Article of footwear with a sole assembly having a bladder element and a guide component and method of manufacturing the article of footwear

An article of footwear comprising:

• a sole assembly having:
• a bladder element with a first outer surface, a second outer surface opposite the first outer surface, and side surfaces extending from the first outer surface to the second outer surface;
• a guide component with a bottom portion fused to one of the first outer surface or the second outer surface and side portions fused to the side surfaces;
• wherein the guide component has multiple grooves extending laterally across the bottom portion of the guide component;
• wherein the multiple grooves are configured to receive and guide multiple elongated members such that the multiple elongated members are movable lengthwise when positioned in the multiple grooves;
• and
• wherein at least one of the side portions includes a finger on which two adjacent ones of the multiple grooves merge into a merged groove.