33 | Nico O'Reilly - 2025/26

[Goldust]

Clearly a midfielder and a back up left back.

 

[Ajm1985]

Good performance 1st half, although at times I thought the pairing of 2 incredibly one footed players in midfield really slowed things down. Lots of promise in the position

 

[Blue Hefner]

Love him
Yeah, he got caught on the ball a few times but that’s to be expected as he’s not played midfield at this level before
He’s going right to the top

 

[ninjamonkey]

Hard to come into midfield once in a while when youre used to the space and time afforded to you as a fullback. Probably needs a solid run (not neccesarily starrs) in there as purely a midfielder to get upto scratch in that position but for the time being he should focus on honing his abilities as a fullback.

 

[Danjt]

He’s special. Not his best game, but overall did well. I genuinely think he could play any outfield position on the pitch

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

I thought he had a good game today. Looked comfortable in that position.

 

[super_city_si]

Clearly a midfielder and a back up left back.

Yes, he was always a mid but didn’t have the confidence. Now he knows he’s good enough he’s playing like it.

 

[Earlyriser]

Given the speculation on here about Phil about his loss of form due possibly to being over-played in the early stages of his career perhaps we should be a bit more cautious with NOR and take him out for a while once we are back up to full squad

 

[jimharri]

Given the speculation on here about Phil about his loss of form due possibly to being over-played in the early stages of his career perhaps we should be a bit more cautious with NOR and take him out for a while once we are back up to full squad

Phil certainly wasn't overplayed in his first couple of seasons around the first team squad. I remember the clamour on here (including myself!) for him to be played more....

5 PL games in 17/18, the season he initially broke into the first team

13 PL games in 18/19

23 PL games in 19/20, the season when he started to establish himself in the first team.

 

[jaiguruKun]

Given the speculation on here about Phil about his loss of form due possibly to being over-played in the early stages of his career

The general consensus at the time was that he wasn't played enough!

 

[Earlyriser]

The general consensus at the time was that he wasn't played enough!

Well in NOR's case he has already made 50 appearances for City. Time will tell how this pans out. However, it's highly unlikely he will get a Summer break as he must be a cert for The World Cup

 

[BlueNomad]

Given the speculation on here about Phil about his loss of form due possibly to being over-played in the early stages of his career perhaps we should be a bit more cautious with NOR and take him out for a while once we are back up to full squad

Funnily enough, the knock was that Pep was NOT playing Phil enough, not the other way around!

 

[Lost in space]

Playing well in the middle today, hope he can get a goal or an assist

 

[ninjamonkey]

Brilliant in the middle. The reason Spurs were struggling to get opportunities was because he was covering the ground like Bernardo but with pace. Great to see somebody else like Bernardo who is just as committed to sprinting back to do the donkey work as they are going forward. Monumental error on Peps part in my eyes to remove him from that role and stick him left back. No coincidence they were finding it far easier to get at our backline when the screen he was helping to provide was removed.

 

[Chak19]

Brilliant in the middle. The reason Spurs were struggling to get opportunities was because he was covering the ground like Bernardo but with pace. Great to see somebody else like Bernardo who is just as committed to sprinting back to do the donkey work as they are going forward. Monumental error on Peps part in my eyes to remove him from that role and stick him left back. No coincidence they were finding it far easier to get at our backline when the screen he was helping to provide was removed.

Mate we were getting dominated all second half well before his switch to LB, couldn't keep the ball at all and allowed Spuds back into the game (talking about all our midfield not just him).

 

[chris85mcfc]

Thought he was shite today and his levels have dropped massively over the last month

Fair play to him hes 18 and shouldn't be playing this often

Got a great career ahead of him, but needs some time out the side to recover

Massively at fault for that 2nd goal today and was lucky no one was on the edge of our box when he laid one off

 

[Stelea]

Been great at LB all season and has now been disrupted to accommodate a useless Ait-Noure

 

[Chak19]

Been great at LB all season and has now been disrupted to accommodate a useless Ait-Noure

Lol we were screaming for weeks that he needed a rest when RAN was in AFCON.

 

[Chak19]

Thought he was shite today and his levels have dropped massively over the last month

Fair play to him hes 18 and shouldn't be playing this often

Got a great career ahead of him, but needs some time out the side to recover

Massively at fault for that 2nd goal today and was lucky no one was on the edge of our box when he laid one off

He's going to be 21 in a month mate, still very young.

 

[Ajm1985]

Brilliant in the middle. The reason Spurs were struggling to get opportunities was because he was covering the ground like Bernardo but with pace. Great to see somebody else like Bernardo who is just as committed to sprinting back to do the donkey work as they are going forward. Monumental error on Peps part in my eyes to remove him from that role and stick him left back. No coincidence they were finding it far easier to get at our backline when the screen he was helping to provide was removed.

The second goal came in essentially the same minute that O'Reilly went to LB, prior to that Spurs were going through our middle easily as well. The second half was a shit show by the entire midfield