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PHIL Foden could have made all the difference for City against Lyon. Or no difference whatsoever.
The point, still, is that nobody knows.
For all the pre-match talk from the manager about how much the Stockport teenager has matured and was definitely ready for such a big game, when it came to it Pep Guardiola instead opted to leave him on the bench and play Raheem Sterling out of position in the middle instead.
Foden was not the only one overlooked – Fabian Delph, recently seen captaining England, did not start either – but it raises a question when Guardiola talks a player up so much but doesn’t pick him, even when three of the players in front of him for selection are injured.
It is only because of what has been said that the pressure is so much. There would be no outrage if the experienced coach said the 18-yearold was not quite on the level of his senior team-mates.
However, Guardiola insists that Foden must be treated the same as any other player, and so his words come under more scrutiny with every opportunity that passes.
Having said on the eve of the game that the starlet was definitely ready for such a stage, he countered after the match that so is Brahim Diaz.
One comment put Foden in the same bracket as the best players in the league, the next with fellow untested prospects and one that is unlikely to still be at the club next season.
The bottom line is that the manager will not put any individual above the team, and he continues to show that he can draw significant improvement from players of all ages.
But that can’t be said of Foden yet, because he hasn’t been seen enough to be able to calculate the progress.
Guardiola is trusted by the owners to bring City’s youngsters through and Foden spoke about being happy to stay and learn from the manager, Mikel Arteta and the coaching staff every day even if he was not racking up the minutes. Until at least one of those things changes, no amount of urging from supporters, journalists, or even England manager Gareth Southgate is going to hurry up a process in which the City coach is controlling the pace. Foden does not know when his next start is going to come. But Guardiola does, so Foden needs to be ready.
The bottom line is that the manager will not put one individual above the team Simon Bajkowski