27 | Matheus Nunes - 2025/26

He won't get much criticism from me. Yes you're asking for trouble putting your hands up like that.

However, we've got him playing a position he has no business playing, rather than pursue a proper right back.

Any defensive fuck ups he makes from his position, the blame lies elsewhere, not with him. He's a midfielder and being forced into a position he shouldn't play rather than us addressing a huge hole in the squad.



Sent from my Asus iPad.
 
If he could concentrate for 90 minutes I don't actually mind him.
As it is he's got the attention span of a toddler and does proper dumb shit time and time again.
 
If he’s not good enough to play in his natural position he 100% is not good enough to play out of position. Ludicrous that we are still playing him at right back and even more ludicrous we haven’t identified and signed an actual right back
 
He wasn't good yesterday. Gave it away a lot. Slipping all over the show and his one trait of going forward was rarely seen. Still have him playing over Rico each week though
 
Pep has fcuked him around he played left wing and was good there scored had assists for Haaland! We have Savino who at Gerona played on the right and was great there pep sticks him on the right! Doku we bought him as a right winger pep sticks him on the left! Pep trusts believes these players will deliver and they haven’t maybe try them in there positions they deliver!
 
Mike Brock said:
If he’s not good enough to play in his natural position he 100% is not good enough to play out of position. Ludicrous that we are still playing him at right back and even more ludicrous we haven’t identified and signed an actual right back
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Trying to get my head around this - only thing I can think of is that there’s nobody available that the club deem suitable and value for money.

We are sticklers for not paying above what we deem fair, though it’s bemusing we’ve not been linked with any right backs at all.
 
I honestly thought the pen was a bit harsh. The angle I saw the ball would have smashed him in the face from 2 yards away. Aren't you allowed to protect your face?

If I'm wrong and it was going over his face then fair enough, but it's a very split second reaction so I have my sympathy with him.
 
citytill1die84 said:
Yep. These haters absolutely love it that it was him that gave it away, pathetic.

Other than the pen he did well.
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He did ok, I don’t hate him - but he’s not a premier league winning right back, it’s obvious he switches off defensively too often - he’s prone to individual errors but defending isn’t his natural game so I don’t blame him for being a bit deficient.

It was easier getting a decent technical defender to learn how to move into that little midfield role when the team were in possession than it is teaching a midfielder all the arts of defending…..just think we have this massive weakness this season but at least we have a decent left back now :)
 
balotelli's back pocket said:
Of course he's the problem. He totally changes the game by giving away a penalty because he's too much of a pussy to let the ball hit him. Just like the multiple occasions last season where he got embarrassed by a winger, ran back and emptied them in the box.

He's not got what it takes between the ears. He's not a good enough footballer to make up for these mistakes. He's unfortunately emblematic of the decline in quality of our squad. Pep knew he wasn't up to it after weeks - he was a panic buy because we failed to sign our top 3 targets - he did a job out of position last season when we had nobody else (and because he did less damage out wide than in the middle). So why the fuck is he still here?
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Could be related to the unknown results of the 115 charges possibly ? It’s the only viable reason I can think of unless now Tikka has left we’ve lost all ability to plan and see the weaknesses of the squad?

It’s mystifying we haven’t bought a right back ………sick of hearing about keepers
 
thegoatsthegoat said:
He wasn't good yesterday. Gave it away a lot. Slipping all over the show and his one trait of going forward was rarely seen. Still have him playing over Rico each week though
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He is actually not that good going forward. He makes the occasional run every game when there is an opportunity. But by and large he tries to play safe. I reckon this is an attempt to keep his job.

What he is actually good at is blanketing his man most of the game. Making last minute tackles and goal bound blocks. Plus the occasional turn and sprint away from a defender.
 
Dax777 said:
He is actually not that good going forward. He makes the occasional run every game when there is an opportunity. But by and large he tries to play safe. I reckon this is an attempt to keep his job.

What he is actually good at is blanketing his man most of the game. Making last minute tackles and goal bound blocks. Plus the occasional turn and sprint away from a defender.
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His assists would suggest he does a job going forwards. I think fans are on him too much, he was crap at Brighton, like most others but the second he slipped early and misplaced a pass everyone was moaning. He is our best option there but it is on the club for not sorting that position properly.
 
thegoatsthegoat said:
His assists would suggest he does a job going forwards. I think fans are on him too much, he was crap at Brighton, like most others but the second he slipped early and misplaced a pass everyone was moaning. He is our best option there but it is on the club for not sorting that position properly.
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That's where I am with it. It's not his fault we bought him when he clearly isn't good enough. We've managed to turn him into a semi-functioning right back and it's no surprise he is inconsistent in that position. Sometimes he's brilliant and it feels like he could play there long-term and other times he's absolutely woeful.

But the issue is that the club haven't adequately signed a replacement. Rico isn't good enough defensively either so we're stuck with two RBs who aren't particularly good at defending. I'm guessing Pep will consider someone else as the season progresses and Nunes will form part of our overhaul phase 2 which I expect to take place next summer where anyone not performing this season is out the door and we re-invest.

We don't have to offload loads of senior players next summer so we can fully focus on selling those who aren't good enough where we'll largely break even I'd expect and then bring in the right quality to take us back to the top level. There aren't many that are safe to be honest but the majority are at an age where we can sell them without the same headache we've had with our older legends.
 
Symbolic of the falling standards at City. Him getting 3 seasons here despite never one second being trusted to play his actual position is just laziness from the club.

'He'll do' mentality.
 
FromPollockToSilva said:
This could also describe Zinchenko and we were pretty decent while he was here
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If i remember correctly, city tried to sell Zinchenko literally every summer until he went lol. He just kept refusing to leave. standards.

The rest of the team was much better then too and could take 1 weak link. Feels like we've got more zinchenko's than KDB's these days.
 
K-Bo said:
If i remember correctly, city tried to sell Zinchenko literally every summer until he went lol. He just kept refusing to leave. standards.

The rest of the team was much better then too and could take 1 weak link. Feels like we've got more zinchenko's than KDB's these days.
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That doesn't even remotely explain why we played him so often
 
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