PHIL IN THE BLANKS
It’s another one-man show from fantastic Foden but Gundogan warns his team-mates: We need to be performing on the big stage as well
81 pen 13 PHIL FODEN may be a one-man band right now – but Manchester City need the full orchestra to carry the tune.
That’s the view of Ilkay Gundogan, who claims scoring goals is going to be a team effort this season, as Pep Guardiola’s men try to defend their title without a recognised striker.
Foden, who has played just about everywhere lately, scored twice starting up front between Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus against Brighton. But despite a sticky spell in the second half, City still ran out comfortable 4-1 winners with Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez bagging the other goals.
And with Guardiola moving towards a kind of positionless attack, where players interchange all the time, Gundogan believes the whole squad will need to be in harmony.
The Germany midfielder said: “With us not having that classical striker, we need a little bit more flexibility up front, to rotate and try to change positions.
“Especially against a team like this, who play in most parts of the game one versus one, it is very important. That is why we created many chances.
“It is tough work. It doesn’t come automatically and it is not given. It is every training session and every single game how we work. It pays off. Our focus is to maintain that feeling. It is great to play with these players in one team, and even the power we have from the bench in every single game, is just incredible.”
Guardiola does not like being constantly asked about not having a striker and about where he thinks Foden’s best position is. After this
game, he said: “It’s not a problem. It doesn’t matter what position you play. Play good. The important thing is to understand the game.”
Foden (with Gundogan, top left) certainly does that, and even though Guardiola is always insisting he can get better, the England star reckons he’s in the form of his life right now. The 21-year-old, who now has four goals this season, said: “I think for any player when you are scoring goals you are happy and you feel at your best.
“I am enjoying my football and I want to keep this good run going now. I am always happy when I score. I want to try to score as many as possible and not put too much pressure on myself. We are on a good run of form at the moment, but we can’t get too carried away.”
City are unbeaten since losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, scoring 13 times and conceding only four.
And they are getting contributions from everyone. Only Paul Pogba has more assists in the league this season than Jesus, who has set up five goals.
Only Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane have scored more Premier League goals this calendar year than Gundogan, who has 13.
And no City player has scored more goals in 2021 than Mahrez, who has 16 since the turn of the year.
It’s clear that Foden is the star of the show. But even though the front man is on song, it’s obvious the rest of the band are also in the groove.