Phil Foden was recalled to the Manchester City starting XI for the first time since before the World Cup and Pep Guardiola offered a frank response when asked about his inclusion

Pep Guardiola offered a spiky answer when asked about why he recalled Phil Foden to the Manchester City starting XI for the trip to Chelsea on Thursday.

The 22-year-old hasn’t started a game for City since the World Cup but was back in the side for the clash with the Blues at Stamford Bridge. Foden has scored eight goals and chipped in with three assists in all competitions for City this season, but Guardiola decided to bench him for the first three games since the restart.

Some City fans were baffled about Foden’s exclusion, especially in the 1-1 draw against Everton on New Year’s Eve, with the attacking midfielder featuring for just three minutes. But Foden was back in the team for the trip to west London in one of four changes made by Guardiola.

Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan and Foden were also put back into the side, with Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez making way. And Guardiola was questioned in his pre-match interview about why he decided to recall Foden in the XI – and the City boss provided a frank response.

He told Sky Sports: “Sometimes I pay attention for the opponent, sometimes for the tactics or the quality of the players we have, I don’t care for the tactics today.

“There’s not one specific reason I decide [to recall Foden]. Since I arrived, I’m not a guy who plays 11 players every time. Because you cannot handle the locker room. When the players don’t play they have to have the feeling they can play at a certain level. It’s not nice. Everyone wanted this line-up – I follow our fans. We are not going to discover what it means.

“Kyle [Walker] and Joao [Cancelo] came back from the World Cup with niggles and weren’t settled. Rico [Lewis] and the other guys have been fantastic. We would prefer to be eight points infront, that is the reality.

“But, I have the feeling, when you’ve won four Premier Leagues in the last five years, that it is not normal to be eight points clear with this competition and all the top teams that we have. We try to be there close, and there is a lot of games still to play. We’ll try to maintain our playing level and get a good run of victories.”

Man City went into the game trailing league leaders Arsenal by eight points. The Gunners missed the chance of extending the gap at the top to ten points earlier this week, when they were held by Newcastle United, who remain in third place.

SOURCE: mirror.co.uk