Sixty minutes on the bench told the story
Enzo Maresca picked Phil Foden at No. 10 for the Community Shield against Arsenal. Rayan Cherki sat and watched until the hour mark. Manchester City lost 3-0, and the result was almost beside the point.
One game does not settle a season. A team sheet does set a pecking order, though. Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Antoine Semenyo all started off the back of a World Cup summer. Cherki waited.
Which stings, because his first year in England worked. Ten goals, 16 assists across all competitions. City asked for numbers and he produced them.
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The post-Guardiola era opens with a favour to an Englishman
Foden has climbed back from a bad place. His 2025-26 season finished on 10 goals and seven assists, nowhere near the 27 and 12 he managed in 2023-24. He lost his starting spot. Then England left him out of the 2026 World Cup squad.
He used the summer to reset. According to the Daily Mail he spent time in Wales, went fishing, saw family, and put in one-to-one sessions with his fitness coach. Guardiola’s departure handled the rest. After nearly a decade under the Catalan and 370 appearances for City, Foden has a different head coach for the first time as a professional.
Maresca is not playing it down. “You can see he is sharp, that he is in good shape. From day one, he made a very, very good impression. People inside the club tell me that, compared with last year or the previous two years, he is a completely different player in terms of mindset,” the Italian said.
Two players, one shirt
Maresca and Foden go back further than this summer. The Italian was Guardiola’s assistant at City exactly when Foden was establishing himself at the top level. At 46, he knows the runs the player makes and the ones he does not.
Foden captained the side through pre-season and wants the role permanently. “I’ve been at the club for so long, I’m one of the older players here, so this season I need to be one of the leaders, one of the captains,” he said.
Cherki’s arithmetic gets harder from here. The former Lyon man either finds a second position or waits for Foden to dip. Season two in England is shaping up as a scrap for minutes rather than the confirmation everyone assumed was coming.
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