‘Of course’… Pep Guardiola says Phil Foden can play in midfield with £54m Man City player

‘Of course’… Pep Guardiola says Phil Foden can play in midfield with £54m Man City player

Pep Guardiola believes Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne can play in midfield as a duo.

 

 

After De Bruyne’s recent return from injury, one can understand why many would assume that he would slot straight into the central role Foden has occupied for much of the season, being an all-time great in the position.

 

Micah Richards admitted that he would love to see the Englishman be deployed as a number ten alongside the £54 million (Independent) man.

 

Pep Guardiola shares whether Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne can play in midfield together

The question is whether Guardiola will actually do so, as he is yet to regularly deploy the pair in the middle of the park during his time at City.

 

 

However, during the Sky Blues’ opening game of the season against Burnley, Foden seemed to be playing much more central than usual with De Bruyne playing in his traditional number ten position.

 

When quizzed about whether Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne could play in midfield in tandem, Pep Guardiola said the answer is yes but it depends on which kind of team Manchester City are facing.

 

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“No, I don’t know. Right now, I don’t know. In the teams, for example, play five in the back, we could do it”, he said (via HaytersTV).

 

“And the teams that have a lot of, lot of quality and you have to imagine and you have to drop a little bit or defend a little bit deeper, so we should change. Normally, we move with two holding midfielders, with them, we cannot do that. We have to be three in the middle or five in the middle so there is some adjustment that maybe we should do. Of course, [they] can play together because if they are able to do it, they can.”

 

 

“It’s like Julian [Alvarez] for example, you know, alongside Phil [Foden], alongside Erling [Haaland] or Julian or Kevin [De Bruyne], none of them can play like a holding midfielder properly. Like Mateo [Kovacic], Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan] in the past, Rodri, so we have to adjust something.”

 

Fair rationale from Pep Guardiola

As Pep Guardiola said, if Manchester City are facing a side that sets up in a low block, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne would be the ideal midfield pairing due to their excellent eye for a pass and undeniable goal threat.

 

Both players have a habit of flipping a game on its head by producing a sole moment of magic, which proves to be vital against ultra-defensive opposition as they tend to keep the ball-dominant side quiet for large periods of the game.

 

However, against top sides, one can understand why Pep Guardiola would favour a midfielder like Mateo Kovacic, as he believes he can defend in a double pivot in the same vein as Ilkay Gundogan, who played alongside Kevin De Bruyne last season.