Phil Foden’s underwhelming form this season is said to have “privately worried” certain Manchester City players, according to a report.
The City starlet is the reigning Premier League Player of the Season, a worthy winner of the award after helping City rack up a fourth consecutive top-flight title with an impressive 19 league goals.
But it took Foden three months, 12 games and 31 shots to score his first Premier League goal of the current campaign – which proved to be nothing more than a consolation in defeat to Aston Villa. Foden’s current tally stands at seven with just two months of the season remaining, although he is still taking fewer shots compared to last term’s excellence.
This noticeable dip has supposedly left some of Foden’s teammates “privately worried” according to the Daily Mail.
Phil Foden is recording his worst season for direct goal involvements since 2018/19 / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/GettyImages
Foden has spoken about his own frustrations this season, revealing that his slow start to the campaign was a combination of mental and physical fatigue. “I’ve been playing since the age of five pushing myself every day to be the best I can,” he told the Manchester Evening News in January.
“I just wasn’t feeling 100% when I was training, and then there were a few niggles. There were times when I was getting frustrated a lot because I enjoy my football and want to be out there and when things are not helping you to be 100% it’s really difficult to accept that.
“For me, football is played with the brain and when the brain is mentally fatigued you’re not going to see a player for who he is. I’m normally itching to get back but when I came back my body and my mental state was low.”
After a summer at Euro 2024 which left Foden “frustrated”, according to the Daily Mail, the England international made a stumbling start to life under Sir Gareth Southgate’s successor, Thomas Tuchel. Shunted out onto the right wing against Albania last Friday, Foden didn’t do much to encourage a great deal of confidence from his international teammates.
The 24-year-old will have just nine Premier League games left to change the mind of his City colleagues as the Sky Blues push for Champions League qualification.
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