Ronald De Boer has admitted he understands why Pep Guardiola is not a fan of one Manchester City player, after seeing what he did at the weekend.
The current Manchester City squad is in a very good place at the moment.
It is packed with quality, and there is still the chance to do the Double, after the disappointing defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Losing to Real should now hopefully serve as fuel for the rest of the season, and we will see if these players can use their experience to fend off the challenge from Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League.
But away from the Etihad, one man who is not in a title race is Joao Cancelo.
The full-back is on a season-long loan with Barcelona, and has just drawn criticism for his performance in El Clasico, in which he made a couple of errors.
Now, former Barca player turned pundit Ronald De Boer has had his say on the Portugal international…
Ronald De Boer slams Joao Cancelo and says he gets why Pep Guardiola ‘doesn’t like’ him
Cancelo put in a poor performance last week in the Champions League, as Barca went out of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain.
He made a couple of errors against them, which left Thierry Henry stunned, and it was the same story against Real on Sunday.
Cancelo twice let Lucas Vazquez get by him, capping off a pretty dreadful week for him.
Mundo Deportivo have published some comments from Ronald De Boer, who played for Barca from 1999 to 2000. It’s safe to say that he is less than impressed with the 29-year-old following his latest display.
He said: “Now I know why Pep doesn’t like Cancelo. This guy plays his own football and thinks it’s just about what you do with the ball. Damn, you’re a defender!!”
Cancelo also came under fire at times for his defending when playing for City. His technical ability was never in question, but one running narrative with him was that his positioning could be poor.
Cancelo repeated mistakes are alarming
It was a rotten week for Cancelo, who is once again facing serious questions over his ability to defend.
It is fairly alarming that he can continue allowing people to run off him unchallenged at the back post.
Cancelo left City after reportedly falling out with Pep over game time but ultimately, he wasn’t being picked at the time because he wasn’t performing.
He has never been a good defender, with his attacking quality somewhat papering over that side of his game.
Earlier this season, Cancelo had another bad game against Villarreal, after which he described his own performance as a ‘disaster’.
It is a wonder that Xavi hasn’t tried to play him as a winger. Although that’s a position where you do still need to track back, it would perhaps play to his strengths more.
At the end of the day, Cancelo has simply got to improve. Ideally he will, and his market value will remain somewhat high for when City come to offload him in the summer.
