RAFA SHOP FLAW
CLASSY JOAO WOWS GUARDIOLA WITH HIS NON-STOP APPROACH Boss: You can’t just pick top players off shelf
PEP GUARDIOLA believes Joao Cancelo plays like he’s in love with football.
And the Manchester City boss reckons his brilliant Portuguese defender is amongst kindred spirits at The Etihad.
Cancelo, 27, has become the epitome of a Guardiola full-back over the last two seasons after a difficult start following his arrival from Juventus in a £60million deal.
One moment he is halting attacks, the next operating as a central midfielder and providing the kind of passes that would make Kevin De Bruyne purr.
Guardiola said: “When a player arrives from another culture – Spain or Italy – they need time to adapt.
“Since arriving, Joao has played at a high level because he has one huge quality – he loves to play football. He likes training and would play 24 hours a day every single day.
“When you find a player like that, like Riyad Mahrez or like Phil Foden, wow! You have a diamond on your hands.
“The best players always play as professionals like they did as amateurs, like when you’re a little boy, in the street, at school, with your friends.”
Philipp Lahm reinvented the by full-back position when he worked with Guardiola at Bayern Munich while at Barcelona, he gave Dani Alves licence to attack.
The Catalan thinks Cancelo is made from the same stuff but what makes his contribution even more startling is that he has been operating at left-back despite being naturally right-footed.
Guardiola added: “Right now, he is playing like Philipp when we were at Bayern. In that position, the full-back moving inside and not just overlapping, Philipp is the best player I’ve ever seen.”
City host Everton today with a warning from their manager that they will have to improve again to retain their crown.
He said: “In the big games this season we have responded amazingly but to win the Premier League you have to be a machine.
“To be at that level and to maintain it you have to be even better. I feel they can do even better, I push them to raise those standards.
“Our opponents improve and so we have to as well. If people believe it is enough to win again with what we have done in the past it won’t be.”