‘We missed him,’ says Pep Guardiola, as Phil Foden ends English Premier League goal drought
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Manchester City's Phil Foden scoring their first goal past Manchester United's Altay Bayindir on Sept 14.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MANCHESTER – Erling Haaland capped a remarkable week with two goals in Manchester City’s 3-0 drubbing of Manchester United on Sept 14, but the sight of Phil Foden opening the scoring was perhaps the most significant aspect of the derby win.
The England attacker was voted the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Season in 2023-24 when he scored 27 times in all competitions for City, including a double on the final day of the season against West Ham United to clinch a fourth successive title.
But Foden’s form vanished last season and the goals dried up and before Sept 14, his last Premier League goal was in January.
His struggles were one factor in City’s troubled campaign last season, but there were signs on Sept 14 that he is emerging from his slump and the joy that manager Pep Guardiola said had gone from his game is returning.
“We missed him so much last season. We need him so much,” the Spaniard told reporters after City easily avoided a third successive defeat in the Premier League.
“When he moves behind the strikers, in that position, the sense of goal, the sense of turns, the quality to keep the ball.
“There are players that play behind the striker, and most of them pass the ball and stay and (say) ‘look how good I make the pass’. He’s a guy who makes a pass to the penalty spot like an animal. When he doesn’t get the pass (back), he’s angry because he wants to score.
“We can’t forget two seasons ago he was the most important player in the Premier League and was the key player in that title. Last season for various reasons he could not be with us.”
Foden offered a glimpse of his old self when he scored twice in the Fifa Club World Cup at the end of the last campaign, but injury niggles meant his only appearance since the start of the season was a brief cameo off the bench in City’s league defeat at home against Tottenham Hotspur.
Given his first start, Foden needed only 18 minutes to end his Premier League goal drought, heading in Jeremy Doku’s cut-back for his seventh goal in Manchester derbies.
Said Guardiola: “Hopefully, step by step, he can get back to his best. The joy and happiness we see in his face every day lately. Now we are sure that we are going to see the best Phil.”
Haaland’s brace, taking his Premier League tally to five in four games, added to the five goals he scored for Norway in midweek against Moldova.
“Erling never disappoints us since he arrived,” Guardiola said. “Erling has the commitment, that is why he signed a contract for many years. He’s a special player.”
Meanwhile, Ruben Amorim has just eight wins in 31 league games since he joined United last November and after the match the Portuguese was asked whether he should rethink his tactical set-up.
“I accept, so it’s not a record that you should have in Manchester United,” he said. “There are a lot of things that you have no idea what happened during these months, but I accept that.
“But I’m not going to change. When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you’ll have to change the men. And we will talk about that every game that we lose. So I play my way, and I’m going to play my way until I want to change.” REUTERS
