Phil Foden: Why doesn’t the Manchester City striker play?

Wayne Rooney, Manchester United’s all-time top scorer, believes Guardiola’s tactical shift is the reason behind Foden’s lack of playing minutes.

Rooney says City don’t play much “side-to-side, through the lines, or keep the ball for long periods.”

“They’ve become a little more dynamic with Semenyu and Czerky. They’re a little more dynamic than Foden,” Rooney explained.

“It sometimes seems a little more physical, a little more direct when they get the ball, running at defenders. Maybe that doesn’t suit Phil as much as it suits some of the other players.”

City signed Semenyu from Bournemouth in January for £64m, and the winger has played every minute of the Premier League season bar three since his arrival.

Semenho, summer signing Chirkey and even Nico O’Reilly, who mixes play in midfield as well as left-back, have scored 17 goals for City between them since Foden’s last goal.

In his latest start, Foden was also criticized for failing to follow Elliot Anderson in the lead-up to Nottingham Forest’s equalizer in the 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last week, which took the title destination out of City’s hands.

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Former City midfielder Michael Brown told the Wayne Rooney Show: “We don’t always know everything. He might have a bruise or a certain injury that they have to protect and he can’t reach the level in training.”

“Why does he go from playing every game to playing almost no minutes? How did it get there? There’s something.”