A Manchester City misfit is now becoming a crucial player for Pep Guardiola
In the early stages of his Manchester City career, it appeared that he just didn’t quite fit into Pep Guardiola’s squad. Typically the Portuguese international plays in midfield. But for the Premier League champions, he just couldn’t break into City’s midfield. But during this season Nunes has shown his value to the world champions. He has played on the left wing and now he has slotted in at right-back.
Matheus Nunes at right-back has both its good and bad points. We saw both of those during City’s past two games against PSG and Chelsea. Against PSG Nunes was given a torrid time by Bradley Barcola. To his credit, he never gave in on the night, but he was unable to curtail Barcola’s influence on the game. Nunes should not take too much criticism for that. The entire Manchester City team was below their best in Paris.
But during City’s 3-1 win over Chelsea, we saw the good of Nunes’ game. He played one of this best games for the club at right-back in City’s crucial win. Nunes was sound defensively and he offered plenty when Manchester City had possession. The good in his game was on full display at the Etihad on Saturday.
Now Matheus Nunes has become an important player for Pep Guardiola. His ability to slot in at right-back is now crucial. With Kyle Walker having departed the club for AC Milan and Rico Lewis struggling for form Nunes has the opportunity to make the spot his own. With his pace and ability on the ball, he can become a crucial player for Manchester City over the second half of the season.
If his performance against Chelsea can be the standard for him going forward he will have a big role to play. The opportunity is there for Matheus Nunes to make the right-back role his own. Based on how he plays there will always be frustrating moments in his game. A strength of his game is his ability to take risks whether it’s in or out of possession. But after not appearing to have a defined role in Pep Guardiola’s squad Matheus Nunes now has a crucial role to play this season. That is a credit to him and his ability to adapt to his managers demands when he is called upon.
