PEP GUARDIOLA wants more from Phil Foden if the England ace is to win his starting place back from in-form Jack Grealish.
And the City manager has explained how he uses players’ body language on the training pitch to decide who starts in his star-studded cast.
England ace Foden started every one of the first 10 league games of City’s campaign, up until defeat at Liverpool in mid-October.
But he has been in the first XI for just one of the six Premier League matches since - the shock home loss to Brentford just before the World Cup.
And, as the Blues were held 1-1 by lowly Everton on Saturday, Foden was again watching from the bench until being thrown on as a late sub.
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Guardiola said: “Phil can play in one thousand positions.
“But I see something on the pitch, in the training sessions, and I use my intuition to use Jack in these games because he gives us extra passes.
“Phil is better when (the game is) more vertical. Both can play together and combine.
“The way we played against Leeds, knowing their defence was completely different, was really good.
“The way we’ve played in the last three games is one of the best since I’ve been here.
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“And Phil made a fantastic contribution from the bench.”
Those three games - wins over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and at Leeds in the league before Saturday’s draw - have all seen Foden used as a late sub.
And Guardiola revealed how he generally now uses the signs given off by a player’s body language to make selection choices.
Lately, as I get older, I mainly look at the body language. In the training sessions and everything.
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He said: “We have to play with 11. We can’t play with 13 and every time it is difficult to choose for me. Always top players are not playing.
“Lately, as I get older, I mainly look at the body language. In the training sessions and everything.
“You cannot play good when the body language is not correct.
“Sometimes you choose the players for how happy they are, if they are there.
“That is one of the main decisions with choosing the line-up, because with the skills, I know how good they are.
“The body language depends on them and sometimes they are not good and it is more difficult.”