Phil Foden had drifted into obscurity in the final years of Pep Guardiola's reign at Manchester City, but under Enzo Maresca he is getting back to his best again

For Phil Foden, a rest has been as good as a change - and the change was sorely needed. The boyhood Blue was plucked from Manchester City's academy by Pep Guardiola at the age of 16 and became the best player in the Premier League under him, but things had gone stale.

As much as Foden has to thank Guardiola for, their partnership would never hit the heights of the 2023/24 campaign again. The playmaker suffered from physical and mental burnout that scuppered the next season, and last year after a promising start he faded again.

Foden was named in Guardiola's final XI as City boss, but that was a farewell game with the season lost. Before then, he had started just three of the last 15 Premier League games and was also given zero minutes in the FA Cup final and both Champions League knockout ties with Real Madrid.

As much as it still stung Foden to be left out of the England squad for the World Cup in North America - he spoke in the summer of how it hurt to hear the national anthem when he watched the games from home - it cannot have been too much of a surprise. Guardiola overlooking the player every week for months understandably wasn't the sort of rhythm that Thomas Tuchel wanted for the biggest tournament in football.

Defiant after World Cup snub

That didn't make it any easier for Foden though in a bid to find his form again, and a 10-minute interview with reporters from the Manchester Evening News, The Athletic, and BBC Sport in Hong Kong in July was - completely understandably - terse and tense. Doing media is not top on the list of things most footballers enjoy, and nobody likes being prodded and reminded about things that haven't gone their way.

If the very fact that he agreed to speak reflected well, the tone was strained yet defiant. There was indirect criticism of Guardiola for playing him in so many positions, more direct criticism for people writing off two seasons of his career as below average, and an insistence that nothing new was required.

"There are no changes I need to make. I just need to work on my own game and train hard and that's what I'm trying to do," he said. "You come through the academy, reach the top and then been the best player of the season, won the league that year as well. So it's obviously amazing. I have a good attitude about that.

"When you're on the top, don't get too comfortable and then I was trying to prove it again. Obviously it's not gone like that at the moment, but I have still got a lot of my career left. I am still young so I have still got a lot to prove to everyone."

Clean slate under Maresca

Enzo Maresca is among those people who have lumped Foden's recent seasons together, saying recently that he has been 'not good enough for the last two years'. But the new City boss has also gone out of his way to charm the 26-year-old, reaching out to him when he was left out of the World Cup squad and holding a number of meetings since to make clear how important Foden is to City's plans.

If it felt like Foden was always the baby of Guardiola's squad after coming through so young, like a son always trying to get the recognition from a father figure that never quite arrived, Maresca has arrived as the step-dad wanting to go the extra mile to get off on the right foot. It's a bit of a stretch as analogies go yet there is no denying that Maresca has made Foden feel more special and is seeing early success.

Unlike in recent seasons, Foden is stepping up and taking responsibility in games. Having said he had to put himself forward for a place in the leadership group, he hasn't let not being made one of the four captains stop him from leading where he can.

When Maresca picked a weakened team against AEK Athens, Foden scored a hat-trick and then spoke afterwards of wanting to set an example for his younger teammates. A week later against Brighton, Maresca pulled him over after the second goal to give instructions to his teammates, and after stepping up and scoring a penalty in the shootout when City's win was confirmed Foden ran over to his manager when most ran for goalkeeping hero Geronimo Rulli.

Having brought plenty out of Cole Palmer at Chelsea after helping his development at City, Maresca is treating Foden as the senior professional that he is and both are enjoying the partnership. It is far too soon to talk of Foden being back to his best, yet the smile is definitely back on the player's face because of the support and trust he feels at the club.

That has come from Maresca but also from Hugo Viana and Ferran Soriano, who gave him a new contract earlier this year when it wasn't clear he would get one. Foden has since spoken of his need to "repay" the club for the gesture, and - unlike in Hong Kong in the summer - he is now starting to get to a position where he is able to contribute consistently.

Revived after rest

Foden's new contract was orchestrated with Erling Haaland's agent Rafaela Pimenta, and her team have helped to put him at the front and centre of City in a post-Guardiola world - even if it means difficult questions from journalists about his own issues and the storm the club are currently caught in. As much as Foden wants to do his talking on the pitch, press conferences and interviews at a difficult time for City are another marker to how trusted the player is in.

An England call-up may not come this time or even in March, yet Foden is feeling better in a personal and professional capacity and has made changes to help with that. Not being away at the World Cup allowed for plenty of family time in his rest from football, and regular updates from his son Ronnie's Instagram account going out to 3.8million followers show Foden enjoying himself with his kids.

The City man had a longer rest than he would have wanted this season, with his red card at United meaning a month out of the game given the extended international break. His form had not been brilliant before then, and his absence could have allowed others to consign him to the bench; Rayan Cherki is providing stiff competition for his favoured role.

Confidence restored

Footage from the Old Trafford dressing room shows him punching the air for Haaland's winner though, and he used the long month that followed without any game wisely.

"I just took some family time and went on holiday. It was a very long time without playing football, which felt really strange. But it gave me time to work on things that I needed to work on. When I came back I just felt fresh and like I could help the team," he said.

Three goals and three assists have followed in three starts since and Foden's confidence has risen as he finds his way back into form. Alongside that ongoing pursuit, the academy graduate is finding other ways to contribute.

City is 'his house', as Maresca nicely puts it, and Foden has reacted to change to start putting his name back above the door.