'I would say' - Why Phil Foden isn't starting for Man City as wait continues

Pep Guardiola will not rush Phil Foden back, despite the Premier League Player of the Season still waiting for his first start in the league this season.

Foden returned late after helping England to the Euro 2024 final and his comeback was stalled when he missed two Manchester City games and two England games with illness earlier this month. He returned and started his first match of the campaign against Watford in the Carabao Cup but back among the subs at Newcastle.

The playmaker impressed off the bench at St James' Park and helped wrestle control of the game back in City's favour after Newcastle had equalised, but saw a late effort saved by Nick Pope and couldn't fashion a winner.

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"With Phil in that position. He is maybe one of the best, he's so clever," Guardiola said. "[But] he's been out two months, three months, the best player in the league last season has been out. Today I would say he played the best minutes, really good in the assists and dynamic. I'm happy that step by step he is coming back."

Pushed on Foden's prolonged absence from the starting XI, Guardiola hinted that his illness has affected him more than first feared.

He continued: "He is a long time injured and I prefer sometimes a player has an hour or 90 minutes. I know how strong they are, Gundo is so intelligent in defensive concepts and many things. That's why. In three days we have another one, in three, four days we have another one. There are games for everyone."

Guardiola also defended his decision to play Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic in midfield in his first Premier League lineup since Rodri's season-ending injury was confirmed.

"Kovacic, Rico and after Bernardo played really good," he insisted. "Rico is a player we don’t have to talk much about what he has to do because he is so smart, intelligent. Football is a movement game, how you decide and the action of players depends on the intelligence of the players. Sometimes you instruct to say do this or that, but Rico reads perfectly what he needs to do.

"He is young, 19 years old. He played exceptionally well, he is really good in small spaces when the game is complete transitions. We know how deep Inter and Arsenal and the other ones he's a really good player and he played a really good game again."