Phil Foden suffered another disappointing afternoon as he failed to inspired Manchester City to victory in the Manchester derby. The Stockport playmaker wasn't awful against the Reds, but his performance was a stark downgrade on just over a year ago when he drove City to victory over their rivals in a must-win game at the Etihad. That was part of Foden's career best year as he finally embraced the mantle of being the leading star in a squad stacked with world-class talent and pushed them past Liverpool and Arsenal to make history as the first ever side in the history of English football to win four consecutive league titles. It earned Foden another team medal but also meant he swept the board for individual honours as he was recognised as the best player in the league by his fellow pros and also the media. The player that everyone at City knew was there from such a young age had finally arrived. And yet, trouble was on the horizon as early as last summer. Foden went to the Euros expecting to carry on his form, only to find himself shunted out of position in an England camp that seemed anything but happy. No player has been quite as brutal as Thomas Tuchel in describing how joyless England looked in Gareth Southgate's final tournament, but Foden has made clear how he didn't get what he wanted. Speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News in January, the 24-year-old spoke of how he had struggled to come to terms with being limited in what he could do after months of running the show for City. "I feel frustrated I didn't get out what I wanted to get out of it," he said. "The position I was put in on the left was very difficult to influence the game. "Coming off last season being the best player in the Premier League and playing centre-midfield, I do feel the position was quite difficult to get used to. I'm one who can play multiple positions and had to try to deal with it the best I could. I don't feel like England ever get going or performed to our potential." England got to the final in a tournament they never looked like winning, and Foden failed to add international honours that would have capped off one of the best individual seasons going. Foden was almost immediately back into City action, coming off the bench in their opening Premier League game at half-time against Chelsea after an injury scare for Savinho. But he would soon miss an extended spell with burnout as the efforts of the previous 12 months caught up with him. "For me, football is played with the brain and when the brain is mentally fatigued you're not going to see a player for who he is. I'm normally itching to get back but when I came back my body and my mental state was low," said Foden. "My body just didn't feel how I was used to and it's something that I've had to deal with. I feel that's the reason why I had a slow start to the season. "When you start the season good, I feel you have the rest of the season good but I missed periods at the start of the season so I think that's why it's taken me so long to get going. You can't dwell on it too much, these things happen to footballers and I've slowly been getting back to myself." It was a change that Guardiola couldn't help but notice as the boy who normally skipped about like a kid in every session as if he was knocking the ball about on a street wasn't enjoying his football. He has tried to integrate Foden back into the team to tease him back to his best, but the player's belief about a poor start to the season being difficult tor recover from has proven true. And so onto Sunday and the derby, where Foden once again dominated the back pages of the fixture but this time not for anything he'd actually done. Vulgar chants from the Stretford End about his mum ended up being the most newsworthy topic of a match that lacked any kind of action. It can't have been nice for Foden to hear, but nor can he have been happy with his own impact in the game. Guardiola defended him in his post-match press conference, yet it was hard to disagree that he had missed opportunities that normally - and certainly last season - would have flown into the net. "When the team is not playing at the level that we had, it looks like everyone is not what they were. There are no doubts about Phil," said his manager. "I see the passion and smile on his face every day in training and that is what I want. He has not had that impact but not just Phil, if you see the numbers of many players who have been four, five, six years in terms of goals and assists this year we drop incredible and it's all of them - not one. "One would be easy but it's all of them. That's why we are struggling to create and win games but the quality is there. "Sometimes in long careers always you have seasons where you are not. Maybe last season was the peak in terms of being the best player in the Premier League. He won the Premier League in the last games, in the game against West Ham with two goals. "His impact was incredible and he will be back. He fought, he had chances, he shot in the first half and chances that normally the ball is in the net. It happens but now is not to judge."