Phil Foden is in danger of losing his spot in England's World Cup squad with Man City midfielder back to square one after brief revival

Foden was the second-most experienced City player on the pitch against Salford after John Stones, but he did not look it as he failed to put his stamp on the game, firing three shots at goal which all missed the target. 

With City nervously standing over a one-goal lead against a team they had slaughtered 8-0 little more than a year ago, Guardiola chose to remove Foden in search of a boost.  His replacement, Antoine Semenyo, provided it, helping City turn the screw and eventually get the second goal to book their place in the fifth round.

Guardiola must have known the questions about Foden would come in his post-match interviews, and he insisted there was nothing to worry about.

"I have zero, zero, zero doubts, zero about Phil," the Catalan coach insisted. "He has to recover himself good and just focus on playing football and going to fish. He loves fishing and that’s it. When he is that, Phil is back and will be back. 

"It’s not 20 centuries ago when he was the best player in the Premier League. It was around the corner. It was not many seasons ago. This is Phil Foden. Just to be relaxed his mind, the joy, the smile and happiness and play and play and play. He will play every day. And when you have this gift, just be relaxed and do it."

The problem is that Foden has not been 'doing it' since before Christmas, when he was City's inspiration, helping them to a series of wins they barely deserved.

He was the player that dug them out of a hole against Leeds United in November, his 91st-minute strike avoiding a pile of bodies in the box to land in the net as if fired through the eye of the needle snatched a 3-2 win. 

He had also scored City's opening goal that day, and another brace, featuring strikes with both feet, followed in the subsequent game against Fulham, when City went from being 5-1 up to hanging on for a 5-4 win. 

A solitary goal and an assist came as City coasted to a 3-0 win over Sunderland while a trademark left-footed strike from the edge of the box against Crystal Palace made it six goals and an assist in five matches. Strangely, though, Guardiola decided to give Foden a rebuke after that game. 

"Today he didn’t do a good game, he didn’t play good," the coach said. "He lost a lot of balls, so in a rush in every action. Phil has to be more tempo, more calm, keep the ball, pass – and in the right moment, change gear. In the right moment, make the explosion. 

"But at the end, we say it many times, he’s so young. At the end, he has margin to improve, he listens, and saying that he’s been doing an incredible, terrific season."

Guardiola added at Selhurst Park that there was "absolutely, absolutely, absolutely" more to come from Foden, and he urged him to improve his understanding of the game.

It is difficult to say whether Foden's current slump is the result of him trying to take Guardiola's advice on board, but those comments preceded a run of 13 games without a goal or an assist, and he now seems to have found himself among City's back-ups, frequently sitting on the bench for their must-win games while returning to the line up when Guardiola rings the changes against lesser opponents.

Foden was hauled off at half-time when City were beaten 2-0 at Manchester United in January, and his only Premier League start since then came against Fulham. He may have started City's last three games, but two of those were cup matches that they were expected to easily win.

A fair few City fans believe Foden is enjoying generous treatment from Guardiola, who has nurtured the player since he broke into the first team in 2018. Guardiola has never hidden his affection for Foden, whom he called 'the most talented player' he had ever worked with back in 2019 when most people had barely seen him play. Earlier this month, meanwhile, he admitted that he effectively saw Foden as a family member. 

"He’s my son, he’s our son," he said. "Step by step he will be back. We try to protect him and get him back to his best. We need his best to come back where we are. He’s a human being. 

"Eight or nine years careers, sometimes you have ups and downs. It’s simple as that. I’m not going to be the one that doubts the quality of Phil and how important he is."

Guardiola knows to tread carefully with Foden given his mental struggles over the past year and because he knows what he is capable of. And in a City squad that has undergone huge change in the last year alone, Foden is a valuable thread between the club's glorious past and their future, though still aged only 25.

But Foden does not enjoy the same safety net where England are concerned. He has rarely been able to reproduce his usual work in a City shirt on the international stage, scoring a mere four goals while providing 10 assists across his 47 matches for the Three Lions, with only three of those goal contributions coming at major tournaments. 

And while Sir Gareth Southgate, like Guardiola, continued to show faith in Foden, Thomas Tuchel has no reason to feel the same way. The German has made the fact that he has no loyalty to anyone his unique selling point when taking the job, and he has only selected Foden for two of his five camps as national team coach. 

Foden asked to be left out of the squad for England's fixtures in June so that he could be mentally and physically fresh for the Club World Cup, leading Tuchel to leave him out of the September and October internationals. He brought Foden back into the fold in November and promised he would have a "central role", and yet he started him in neither match against Serbia and Albania, bringing him on as a substitute for 53 minutes out of a potential 180.

Tuchel sees Foden as a No.10, not a winger, and that places him in a crowded market where English playmakers are concerned. Jude Bellingham is almost assured of his place in the squad for the World Cup as long as he is fit, although the Real Madrid star is likely to miss the upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan while he recovers from a hamstring injury. 

Morgan Rogers' place in the next camp and likely the World Cup is also practically guaranteed, and though Eberechi Eze's fall from prominence at Arsenal is good news for Foden's hopes of being called up both next month and for the World Cup, the Arsenal man did, unlike Foden, take his opportunity to shine against weaker opponents over the weekend as the Gunners thrashed Wigan Athletic.

Foden should make the most of this fortnight without midweek games and take the same steps as when he got back to his best early in the season. While Guardiola might want him to relax, he cannot afford to take it easy.