Joao Cancelo

[Kirkiep]

Cancelo weak defensively? Better at passing than Kyle Walher? Give over he played 25 league games for Juventus. At an average of 7.20 from who Scored stats. Kyle didn't have a great season last term but got 6.96 and had a pass completion stat of 90% 4% better than Cancelo.
https://www.whoscored.com/Players/128967/Show/João-Cancelo
https://www.whoscored.com/Players/69778/Show/Kyle-Walker
Personally I think both will complement each other in a position (full back) that requires more physical exertion than any other. Cancelo can also play left back and could play on the right wing or left/right midfield. A very versatile player and a great buy.

To be fair,Walker's pass completion rate probably improved under Pep as will Cancelo's.

 

[domalino]

To be fair,Walker's pass completion rate probably improved under Pep as will Cancelo's.

To be fair all of the stats he posted were a complete load of shite and no one over the age of 6 should care about Who Scored Player Ratings.

Cancelo also won't play left back. Reason 1, he's only played it about 5 times in his career. Reason 2, we've got 3 LB's already.

Danilo "could play LB" too...

 

[BlueAnorak]

To be fair,Walker's pass completion rate probably improved under Pep as will Cancelo's.

Fair enough but Walker is very good at keeping posession only Zinchenko and Laporte are better. Admittedly our defenders are not often put under pressure when in posession but even so it's very good.
https://www.whoscored.com/Teams/167/Show/England-Manchester-City

 

[Stoned Rose]

What Walker has that sets him apart is pace and physicality.

I know that sounds like an insult, but that's what he's got which makes him crucial to how we play and almost undroppable. We can leave Walker +1 other at the back on the halfway line or higher, and never worry about balls in behind or over the top.

If you cast your mind back to Pep's first season, we got fucked on the break so many times. We'd be dominating a game completely, and then a long ball over the top or 1 decent pass in behind and we'd be in serious trouble. Bringing Walker in and killing that immediately was worth about 10 points a season over Zabaleta/Sagna/Navas.

Running towards his own goal in space, I don't think there's a better defender out there, he's brilliant at getting between the ball and the forward, or just knocking them off the ball and mopping up.

The rest of his game is good enough but nothing special. He's rarely a threat going forwards and he's the weakest on the ball in the team, his defending in the box is usually decent but a bit nervy and Lineker wasn't a million miles off when he said he couldn't cross.

It doesn't really matter though, he's undroppable because of the way he allows us to play so high up.

Pace and physicality.

We should have signed Adama Traore and saved ourselves 45m then.

 

[Stoned Rose]

Fair enough but Walker is very good at keeping posession only Zinchenko and Laporte are better.

But someone said earlier that Walker is weak and gives lots of easy passes away.

 

[BlueAnorak]

But someone said earlier that Walker is weak and gives lots of easy passes away.

In my experience the only ones where Kyle Walker loses posession is when he's trying to set a winger or an AM away with a pass down a channel and we often get the ball back very quickly with our press.

 

[domalino]

Pace and physicality.

We should have signed Adama Traore and saved ourselves 45m then.

Yeah, pace and physicality is what sets Walker apart from other RB's, like Danilo.

I don't know why you're incapable of seeing weaknesses in our players without taking it as some sort of personal attack. If Walker was the perfect RB you think he is, Pep would likely not be spending €65m on another one.

 

[George Hannah]

To be fair all of the stats he posted were a complete load of shite and no one over the age of 6 should care about Who Scored Player Ratings. Cancelo also won't play left back. Reason 1, he's only played it about 5 times in his career. Reason 2, we've got 3 LB's already. Danilo "could play LB" too...

1) wrong, 2) wrong, 3) wrong

 

[TonyM]

Walker imo isn’t guilty of giving away the ball too much, he’s guilty of holding onto it too long and telegraphing his intentions when he has the ball. He is utterly predictable and hurts our attack.

By the way while I’m bashing ... the other telegraph-extraordinares is Stones. Looks up. Sees a pass. Looks down. Takes a touch. Looks up. Positions his body to where he is (eventually) going to pass. Looks down. Looks up. Might give an old point or nod to ensure that the intended recipient is fully prepared. Looks down to get the ball ready. Looks up, yes he is still ready. Ok, Ready. Steady. Oh Jezuz better look down and up and down again just to be sure. Boot. Ball. Pass. Smile. Happy days as a footballing center back.

 

[Dribble]

By the way while I’m bashing ... the other telegraph-extraordinares is Stones. Looks up. Sees a pass. Looks down. Takes a touch. Looks up. Positions his body to where he is (eventually) going to pass. Looks down. Looks up. Might give an old point or nod to ensure that the intended recipient is fully prepared. Looks down to get the ball ready. Looks up, yes he is still ready. Ok, Ready. Steady. Oh Jezuz better look down and up and down again just to be sure. Boot. Ball. Pass. Smile. Happy days as a footballing center back.

Loooool :-)

 

[oldius]

Walker is an excellent defender and a tremendous athlete. His weakness is that he is very one footed so he is predictable in attack and has to go down the outside. If he is forced to pass with his left he is clearly nervous and tries to run out of trouble. Much as he has been a superb player for us, it will be good to improve that aspect of the right-back position.

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

1) wrong, 2) wrong, 3) wrong

To be fair all of the stats he posted were a complete load of shite and no one over the age of 6 should care about Who Scored Player Ratings.

Cancelo also won't play left back. Reason 1, he's only played it about 5 times in his career. Reason 2, we've got 3 LB's already.

Danilo "could play LB" too...

So that's very clear then - who to believe ???

 

[domalino]

So that's very clear then - who to believe ???

Mendy. Angelino. Zinchenko.

1.2.3

So we know he can't count to 3, which clears things up a lot.

 

[domalino]

Walker imo isn’t guilty of giving away the ball too much, he’s guilty of holding onto it too long and telegraphing his intentions when he has the ball. He is utterly predictable and hurts our attack.

By the way while I’m bashing ... the other telegraph-extraordinares is Stones. Looks up. Sees a pass. Looks down. Takes a touch. Looks up. Positions his body to where he is (eventually) going to pass. Looks down. Looks up. Might give an old point or nod to ensure that the intended recipient is fully prepared. Looks down to get the ball ready. Looks up, yes he is still ready. Ok, Ready. Steady. Oh Jezuz better look down and up and down again just to be sure. Boot. Ball. Pass. Smile. Happy days as a footballing center back.

He does do that a lot, especially when low on confidence, but in his defence a lot of the times he looks up, looks down, turns a bit, looks up etc. it's because he's waiting for the players in front to move, get free, change the angle.

It's the same when our 2 CB's knock it between themselves half a dozen times, they're just waiting for the right pass to open up.

But yes, sometimes he just seems to be psyching himself up to make a pass.

 

[Scottish Cityzen]

Can I just remind some posters about that bit....

In the highlights clip he looked very comfortable on the left too.

He looks to be a very exciting signing. I’m sure him and Bernardo will have an exciting partnership.

 

[Stoned Rose]

Yeah, pace and physicality is what sets Walker apart from other RB's, like Danilo.

I don't know why you're incapable of seeing weaknesses in our players without taking it as some sort of personal attack. If Walker was the perfect RB you think he is, Pep would likely not be spending €65m on another one.

@MarsLlama listed a while load of ‘weaknesses’ earlier and I briefly responded.

You’ve then jumped in with one of your big ‘look how clever I am’ essays you bore everyone to death with where you tell us things we already know.

Never said Walker was perfect. Never said we don’t need or I wouldn’t like Cancelo.

You’re literally making things up.

Have a day off mate.

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

@MarsLlama listed a while load of ‘weaknesses’ earlier and I briefly responded.

You’ve then jumped in with one of your big ‘look how clever I am’ essays you bore everyone to death with where you tell us things we already know.

Never said Walker was perfect. Never said we don’t need or I wouldn’t like Cancelo.

You’re literally making things up.

Have a day off mate.

Ouch !!

 

[George Hannah]

Mendy. Angelino. Zinchenko.

1.2.3

So we know he can't count to 3, which clears things up a lot.

Mendy won't be available for a while, Zinch has done really well there as a converted midfielder and shades Angelino (at least for now) but Cancelo is probably better than both.

 

[brightwelleyes]

Remember Arsenal away at the start of last season. Mendy started at left back but in possession was playing a sort of false number 8 (yeh I've made that up) role, and literally breaking the lines by carrying the ball inside through the half-space. It caused absolute chaos in a pretty similar way to those great old Yaya power-up runs from deep.

We didn't really see it again for obvious reasons, but I think it was meant to be a regular game plan to break down packed defences. I also think this is exactly the role Cancelo is being bought for (if it happens). Stones or Otamendi will be defending the whole right flank in the same way Laporte covered the whole left flank in that game.

 

[cjn]

Mendy won't be available for a while, Zinch has done really well there as a converted midfielder and shades Angelino (at least for now) but Cancelo is probably better than both.

If Cancelo was actually an option to play on the left side why did we buy a specialist leftback last month?