#27 | João Cancelo - 2021/22 Performances

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

link up with grealish is not good

That's down to Grealish more than Cancelo.

 

[skillman]

He’s obviously, more often than not, a bit of a liability defensively but compared to Mendy it’s like having Maldini back there. He’s levels above every other option going forward which is why his defensive skill set is forgiven by Pep (and also why we hardly see Walker go forward on the other side).

I agree with the Zinch sentiment, though. I’d prefer him in games where we need total control (like PSG next game).

 

[RandomJ]

Its absolutely crazy. I don’t dispute he does some stupid things that annoy us all, but he is a fantastic footballer.

I’ve said for years that City do not need full backs who do nothing but defend, we simply do not do enough defending as a side, to warrant negative full backs.

3 assists (should have been 4 with Stones header from inside 6 yards) from full back and people slagging him off because he misplaced a few passes. All the while we have other players in the side, in more advanced positions, creating absolutely nothing.

With KDB, Sterling, Mahrez, Grealish and Gundogan really struggling, I am fucking delighted we have a guy at full back trying to create things, otherwise we would be going nowhere.

No one is disputing what a good player he is. However he simply can't just ignore the other half of his role just cos he is creating. He can't keep galloping up the pitch and then barely jog back, he can't keep leaving the left sided centre back exposed and having to cover for him. He can't keep expecting Rodri or Bernardo to move over to mop up for him. He can't keep getting in the way of whoever is playing on the left wing.

In games where we are totally dominant he is a weapon other sides could only dream about but against better teams they will absolutely expose it. It doesn't even need to be an elite team either as Palace were attacking down our left side for fun last week.

 

[gaz76]

Its absolutely crazy. I don’t dispute he does some stupid things that annoy us all, but he is a fantastic footballer.

I’ve said for years that City do not need full backs who do nothing but defend, we simply do not do enough defending as a side, to warrant negative full backs.

3 assists (should have been 4 with Stones header from inside 6 yards) from full back and people slagging him off because he misplaced a few passes. All the while we have other players in the side, in more advanced positions, creating absolutely nothing.

With KDB, Sterling, Mahrez, Grealish and Gundogan really struggling, I am fucking delighted we have a guy at full back trying to create things, otherwise we would be going nowhere.

Couldnt agree more, has to be one of the first names on the teamsheet for me, foden et al get all the plaudits but this guy creates just as much if not more, god knows what game some were watching on the match day thread, even @tolmieshairdoo was calling him a "disgrace" at half time, when cancelo plays well we win its as simple as that, think folk forget he is playing out of position, but name me a true left back that would bring more to the table?

 

[city warrior]

Couldnt agree more, has to be one of the first names on the teamsheet for me, foden et al get all the plaudits but this guy creates just as much if not more, god knows what game some were watching on the match day thread, even @tolmieshairdoo was calling him a "disgrace" at half time, when cancelo plays well we win its as simple as that, think folk forget he is playing out of position, but name me a true left back that would bring more to the table?

Cancelo is a defender and he is awful at it. I think most people would prefer Zinchenko against elite teams. As a LB he is brilliant creating opportunities, maybe the best in the world, but he needs to be so much better in defense.

 

[grim up north]

Cancelo is a defender and he is awful at it. I think most people would prefer Zinchenko against elite teams. As a LB he is brilliant creating opportunities, maybe the best in the world, but he needs to be so much better in defense.

We won 4-1 he had 3 assists perhaps Pep thinks the positive outweighs the negative

 

[city warrior]

We won 4-1 he had 3 assists perhaps Pep thinks the positive outweighs the negative

And I agree, that’s why he is important for us. But I(and Pep based on last season) prefer Zinchenko against elite competition. Cancelo is a great player for 5 minutes, and that is great for offensive players, but for defensive players is better to be solid 90 minutes than being amazing for 5 and average for 85.

 

[gaz76]

Cancelo is a defender and he is awful at it. I think most people would prefer Zinchenko against elite teams. As a LB he is brilliant creating opportunities, maybe the best in the world, but he needs to be so much better in defense.

Maybe the best in the world is all we need to know

 

[oldhamblue]

Cant work out whether hes an asset or not. Spends most of his time playing as an 8 or 10

 

[OrigamiNinja]

No one is disputing what a good player he is. However he simply can't just ignore the other half of his role just cos he is creating. He can't keep galloping up the pitch and then barely jog back, he can't keep leaving the left sided centre back exposed and having to cover for him. He can't keep expecting Rodri or Bernardo to move over to mop up for him. He can't keep getting in the way of whoever is playing on the left wing.

In games where we are totally dominant he is a weapon other sides could only dream about but against better teams they will absolutely expose it. It doesn't even need to be an elite team either as Palace were attacking down our left side for fun last week.

I don’t think anyone is ignoring his quite obvious faults. Nobody has ever said he is the best defender in the world. Nobody has ever said he is the most intelligent footballer in the world either, I mean sometimes he makes Walker look like Einstein. I also don’t dispute he was poor against Palace, in fact he was fucking abysmal, but he like any other player is allowed a bad game. Only on here, he isn’t.

For me, his positives far outweigh the negatives. Other people will see it differently, they will think his lapses in concentration, or his sometimes odd pass selection on the edge of our box are just too much to take for a full back. I get that. However, there’s not a full back alive who never makes any mistakes, so if some are waiting on Cancelo being replaced by a top defender who never fucks up, they will be waiting a long time. I’d rather just enjoy Cancelo for what he is… a supremely talented footballer, who creates chances, scores the odd goal and accept that he is also a bit braindead.