Foden getting ‘better and better’ but schedule impacting injury management – Guardiola

Foden’s
start
to
the
season
was
delayed
after
he
returned
from
Euro
2020
with
England,
but
the
midfielder
contributed
three
goals
and
an
assist
in
his
first
four
Premier
League
starts.

An
ankle
knock
has
since
disrupted
his
momentum,
however.
Although
Foden
added
another
assist
against
Watford
last
time
out
in
the
league,
he
has
been
restricted
to
just
688
minutes
–
ranking
12th
among
City
players.

Following
the
Watford
game,
the
21-year-old
lasted
only
45
minutes
against
RB
Leipzig
in
the
Champions
League
before
he
was
substituted
as
a
precaution.

Foden
was
set
to
be
assessed
again
on
Friday
after
Guardiola
faced
the
media
to
acknowledge
there
was
no
opportunity
for
a
break,
with
City
in
the
middle
of
a
December
that
will
see
them
play
eight
times
in
all.

“When
you
have
an
injury
in
your
ankle
and
two
months
of
holiday,
you
will
recover
incredibly
well
–
but
when
you
have
every
three
days
games,
you
will
have
niggles,”
Guardiola
said.

“He
still
has
these
niggles
and
has
to
live
with
that.
But
every
time,
he
is
better
and
better.

“I
don’t
think
[he
would
want
a
break].
He
will
dictate
and
say
how
he
feels
after
games.
At
this
moment,
in
December,
with
this
amount
of
games,
and
knowing
Phil,
he
will
want
to
fight
to
be
there.

“So
we
will
see
how
he
feels.
We
will
see
game
by
game.”

We’ve
got
Guardiola!

https://t.co/ma3tARhqdM

—
Manchester
City
(@ManCity)

December
10,
2021

Foden
may
not
be
City’s
only
injury
worry
by
the
end
of
the
month,
but
Guardiola
acknowledges
there
is
little
prospect
of
a
packed
festive
fixture
list
easing
in
years
to
come.

“It’s
good,
it’s
historic,”
he
said.
“I
like
to
play
in
winter
time.
My
words
are
not
going
to
change
anything.

“When
you
play
with
just
two
days’ rest
between
Christmas
time
and
New
Year’s
Eve,
there
is
no
time
to
recover
for
the
players.

“But
every
season
for
the
past
20,
30,
40
years,
we
are
discussing
but
there
is
no
change.
So
we
just
adapt,
adjust,
pray
the
players
don’t
get
injured
and
go
forward.”

City
have
already
won
31
Premier
League
games
in
2021,
giving
them
every
chance
of
beating
Liverpool’s
top-flight
calendar-year
record
of
33
in
1982.

Their
next
test
is
against
Wolves,
who
did
the
double
over
City
two
seasons
ago
and
pushed
title
rivals
Liverpool
close
last
time
out.

While
this
fixture
has
the
highest
goals-per-game
ratio
among
those
played
60
times
or
more
in
English
league
football
(3.83
–
437
goals
in
114
meetings),
Wolves
matches
have
this
season
seen
fewer
goals
than
any
other
Premier
League
side
(25
–
12
scored,
13
conceded).

“It’s
not
just
about
the
game
against
Liverpool,”
Guardiola
said.
“When
you
have
played
15
games
and
you
can
take
a
look
at
goals
scored,
goals
conceded
–
[Wolves’]
balance
is
so
stable,
few
on
both
sides.

“It’s
quite
similar
–
we
played
against
Wolves
last
year,
always
tight,
tight
games.
We
lost
a
few,
when
we
won,
always
tight.

“It
has
always
been
a
difficult,
difficult
game,
for
the
quality
they
have,
for
the
structure,
the
pace
they
up
front,
the
set-pieces,
the
personality,
the
character,
the
players,
good
keepers.

“They
are
up
there.
They
are
doing
an
incredible
season
so
far.
We
know
it,
but
at
the
same
time,
we
are
in
a
good
position
to
continue
our
run
in
the
Premier
League.”