Foden suffered from mental fatigue at the beginning of the season and his training was affected and his condition was low

March 25th news: Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden's ups and downs this season have attracted widespread attention from the outside world. Recently, according to Jack Gaughan, a reporter from the Daily Mail, Foden suffered from "mental fatigue" at the beginning of the season, which affected his training and game status .

In the past few seasons, Foden has been a key player in Manchester City, especially last season, he helped the team achieve four consecutive Premier League titles with his outstanding performance. However, after entering the new season, the competitive state of the England international has obviously declined. According to reports, at the beginning of the season, he felt that his brain became "fuzzy", it was difficult to concentrate during training, and he even felt unwell. This mental fatigue made Foden unable to maintain a high level of performance, and he even missed nearly a month of games at the beginning of the season due to a "mysterious disease".

Although Manchester City has hired psychologist David Young to provide psychological counseling for the player, neither Foden nor the Manchester City club has disclosed his specific situation to the outside world. Nevertheless, the constant criticism on social media has brought greater psychological pressure to Foden.

Judging from the data, although Foden's overall performance this season is not bad, there is still a certain gap compared with last season. He has contributed 15 direct goals in the Premier League this season, second only to his teammate Haaland, and ranks first in key pass data. However, his goal distribution is not balanced. Six of his seven league goals were scored in four games in January this year, and the games in other time periods are relatively sluggish. In addition, his number of dribbling breakthroughs and entering the penalty area has decreased, and he sometimes lacks confidence and aggression in the game.

Teammates have also noticed Foden's change in form. Some have found that he seems to be thinner than before, and even moved his family out of Manchester. England coach Tuchel also said after the victory over Albania that Foden needs more encouragement because the confidence he once showed has been significantly weakened.

As a young top player, Foden has had a very heavy workload in recent years. Last season, he played 4,276 minutes for Manchester City, and then played a total of 712 minutes in the European Cup and friendly matches. The continuous high-intensity schedule may have put great pressure on his body and mind, and the accumulation of these fatigues finally broke out at the beginning of this season.

As the Club World Cup approaches, both Manchester City and England need Foden to return to his best form. The young player needs to overcome psychological barriers and actively adjust his form to regain his peak performance. At the same time, Manchester City and England also need to provide him with more support to help him return to his best competitive form and contribute more to the team. In future games, whether Foden can break through difficulties and regain confidence will be the focus of fans and the media.