterling, above, has a fight on his hands to regain his position, at least in Europe. But he could be back in the side for the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday night as City look to make a second domestic final of the season.