Foden’s happy to be part of Blues title bid
PHIL Foden has revealed why his first Premier League start of the season lasted just 56 minutes.
The City teenager has been at the centre of a clamour for Pep Guardiola to give him more playing time, with many of his former England youth international team-mates already established for club and country at senior level.
Foden started against Dinamo Zagreb in a group game last week which was meaningless for the Blues.
But with David Silva out injured, Guardiola finally turned to the 19-year-old - and he did very well as City racked up a 3-0 win at Arsenal.
Foden went off before the hour mark, replaced by Bernardo Silva.
The player said he could not say for certain why he was substituted, but added: “I’m disappointed with that but the manager saw I had tired legs - I have not played two games in a short time for ages, so maybe he saw that my legs were a bit tired. But I was just really happy to start.
“It’s my first Premier League start this year and I’m just delighted to help the lads out.”
Foden also came up with an assist for Kevin de Bruyne and played a part in the second goal, scored by Raheem Sterling.
“When you are playing with great players they make it easy for you,” said the Stockport lad. “I played it in to Kev and he did the rest. He has a brilliant strike on him and you could see that.
“He puts in a great performance every game. He’s one of the star players in the team for me, always creating and scoring - it’s a pleasure to play for him
“Playing with great players like him can only improve me, learning off them every day, so I feel lucky.
“My mentality has been the same from day one, I have just matured as a player. Every game you feel more comfortable, and the lads make me feel that way they help me a lot.”
In terms of the title race, Foden said the task of catching Liverpool, 14 points clear at the top, was almost impossible - but that did not mean City would be giving up.
“We have to focus on ourselves. We know we would have to win just about every game just to have a chance, so it’s about focussing on ourselves and knowing we need three points every game. That’s what we will try to do.”
Guardiola, meanwhile, described Foden’s contribution to the win at Arsenal as ‘perfect.’
“When he was involved in the defensive areas, he was perfect, and when he was involved with the ball, he was perfect too,” he said. “He was not in touch a lot, he was not involved a lot because we struggled a little bit with our build-up, but in general he was good.”