Guardiola: "I like him a lot but this is Manchester City. To play alongside Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, it is not easy even for all of them. This is the reality of a team who achieved four titles last season."
Saturday 31 August 2019 14:21, UK
Pep Guardiola insists that Phil Foden will get game time and can seize his "moment" at Manchester City this season, despite the midfielder only playing 11 minutes of first-team football so far in the 2019/20 campaign.
Foden came on as an 89th-minute substitute in City's Community Shield victory over Liverpool, scoring a penalty in the shootout after the game finished 1-1 after normal time.
Guardiola also brought the 19-year-old on in the 80th minute of City's 5-0 demolition of West Ham on the opening day of the Premier League season.
"I don't know when but it [gametime for Foden] is going to happen, we are playing an incredible amount of games," the City boss said.
"I saw the schedule for the Champions League and said: 'wow how many games we have!' So everybody is going to have minutes.
"I've said many times I love this guy, I like him a lot but this is Manchester City. To play alongside Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, it is not easy even for all of them.
"This is the reality of a team who achieved four titles last season. If you do not have this squad you cannot achieve four titles.
"They have to fight and be patient and work and work, and the time is coming, the moment is coming."
The youngster scored seven times in 26 appearances across all competitions in 2018/19, with 13 of those games coming in the Premier League and four in the Champions League.
With the academy graduate on the fringes of City's first XI, Guardiola claimed earlier this year that Foden's former City youth teammate Jadon Sancho "didn't want the challenge" of attempting to become a first-team regular at the Etihad.
Foden's game time and opportunities at City have often been compared to Sancho's at Borussia Dortmund, who swapped City for Borussia Dortmund in 2017, in search of first-team appearances.
Since then, the winger - also 19 - has scored 17 goals in 59 appearances for the German top-flight side, and has earned six senior England caps.
When asked if Foden is a patient player and biding his time for more chances in the City first-team, Guardiola said: "He is a shy guy I would like him to talk more to me.
"A lot of the time I go to him and talk to him. He still looks at me with a bit of respect as a manager, that is not necessary after two to three seasons, he is 18-19 years old, he is in England U21s.
"He is okay, everything is in the right position."
