Man City boss Pep Guardiola once fined himself after an x-rated comment he made to Phil Foden
Pep Guardiola once fined himself and apologised in front of the entire Man City dressing room over an x-rated comment he made to Phil Foden.
The perfectionist Spaniard is well known for being incredibly demanding of his players and instructing them to carry out the most precise of details to ensure his well-laid plans can come to fruition.
There is hardly a single player who has featured under Guardiola for any length of time who has not spoken of his exhausting management style that has left them mentally and physically spent.
A few seasons ago in the 2020-21 season, Guardiola’s heckles were raised on this occasion by a free-kick taken by Foden against Porto in a Champions League match.
It came late in the game and on the touchline, handing the manager the perfect opportunity get his message across in the most earthy of terms. Guardiola screamed at the England international for not following his instruction.
As per The Telegraph, Guardiola shouted: F****** hell Phil! F****** hell! You haven’t done what I said!”
The remark did not go down well with Foden, who felt Guardiola had singled him out in a way he would not do to any of the other senior players. Said to be “furious” by his manager calling him out, he rushed down the tunnel and got changed in the dressing before many of his teammates had returned.
When Guardiola arrived back, Foden was waiting for him at the door and let rip. He told his manager, “Don’t ever do that to me again! You wouldn’t do that to other players.”
Guardiola apologised to the midfielder at the time but felt he needed to go further. The following day, a second apology was issued in a meeting with the whole squad and Guardiola made the gesture of fining himself.
Intriguingly, Guardiola is said to have been waiting for Foden to stand up for himself and impose himself on more situations – he admired the rising star of English football for putting his foot down.
It is retrospectively viewed as a turning point in Foden’s City career and a key moment in him transitioning from precocious youngster to fully fledged senior pro.
Foden has made a consistently big impact for City in the subsequent years, with a remarkable 12 major trophies already in his cabinet including five Premier League titles and June’s Champions League triumph.
He has had a relatively slow start to the new campaign, with his 13 matches yielding two goals and four assists.
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