BringBackSwales
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He’s proved as a full back he can tackle, he has pace. Given Nico G often needs help tackling and recovering I’d love to see him given a game in midfield and Khusanov at RB
27 | Matheus Nunes - 2025/26
- Thread starter samuelyeboah
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I still don't get the Khusanov for RB calls. We already struggle to play out of the back. Now many want to add our wordt possession player to the RB position.
This will make us significantly worse in possession
BringBackSwales
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Well pardon me for having an opinion. Khusanov can defend and tbf he’s played 2 and a half games this season and that’s not a lot to form an opinion but based on that he has defended excellently and passed ok. Our biggest issue has been the lack of a midfield tackler and tracker back alongside Nico G - you saw Leeds second half, Fulham second half, spurs home the whole match and so on. Our biggest issue has been defensive midfield, I just posed the question. It might even be something we could consider doing for the last half hour of a game where we are getting swamped in midfield. Fuck me passing from a makeshift full back is now the only issue in a football team
ninjamonkey
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I agree that Nunes in midfield seems like something worth considering right now. He has the attributes we desperately need in there but this was never his issue with getting a game in midfield. peps gone on public record saying its his brain that's stopping him playing midfield.
He doesnt have the speed of thought or the concentration levels to play midfield. Playing regularly and understanding the game will help improve those aspects but he's played on the sides for 12 months now, he's gotten used to the time and space you get out there compared to the middle, he's familiarised himself with the different patterns out wide.
I don't think he can just switch back into the middle, it's probably more likely that he'd struggle even more now with the issues that prevented him from seeing game time there in the first place.
We played for 10 years with Kyle Walker being our worst player in possession at RB...went OK.
noseve
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But this is the trouble - always being more concerned about what a defender does in possession than whether he can actually defend. This is why we are so vulnerable and other coaches know that if they bide their time, they are bound to have at least a couple of chances to score.
Get rid of that soft underbelly and we'd be a completely different team again.
In the Real Madrid pre-match thread I posted a short YouTube clip showing Khus against them last year.
Whenever Vinicius had the ball, Khusanov would engage him at the very first opportunity - none of this ridiculous back-pedaling for 30/40 yards and only approaching the ball once you cross into the penalty area. This behaviour is typical of non full-backs in full-back positions. A, natural defensive instinct can't be taught.
NOR is doing really well, but no substitute for a natural.
Apples and oranges.
1. We were significantly better in possession everywhere else all over the field possession wise. So it was far easier to hide one poor possession player. Eddy, Stones, David, Aguero, Mahrrz Zinchy, Rodri, Gundo, etc were far better possession players than the current crop.
2. Far fewer teams used the pressed 5-10 years ago. Klopp and Pep with their GenGen press and 5 second retrieval press, popularized high pressing and now most team do it. So its even far more difficult to hide a technically deficient defender on a team that wants to possess the ball.
3. As technically vanilla as Kyle Walker was, he was actually a confident and willing participant in possession. Even if his technical ability limited his range. AK45 is an unwilling participant. He wants as little involvement in possession as he can manage.
These are not comparable situations. Can we survive? Sure. Is it better than playing a possession fullback in Nunes? Absolutely not!
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Actually, it has little to do with non full backs and everything to do with good tactical football.
You retreat while slowing the player down, to buy time for ur teammates to get in position
Every defender does this to Doku. Everyone. Numbers in defense is your best advantage.
The reason why you worry about defenders with poor possession skills is because by the numbers, the less possession you have, the nore likely it is you'd concede more chances.
The best defense is having possession. There is a reason why Eddy was always near the top of fewest goals conceded. It wasnt coz he was making 10 saves a game. Rather it was because with possession, he helped reduce the number of shots entirely.
We cannot underestimate the effect of possession on defensive solidity
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supercity88
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I don't disagree that it's worth a try. The question mark is whether Nunes can be the calm and composed figure we need in the middle when we do have the ball. We're very panicked in possession which doesn't help us. We seem to be hoofing the ball up the pitch, or trying to score another goal which is putting us under immense pressure and not helping us get control and momentum.
I think Pep recognises the issue and is more likely to switch O'Reilly into the middle because we have more options to come in at LB too.
For me the main difference is definitely how they are used.
Kyle almost exclusively was a 3rd CB in a back 3. The rare times he held the width on the right it was a void of no danger for the opposition, the more we saw this the more comical it became to have Walker do this.
Nunes also sometimes become a 3rd CB, alot more than O Reilly, but he also very often holds the width and is clearly a threat.
Nunes is more well rounded, and while will never reach the physical beast highs that Walker did, nobody can, and it's time we adapt to a more "normal" fullback and our system has fortunately.
noseve
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That's far too simplistic. Possession is king, is it? Even if you limit the opposition to only having the ball for, say, 30-odd minutes of the game (as Al-Hilal did) that's still plenty of time for them to exploit lousy defending (as Al-Hilal did).
Engaging the attacker further up the pitch is far more relaxing for the defensive line than having to deal with crosses into the box, worrying about deflections that will only ever benefit the attacking team. Especially when you have the pace of Walker or Khus that gives you a second chance to recover the ball should you be beaten the first time. You're sacrificing that second chance by welcoming the striker onto the fringe of your area.
The tactic you describe is precisely what we were doing during that horrific slump last year - I seem to remember that the possession stats were still pretty good, though, so how would you reconcile those results with 'bossing' the ball?
Possession can't hide the fact that you're short of proper defenders, certainly not through a whole season and not even through many matches.
Kippax Street 1880
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Yes. Possession is king. Especially good possession. The type that demoralizes the opposition.
On the contrary, last year was City's worst year in possession in the last 6-7 years. We were decidedly worse in possession and thus the fraility of our defense was put to the test. When you have dominating possession, you dont get to teat your defense.
Again, its a % game.. winning 50% of 2 shots is far better than winning 80% of 10 shots.
Granted, there will be far more heroics in the latter. But the former is better. Even if less satisfying.
The best attacking players best the best defenders more often than not.So Its not just about hiding non proper defenders, but rather playing the winningest football you can
By the way, I am a huge Khusanov fan and believe he should be damn close to starting. But at CB where we get the best bang for his speed and aggression and the least need for his possession..
As a fullbsck, for me its a forced look that doesn't fit perfectly. Unless we are playing a back 3 with Savio as a wingback or something.
noseve
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We'll just have to agree to disagree - we've had the lion's share of possession in every game that we've lost this season. All those lovely passes didn't help much on those occasions.
I think that it's a long time since we've demoralized the opposition with our possession - the game has changed, most teams are happier to bide their time, without the ball, these days. It's what you do with it when you do have it, more than how long you have it.
How did we wind up in the Nunes thread?
Lol
Blue_Lightsaber
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Best RB in the world!
We don't need no stinking new RB signing!
We don't need no stinking new RB signing!